2009.8.25,26,28,30. Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen

Great stage sets (designed by Thomas Lynch), especially the forest scenes. Big sound with a 90 piece orchestra, conducted by Robert Spano. Big voices. Costume design is unimaginative (except for the Rhine daughters). The dwarfs don't look any smaller or uglier than any of the heroes. Everyone seems to wear similar rag. Once awhile, something is played from the speakers on the back wall: a bit disturbing.

Das Rheingold was played without intermission (2:40), and I was almost late. The swimming scene was too bright, hence the lines hanging on the Rhine daughters were visible. I don't understand why they would tease Alberich, and told him about the secret of the gold.

Fire lit up at the end of Die Walküre. The Star War theme song is prevalent, and powerful. It takes Brünnhilde forever to agree to stay with Siegfried, even though her goddess status was revoked already.

Siegfried looked as old as Mime the dwarf. It's sad that he killed the one who brought him up. The dragon was cute and colorful. I don't understand why Wotan wakes up Erda, even though he has already made his decision.

Götterdämmerung is the longest. Siegfried looked like a buffoon. Here, he is not able to listen to the intention of people and drank the forgetting potion. The final burning effect was very good. Why they all have to die?

Wotan:      Greer Grimsley
Fricka:     Stephanie Blythe
Alberich:   Richard Paul Fink
Loge:       Kobie van Rensburg
Erda:       Maria Streijffert
Mime:       Dennis Petersen †
Fafner:     Daniel Sumegi
Brünnhilde: Janice Baird
Sieglinde:  Margaret Jane Wray
Siegmund:   Stuart Skelton
Hunding:    Andrea Silvestrelli
Siegfried:  Stig Andersen
Hagen:      Daniel Sumegi
Gunther:    Gordon Hawkins
Gutrune:    Marie Plette

2009.8.22-23. Long Beach

kite festival. Saturday afternoon: dual line kite competition; Sunday morning: quad line precision competition. Synchronized performance by team of 3, 4, or 6 kites/persons. 80 year old Ray (?) from Canada was playing with 3 red/blue/white kites simultaneously. If I'm not mistaken, I saw him competing ~10 years ago, and winning. He's the only one of his kind. The best to see.
Visited Leadbetter State Park at the top of the peninsular. A salt mash land. Lots of herons.
Visited Fort Lewis State Park east of Astoria. Slightly less crowded yet bigger camp ground. Long clean ocean beaches. The bridge crossing is long and pretty. Many fishing boat in the middle of the wide river mouth of Columbia, so were birds.
Camped at Cape Disappointment State Park's official camp ground. Hot shower is 50c per 3 minutes. Completely full. Got in due to someone else' cancellation. Beach here is salt water mixed with the river sediments. Lots of sea gulls.
Driving to Long Beach is better done via 101 out of Olympia. From Astoria, take 30 on the Oregon side is an ok alternative. Total trip over 500 miles!!!

2009.8.15-16. North Fork Sauk River (#649) - PCT (Red Pass - White Pass)

First 5.5 miles (up to Mackinaw Shelter) is wet, muddy and full of horse dropping at times, mossy old growth forest. A family was building a bridge over Red Creek. 3.2 miles of zigzag to the junction of PCT. 2 miles to the left (west) till Red Pass. Took me almost 7 hours from ~2200 ft till ~6400 ft! 2 perfect camp sites just below the pass to the west, overlooking a lovely valley, close to a patch of ice for water. Once emerged from the forest, less bugs, and huge slope of meadow. Flowers were past the prime, but still quite nice. Huckleberry was ripening. Leaves were turning color. Clouds moved in in late afternoon. Freezing at night.

A family of grouse woke me up on Sunday to a sunny blue sky. Fog lingered in the valley, adding a touch of ephemeral beauty. Mt Rainier was clear. Hiked up north to Portal Peak ~7000 ft. Magnificent 360º view. Found a geology society survey cap of 1945, and a geo-cache. Wrote a note. Retraced PCT and left the backpack at the junction. Continued east to White Pass (~5800 ft). Endless meadow (lots of lupine pods), many possible camp sites, but no water. Too lazy to climb the barren White Mountain (~7000 ft), opted for a plateau (~6500 ft) just south of the pass covered with false hellebore. Took 4 hours back from the junction to TH (8.7 miles).

