2024.8.25 Beckler Peak + Heybrook Lookout

8/25, Sunday. It rained a lot on Saturday. Trails are a bit wet, but no dust! Unfortunately, we started in fog and ended in fog. Nice temperature though.

I picked Beckler Peak hoping for a good view with little effort. My mistake on this cloudy day. Still a 2 hr drive, even thought it's only ~70 miles away. 6.6 miles on FR 6066 is full of pot holes. We are the first car here. Beckler Peak starts on a decommissioned road. Along the road quite some weeds blooming: common tansy and pearly everlasting, large leaf aven, fireweed. Once on the trail, it's in the forest. No flowers. At the higher reach, huckleberry patche on the ridge without many berries:(
Well constructed trail. The trail ends on a rocky outcrop, not the actural Beckler Peak. I scouted for a path to go down the notch, but gave up. Too cloudy for a view. We waited for a long time. The only saving grace is an owl at the rocky end. I've never seen an owl this close, let alone in day light. Of course, he flew away before I could take a photo.

On the way back, met a young couple, then a family of 4 with 2 small kids and a dog, and heard someone off the parking lot. Picked some boletes, in very good shape. Tons of russulas.

Drove back towards Index. Saw a grouse in the middle of the bumpy road. Stopped at a large pull-out of Hwy-2. Walked up to Heybrook Lookout. The trail is very busy, nothing interesting. The final lookout is very nice, almost looks new. For this low elevation (~1800', 1000' lower than Beckler's TH), the view is very good, now that half of the clouds have dissipated. Index is dead into your face to the south. Barring to the east, still obscured by clouds. The latch to the top floor was locked. Can only walk around below that.

On the way back, met the family who would spend the night in the lookout. The mother said that she made the reservation back in April!

Surprising, no traffic on Hwy-2 coming back. Back in Seattle before 6pm in sunny blue sky. Cooked up the mushroom for dinner.

2024.8.24. Legos at MOHAI

8/24, MOHAI hosts Lego bricks event. Its main floor exhibits some large impressive works made of legos. For example, this Burj Khalifa (1:200) takes 48,365 bricks, 135 hours to build. The Shanghai Tower in the middle takes 104,800 bricks, 185 hours to build.
These are made by Anu Creates, and Anu herself was at the table with her works. There're also a few tables where you can build lego models yourself.

As long as I was in MOHAI, browsed the exhibition on the ground floor. John Grade's Wawona sculpture is most interesting, made by the salvaged wood that once of a schooner named Wawona. Concentric broken circlces, tall tower.

2024.8.22. Dance Portrait at Pier 62

8/22, Thursday. Pier 62 features dance groups on Thursdays this summer. This week, there were 3 dances, with the theme of "dance as portrait". I saw only these two, and liked this one.

This one is odd. However, not much of dance movements. These two dragged, rolled on, and spins with tires. I like the song accompanied with is performance.

The view is always excellent here.

2024.8.20. Classified Cinema at SIFF

8/21 Tuesday 7:30pm. SIFF Uptown screens a secret movie for free every month. Title unannounced, until the screening. This is is David Michod's The Rover, a distopia movie in Australia's outback. After some unknown clapse, a man risked everything to hunt for the 3 guys who stole his car. Everything is a little bizzar: the people, the township, the barren landscape, the military compound. However, the emotion of the two main characters are easy to relate. Very good acting, especially the half-wit brother.

I wasn't aware of this event until now. Sponsored by Scarecrow Video. I don't think I'd ever get to know about this film without this event. Looking forward to the next surprise.

2024.8.18. Belltown Mural Tour

Belltown Mural Week culminated in a guided walking tour on 8/18 Sunday at noon. Beginning on August 13th, local artists actively painted throughout the week. A multi-block Paint Jam and Street Festival in the heart of Belltown. See more photos on Instagram.

I joined the tour a bit late. Almost 100 people, so it was slow moving and I caught up with them. The "guide" is an artist himself. He has a small loudspeaker, but with this many people, I wasn't able to hear all what he said. We visited some murals made before, and some being made. By parking lots, in the alleys. Some of the paintings require a large lift, some require evening time, when no cars are parked by the wall to be painted. Here's the artist talking about her creation.
My favorite is this one. The guy in blue is the artist who designed it. All these large murals have helping hands.

There's a map of murals in Seattle downtown, and a map specifically for Belltown.

Today is Brazil Fest at Seattle Center. I was hoping to see performances with colorful costumes. But no. The ending parade is at fun.

2024.8.17. Banshee Peak, Rainier

8/16, Friday. I waited in front of my computer for the 7pm release of timed entrance reservation to Mount Rainier the next day. Logged in. As soon as 7pm stroke, I snatched a ticket for 7-9am window at Sunrise entrance. For fear that we couldn't get to the gate in time, I tried to reserve another ticket for the 9-11am at Paradise entrance. When I clicked button, it showed 101 tickets available, but it spinned and retried 5 times, and returned error. It showed 67 tickets now, and I clicked the button again, but same.

