2012.8.26. Paradise - Rainier

Sunday. Nice weather: not too warm. Cloudy: the top of Rainier was shrouded in clouds until about 2pm. The flowers at Paradise are very good, as always, but on their last legs. Walked the upper Skyline trail and took Golden Gate trail back. Saw 2 bears while on Golden Gate trail. It's still the best flower slope in the area. Dense, but not very colorful. A nice exercise.

The problem with Paradise is its accessibility, hence the crowd, especially those I don't like to be associated with, like visiting a zoo. Saw at least 2 groups were practicing crampons and harness on the lower icy slopes. Many more heading up as well as coming down from the summit.

2012.8.21. Old Times

One of the 4 plays at ACT's Pinter Festival this summer. As the previous two I watched, Old Times is equally strange. Disconnected conversations, silence, repetition, allusion. Pinter plays with words, sometimes, telling you that he's playing with the words but without have any fun twist of the words. An old friend, the only friend 20 years ago of the wife, came for a visit from Sicily to this couple's house in the English countryside. Song segments alternates from the husband to the friend. Memories of their lives with the wife 20 years ago, all in a strange and at times twisted way. The friend remembers a young man sobbing on the wife's bed when they were sharing a room in their youth. The husband recalls meeting with this friend before the marriage. The wife remembers this friend dead.

Simple stage. I really think they should put some cover on the 2 bed/sitting lounge. Great acting and articulation, as always.

2012.8.18-19, Summerland - Indian Bar

2012.8.18. Saturday. Warm. Cloudy in Seattle, but not as bad in Rainier. Left downtown ~8:30am. Getting a permit at the busy one-man White River ranger station took sometime. He was overwhelmed and not very helpful. Almost impossible to find a parking spot. Started hiking ~11 at the Summerland trialhead.

First 2 miles, almost flat, smooth trail, in the woods, some mushrooms. Around the bridges over the Fryingpan Creek, view starts to improve. Dense mountain asters, then dense valerian, interspersed with yellow and blue, once a while some red. Avalanche lilies are mostly gone. Once at Summerland, the view is expanse. Too bad, the sky was not blue today. But the fields of blue lupines compensated. Found an excellent "secret" campsite (a workers' hideout) not too far from the creek, with locked iron boxes and a red beach chair! View of Mt. Rainier too!

After lunch, at 2pm, headed to Panhandle Gap, over boulders. Still lots of snow around the gap, but nothing difficult with waterproof boots and poles. 2 half frozen ponds. A group of kids were sliding down, screaming and beaming. Took me over an hour to get here. Excellent view all around. Earlier on, a group of goats were seen on the snow. The south side of the gap is more expansive, more distant mountains. Cannot see Mt. Rainier from here, but Mt Adams was looming ghostly ahead due to the clouds. It's not all the way down. Plenty of uphills. Mercifully, they are short, and punctured with flat meadows. Another hour later, reached a down slope full of flowers. Most colorful. To the right (east) is a big deep ravine with a dozen little waterfalls draping on the seemingly smooth surface. To the left, green hills with blue hue (lupine). To the front, endless layers of scenery. Ate and rested. I think it is my favorite spot on Rainier. Ohanapecosh Park? Apart from 2 campers earlier on, no people whatsoever since the gap. Didn't go further down to Indian Bar camp, but could see it from here. Maybe needs another half an hour.

Back at camp ~6:30pm. Early enough to cook and wash. Mosquitoes. Not much of a sunset tonight. Surprisingly many stars at night.

8.19. Got up at 6:30 witnessed sunrise shortly before 7am. Too cloudy. The top of Rainier was in clouds. Did see rainbow briefly. Then it rained. I fell back to sleep inside the tent.

Departed at 9:30am. Campers at Summerland all headed up. Met them on the narrow steps. A marmots was eating lupine flowers right by the trail. He stopped from time to time to stared at hikers. Very cute! On the way down to the car, met close to 100 hikers!

Drove up to Sunrise Point to enjoy a watermelon. Only here, found a nail on the right front tire. I cannot imagine anyone doing this. Had to change tire. A wonderful trip ended on a sour note and ~8 bites.

Practicality: Summerland shelter is at ~5800', 4.2 miles from the trailhead (@~3800'). 5 individual sites, 1 group site. Panhandle Gap is at 6800', 6 miles from the trailhead. Indian Bar campsite is at ~5120', 4.5 miles from Summerland, 4 individual sites, 1 group site.

2012.8.17. Turandot

Highly enjoyable. Back to what the operas were about "traditionally": theatrical extravaganza for the commoners. Dramatic staging. Visually overwhelming colors. Funny libretto. Sometimes bordering vulgar. No subtly. The two leading male singers are excellent. The chairs of Ping, Pang, Pong is a fun idea.

I'm glad to see a good turnout on this Friday evening. The AC is a good incentive: quite hot today.