Total human encounter: ~dozen. Half of these went solo.
Direction: Mt Loop Hwy, just north of Badel, turn SE on FSRD 49 (7 miles north of Barlow Pass, or 16 miles south of Darrington) for 6.7 miles.

2008.8.7-9. Tuck and Robin Lakes

RT to Robin Lakes: 14 miles, from 3350 ft to 6200 ft, extra ~1000 ft ups and downs. Beautiful. Lots of goats. A shade less of drama than Enchantment Lakes.

Left Seattle shortly after 3pm on Friday. Started hiking ~6pm (after filling the belly). Follow Deception Pass trail #1059 for 1.5 hr on flat and well maintained trail to upper Hyas Lake. Many groups (with fishing gear) camped along the way. Pitched tent right on the grassy shore behind the last big camp site before the final small foot bridges. Idyllic, waterfall, much less mosquitoes than reported 10 days ago.

Heading up shortly before 8am on Saturday. 1 hr to the junction for Robin Lakes trail (4300 ft, ~ 4.5 miles from trail head). There's a big camp site right pass the junction (no water). 1 hr 15 min (1.5 mile) to Tuck Lake (~5200 ft). Trail STEEP at times. The lake is large and pretty, small "sandy" beaches, and a tiny island. Quite a few camp sites around. Circled along the south ridge by the lake. Easy the miss the trail. Ended up climbing a gully. Even with the real trail, quite a bit of scrambling is required. Arrived at the Robin Lakes just pass noon. Soon, goats appeared. Camped between the two Robin Lakes. Explored the area for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Found a bunch of ponds, some rocky, some surrounded by blue lupines. Clouds moved in, so were other hikers. Soon couldn't see the lake, nor the next tent. Windy and chilly.

Woke up on Sunday morning to a glorious blue sky without a hint of cloud. Clear view of Mt Rainier. The moon was still hanging high. Headed NW to Trico Mountain (~6700 ft, ~50 min), saw 3 lakes, and a couple more ponds, Glacier Peak and its surrounding mountains. Clouds grew. By 10 am, all distant peaks disappeared. Headed down at 11am, arrived at the car at 3:30pm.

Practicality: I-90 exit 80. Go through Roslyn, follow Salmon Le Sac Rd to the end, then follow FSRD 4330 (unpaved) to the end, ~ 15 miles.

If more time, continue 0.5 miles further on #1059 is Deception Pass (4475 ft). Turn right on #1066 to Marmott Lake, or left on PCT (#2000) for 4.5 miles to Cathedral Pass (5500 ft). Here many options: climb Mt Daniel, Cathedral Rock (6734 ft), or onto #1375 to Peggy's Pond behind Cathedral Rock, or continue on PCT to Deep Lake. Turn left on Cathedral Rock Trail (#1345) for 2 miles to Squaw Lake (4841 ft, camp sites), 2.5 miles from the same trail head.
Condition of the trails in the area: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/recreation/cle-elum/trails/

2009.8.1-2 and 4-5. Paradise at Mt Rainier

8.1, Saturday. The flowers were incredible. In comparison, flowers were about to dry out in Sunrise area, but almost no bugs, less tourists and the mountain looks whiter. Hiked the Skyline loop, and Golden Gate trail. The lower parts were filled with flowers (especially the Golden Gate trail), and upper parts were more rocky and desolate, with patches of snow melting fast. 84F at the visitor center in Paradise. Despite the heat, lots of people. Had to take the shuttle bus up (avoid the back seats: heated like a stove top).
Camped at Nickle Creek (last permit), by the creek, much better than the designated sites. Wilderness camping sites close to Paradise Valley are all along creeks or lakes. Wooded, no mountain view. On Saturday evening, almost all were full.

8.2. Sunday. Tried to hike up to Indian Bar, along Cowlitz Divide. But too hot, no view. Turned back after 2 hours + ~10 mosquito bites. Detoured by Sunrise for a cool beer before heading back. About 73F at Sunrise, 88F down at the park gate!