8/17, Saturday. Up at 6am, left home at 6:30am. At this hour, the road is clear. We stopped for gas in Auburn. All smooth. Reached the gate ~8:20. Used restroom. Summerland is maybe my favorite trail in Rainier, but it's very popular. With this timed entry system, it doesn't feel as busy as before. Panhandle River TH parking was practically full. Even saw 2 cars double parked. Squeezed into the end of the line. Started hiking before 9am.

This weekend is already past the prime bloom at Summerland. But it's still lovely. I can always count on this aster+fireweed patch before the bridge, and the monkey flowers along the creeks. A lot more gentian today. However, the air smells smoke. As we entered Summerland, it started to rain. Thankfully, only a few sprinkles, and diminished the smoke smell. Stopped to fill my Sawyer squeeze bag from a creek lined with monkey flowers.

Going up to Panhandle Gap. A lot of water. Rockier, but still some flowers, bright green moss. Saw elephant's head, and larkspur. I really like the area near this pond. Had an early lunch at Panhandle Gap. Only 2 other parties of 2 here. Hazy (smokey) to the east. Could barely make out Mount Adams. No sheep.

Continued on to Sarvent area. Traverse on a slope (going down a bit) of asters. Then going up a gentle slope towards Banshee Peak. Surprised to see more than usual flowers. Especially harebells in the grass and buckwheat on seemly bare ground. Even some leftover lupine. A lot of bistort.

Fished my lunch at the peak. Looking down at the blue pond and Sarvent Glacier. Going back, had a break at this spot (most flowers on Sarvent Mountain). Found a small group of Chinese wondering why they were here. Then a swim at the pond below Panhandle Gap. I only dipped my feet in the cold water. At Summerland, met a group of ~10 climbers coming back from Whitman Crest.

Got back to the car around 5pm. Picked some Bolete on the forest floor. Stopped for beer at Elumclaw. Back in Seattle ~7pm. A lovely day.

Thanks to the newly instituted time entry ticket, it was a better experience. No crowd. Thanks to the clouds, it wasn't too smokey or hot. Otherwise, 13 miles is no joke if the air were bad.

2024.8.16. Pagliacci - Seattle Opera

8/16, Friday, 7:30pm. I've only known Pagliacci because of Pagliacci Pizza, which I really like. Pagliacci - the opera, is new to me. I had never heard of Ruggero Leoncavallo, the composer and librettist. However, most of us have heard of its aria Vesti La Giubba, a clown with a laughing face, but crying inside.

Seattle Opera's production of Pagliacci has a very nice stage set. I really like the voice of Tonio (Michael Chioldi), the hunchback. I also like the chorus. I didn't care for the soprano nor the tenor. Less volumn. A minor gripe. Tonio the actor is taller and better looking than Canio (Pagliacci). Seattle Opera costume department should make him ugly and add a hunchback.

This opera is short. Only 1 stage set. At the end of the opera, noticed the costum sets in the lobby. Didn't stay for the after talk. Need to prepare for tomorrow's hike.

2024.8.10. Mount Dickerman

8/10, Saturday. I met the hike organizer Harry in front of a cross-fit gym at 6:30am. Had to wait around. It turns out, the owner (J.D.) is going, and she'd be driving her Tesla. We filled 5 in the car, met other 3 parties of total 4 at the TH parking lot. By the time we started hiking, it was almost 9am.

Mount Dickerman is a very nice hike and a good work-out. Almost 4000' elevation gain. Well maintained trail. The trail is a bit boring before getting to the berry area. Huckleberry on the higher slope still needs at least 2 weeks. A bit lower, some edible ones. Views popping to the south. Saw a pika. In 3 hours, 5 of us reached the summit. No sign of the rest. Lunch, and a long wait. H also brought a large flag with a post and stand to take photos. We gave up, and headed down. Met the other 4 on our way out. So, they all made to the summit.

At the parking lot, Harry and J.D. sat in their camping chairs chatting. I sat at the only picnic table by the TH, reading my book, waiting for the young couple in J.D.'s car. The girl is a travel enthusiast. On the drive back, that's all she talked about, kept us entertained. When driving by Granite Falls, the boy talked about Critical, the WA version of Burning Man in late July. He went this year, and said that the Friday evening burn and party after is the best to attend.

Back in Seattle downtown a little after 5pm.

2024.8.8. Seattle Frankenfunk

8/8, Thursday, 6pm. I've never heard of Frankenfunk. Pier 62 hosted a The Popping Breakin’ Jam (open floor), and a final "competition" with 4 judges. 3 judges each gave a short performance before the final contest (a group of 2 girls vs a group of 2 guys). One judge was limping. It's fun to watch these "poppers" and "breakers".

One judge brought his family here. His 2 kids were dancing. The girl is probably 4. Very cute. Nice sunset.

2024.8.3. Squamish - Lynn Canyon Park

8/3, sunny, high 80°Fs, if not 90°F, too warm. We left home ~9am, unaware that this is a long weekend here. Lots of cars on the road.