Timur: Peter Rose
Calaf: Antonello Palombi
Liu: Lina Tetriani
Turandot: Lori Philips
Conductor: Asher Fisch
Stage, set, costume, choreographer: Barbe & Doucet

2012.8.9. Skyline Divide

Skyline Divide may be the easiest and most rewarding hikes in the North Cascades. Only 2 miles one way, 4300' - 5900'. The view is glorious. Carpets of yellow, white and blue waving in the breeze. Snowy mountain peaks in 3 directions both far and near, and one side is green hills down to North Fork Nooksack River. Baker to the south is the closest, Shuksan and Ruth to the east, Canadian peaks to the north.

Only one small snow patch on the trail before reaching the ridge. Easily passable in tennis shoes. Bugs, but not too bad. I got one bite. The trail goes further 2.5 miles and ~650' up towards Baker. However, with a kid and a grandma in tow, we settled in the first patch of flowers for a picnic. Glad to be here.

Direction: the first road (FR39) east of Glacier ranger station. Turn immediately to left on to FR37. 12 miles gravel to the end. Bumpy sometimes. Clear signs. About a dozen cars around noon on this Thursday. Some campers (no running water, but enough snow).

Shell Gas station at Maple Falls is reasonably priced: $3.79/gl today. The wait at Huntington-Sumas border crossing is 30 minutes to US ~11am, and 1.3 hours to Canada ~6pm!

2012.8.4-5 Wedgemont Lake and Squamish Spit

2012.8.4. Saturday. Wedgemont Lake has been on my todo list for a few years. It's absolutely worth the effort: 14km RT, 1200m elevation gain. Took me 3:05 hours to reach the ridge. Relentless steep grade. The first 2 hours are boring, except at the 2 short iron bridges close to the trail head, where a constant fresh breeze cools down my sweat. No view, no breeze, root ladders. Occasionally tiny stream by the trail to wash the sweat off. Even though most of the time you cannot see any water, you can hear it all the way. After 2 hours, a towering waterfall can be seen through the trees to the other side of the ravine. Never a full view, just a glimpse here and there for half an hour, until you emerge from the forest. The last half an hour is pretty: bright green corn lily, view to the south cliffs with hanging snow, to the west Tantalus Range. Some sub-alpine flowers. No shade, but has breeze. Lots of boulders. Sometime require hands. Once you climb up the avalanche chute, it's almost flat. A few minutes later, the powdery green glacier lake dazzles in front of you. Nice to rest here. But hard to stay put for long before the horseflies in the neighborhood find you. Soon, green shrubs and white heather give way to rocks. The view is better up here. But who wouldn't go down to the lake? Just 5-10 minutes on broken rocks, almost flat. Very refreshing to wash the sweat off. Too cold to jump in, at least for me. On the way down to the waterfront, I saw 2 guys sunning themselves next to a little pond completely naked. After some food by the lake, soaking up the view, returned to the car in ~2.5 hours. My legs were a bit wobbly towards the end.

There's a very small hut (for 4 or 6 people?). A high toilet (clean, decent toilet paper, no smell). 3 excellent wood camping platforms on the rocky ridge, overlooking the stunning beauty of the surrounding granite and the tantalizing lake. Most campers had to find places around the rocky slope without the lake view, or down at the waterfront (less dramatic view). Not too many people on this sunny, a bit too hot (~32°C), Saturday. 5 bites, not too bad.

Direction: ~13km on Hwy 99 north of Wistler Gate Blvd. Clear BC provincial park sign (blue + white) for the lake. Turn right. Follow the sign to turn left. Total ~2km on the narrow gravel road. Bad but passable. Left Seattle downtown at 8:20am, arrived at the tail head at 14:20. Two 5 minute stops for gas and duty-free. 30 minutes at the border. Slow going at times on Hwy 99. Too many people for the Canadian long weekend.

Returned to Squamish for the night. It was already past 10pm. Everything was closed. Picked up a local visitor's guide at the hotel lobby. Only then did I realize that this might be some kind of long weekend in Canada.

8/5 Sunday
Canada Day parade in downtown Squamish. People lined up Cleveland Ave's east side (in the shade). Instead of watching the parade, we headed over to the spit to watch the Canadian kite board national championship, one of the few festivals in the visitor's guide. People were just filing in. The spit itself is very scenic, bordered on both side by water. One side is the marshy deposit typical of an estuary. Very green, lots of birds. Ahead is Howe Sound. Prevailing summer wind makes this area very pleasant on a hot summer day. Great view over Stawamus Chief and Shannon Falls, Diamond Head... Today, it's also extremely colorful. Some were just showing off, not participate the competition.

Direction: Hwy 99 north edge of Squamish town center. Take Centenial Way west or Commercial Way west - right on Queens way. Continue on Government Road curving south. Drive the wide gravel road all the way to the end, with water on both sides.
$15/day or $150/year. Anyone can play here. Free to watch. Gear rental and medical attention, kite boarding school. A small booth selling water and beer. Cash only.