8.4, Tuesday. The heat has relented. Comet Falls & Van Trump Park Very pleasant trail, starts west of Cristine Falls (15 min west of the Paradise loop), and follows Comet Creek. Many little waterfalls along the way. In 50 min (1.6 miles), reached the bridge to Comet Falls, where another cascade tumbling down to the right. An open space filled with Valerian is 10 minutes further and facing the tall and elegant waterfall. Van Trump Park is ~1 mile (40-50 minutes) further with open vista and slopes of flowers. Well worth the elevation gain. I seemed to be the only person who hiked beyond Comet Falls. Be sure to push further for 15 minutes after the sign of "end of maintained trail". Enough meadow to pitch a tent, but no running water. Some mosquitoes.
Camped at Snow Lake 15 min southeast of the Paradise loop. 2 very nice & big sites, close to shore, about 30 minutes up and down from the trail head. A deer jumped away when I return from washing ~10pm.

8.5. Savored the flower scene again at Golden Gate Trail at Paradise. Lunched at Paradise Inn. Terrible food (for all three of us), the waiter was a bit rude (the back server was nice). Detoured to Sunrise before heading home.

Up to date trail and camp condition: http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/trails-and-backcountry-camp-conditions.htm
Here's a list of wilderness camps:

Camp	# Sites indiv/grp	Elev. (ft)	miles from --
Berkeley Park	2/1	5375	3.5 W Sunrise
Camp Curtis	2/-	8685	2 W Glacier Basin C.
Camp Muir	110 people	10080	5 N Paradise
Camp Schurman	48 people	9440	2 W Camp Curtis
Carbon River	4/1	3195	2.9 E Ipsut Crreek C.G.
Cataract Valley	6/1	4620	1.6 SW Carbon River C.
Deer Creek	2/-	2950	0.3 W Hwy 123
Devil's Dream	7/1	5060	2 W Pyramid Creek C.
Dick Creak	2/-	4185	1.1 SE Carbon River C.
Dick's Lake	1/-	5675	3 N Sunrise Lake
Eagle's Roost	7/1	4885	1.8 SE Mowich Lake C.G.
Fire Creek	3/1	4300	4.6 NW Berkeley Park C.
Forest Lake	1/-	5660	2 NW Sunrise
Glacier Basin	5/1	5965	3 W White River C.G.
Golden Lakes	5/1	5130	6.8 S South Mowich River C
Granite Creek	2/1	5765	5.6 W Sunrise
Indian Bar	4/1	5120	6.4 N Nickel Creek C, or 4.5 S SummerLand
James Camp	3/1	4620	4.2 W Fire Creek C, or 2.4 E Yellowstone Cliffs C.
Klapatche Park	4/-	5515	2.8 S North Puyallup River C, or 3.7 N South Puyallup River C
Lake Eleanor	3/1	5000	6.1 NE Berkeley Park C
Lake George	5/1	4320	7.2 NW Westside Rd
Lower Crystal Lake	2/-	5450	2.4 E Hwy 410
Maple Creek	4/1	2815	2.4 W Box Canyon
Mystic Camp	7/1	5570	5.5 W Granite Creek C, or 3.8 SE Dick Creek C
Nickle Creek	3/1	3385	1.2 NE Box Canyon
N. Puyallup River	4/1	3750	5 S Golden Lakes C
Olallie Creek	2/1	3940	2.8 NW Hwy 706
Paradise River	3/1	3805	2 SW Reflection Lakes, or 1.7 E Cougar Rock C.G.
Pyramid Creek	2/-	3765	3 N Longmire
Shriner Peak Lookout	2/-	5355	4.2 E Hwy 123
Snow Lake	2/-	4690	1.1 S Hwy 706
S. Mowich River	4/1	2605	3 S Hwy 165
S. Puyallup River	4/1	4000	6.1 NW Devil's Dream C, or 8.5 NE Westside Rd
Summerland	5/1	5940	4.2 SW Whiteriver Rd
Sunrise	8/2	6245	0.6 W Sunrise
Tamanos Creek	4/1	5270	3 S Whiteriver Rd
3 Lakes	2/1/horse	4680	5.8 E Stevens Canyon Entrance
Upper Crystal Lake	2/-	5825	0.6 SE Lower Crystal Lake C
Upper Palisades Lake	2/-	5835	0.75 N Dick's Lake C
Yellowstone Cliffs	2/-	5180	4.7 E Ipsut Creek C.G.