Sea to Sky highway north of Vancouver, south of Squamish is one of the most beautiful roads in the world, thanks to the snowy peaks to the west and numerous green islands in Howe Sound. Drove to Murrin Park. Its parking lot was full. So gave up. Drove to Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Busy, but I found a parking spot. The park is small, so there're constant people arriving and leaving. The waterfall is nice but lack of force. I didn't even bother to take a photo.

My objective du jour is Squamish's wind sport spit. See my last visit in 2015, and Kite Clash-7. It was such a bustling place, full of energy and beauty. Now, washed out road, deserted, but still pretty. Looks like the last event was 2019 before COVID. We walked into the blocked road, over rubbles and seaweeds. Had a snack break before coming back to the car.

At the parking lot just before the boulders that blocked the road, we walked onto Chelem Trail. There's a nice foot bridge. The trail goes into the marsh of the estuary, but at least for awhile it was shaded by brushed on both sides. We were thankful for the shade. Some flowers. Bird houses. Quite nice. But probably better in dusk or dawn. Not sure about bugs. In mid-day, no bugs. The good thing is that it's always very windy here.

Continue driving upstream nort to Brackendale, home to one of the highest concentrations of wintering bald eagles in North America (from November to February). We made a stop at Fishermans Park, by the river, where one of us napped. Yes, saw maybe 1 fisherman. Most were chilling out by the water under a tree. Very sandy, but you cannot walk right by water, except for a few spots.

Then, we made a stop on the dyke at "Eagle Run Vista Point". Need to come back in winter. Large information panels on bald eagle. Benches.

Driving back, trying Murrin Park a second time. Dropped my passengers off, and I drove north to park on an abandoned road (Watts Point Rd), and then walked the hwy to the park. The little Browning Lake was surrounded by picnicing families. I opted for the Murrin Loop trail. Looks very short. However, it's not a normal trail. More like a scramble. Took us a long time to negotiate the rocks and roots. Many climbing groups. A lot of rocks here, with nailed anchor.

Made two more photo stops: Porteau Cov Road Lookout. Lions Bay city park.

Our last stop of the day is Lynn Canyon Park. Again, circled around until I found a parking spot. Paid at a vending machine for parking. The three of us walked to the suspension bridge, the highlight of this park, with the view of a nice waterfall. Well, the bridge was blocked. A lot of people. A ranger holding the fence informed us that someone who was cliff-jumping panicked, and the park called in a rescue team to fish him out. According to her, this is a "routine operation", a couple of times a week in the summer. She said she counted 30~40 jumpers today. The rescue was in the way. The cry-baby was pulled up on the rope, then the rope was lowered for the rescuer to come back up. A slow process, took more time to clean all the signs and blockage. A 9 person team. Not sure why need so many people. Had to wait for the people on the other side to come over the bridge first. A lot of them. When we went over the bridge, we could see 6 young men below. Watched 2 of them jumped down the waterfall, and continued swimming and jumping forward. The other 4 chickened out, and walked back the river. This is the first time we witness a cliff jumping. Interesting end of the day.

Dinner at a Chinese restaurant across street from Crystal Mall.

2024.7.29-8.2 Seattle Startup Week

Many events happening during this Seattle Startup Week. I went to 6. Two are very good. The rest are mostly networking events. All provided food, not all with alcoholic drink.

7/31 Wednesday 12:00-2pm. Market Insights and Exit Strategy Preparation.
Fenwick, Moss Adams and MUFG, will lead a panel discussion on the state of the market following a period of historically high valuations and how to prepare your company for a successful acquisition or IPO.

• Gerald Pascual, Marketing Senior Specialist, Technology, Communications, and Life Sciences at Moss Adams
• Cory Brunn, CPA, Director, Transaction Services at Moss Adams
• Amanda Rose, Capital Markets & Public Companies Partner at Fenwick & West

I especially like Amanda. I took these notes (of no particular order)

• 2 years of audited financial before S1 filing, ideally showing consistent growth and path to profitability
• Quarterly buring report, revenue (substantiated with contracts/sales) for better price forecast.
• Financial advisor (investment bank?)
• Tax advisor
• Legal counsel with IP specialty. Existing IP or partnership may hinder your new agreement for exist.

8/1, Thursday 12:00-1pm. Hardware is Harder.

• John Kim, Co-founder- Hubble Network (Growth). His leadership has led to Hubble's launching of two satellites within two years of founding to successfully prove the world's first Bluetooth-to-space connection.
• Kenny Lee, CEO Aigen (Seed), co-founder of Aigen, a start-up on a mission to unlock regenerative agriculture at a planetary scale with a pesticide-free, solar-powered robotics platform.
• Yun Zhang is Co-founder and CEO of Wyze Labs. (Scale). Wyze is focused on consumer Hardware and Software innovations. Over the past 7 years since inception, Wyze builds an install base of 10 million homes and 30 million IoT devices. Wyze’s AI-powered home monitoring service is democratizing AI in physical home spaces on a scale.

I especially like the last 2 founders.

This hardware panel is held at the 17th floor Russell Investment Center at Union + 2nd, hosted by JP Morgan. The conference room is not big, they had to turn away a few people. The 17th floor has an excellent rooftop deck and a large bar area (larger than the conference room).