Book Review: Bearing An Hourglass

I finished this book by Piers Anthony a couple weeks ago but kept forgetting to write a review on it. This is the second book in the incarnation series. The first “On A Pale Horse” I reviewed back in July of this year. This book focuses on the aspect of Time and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. However, I’m about half way through the third book “With a Tangled Skein” and it is helping me (in retrospect) developer a deeper appreciation for this volume.


The story goes quite a bit down the road before Norton becomes the incarnation of time. I was beginning to wonder if it ever would. I enjoyed the prelude to Norton accepting his office but I’m not sure it was really needed and it now seems like filler. Also, the book twice left the world of these incarnations to become a short space and then short fantasy saga. It was very bewildering for me at the time but it came together at the end very well.

I’ve seen one review on Amazon that says this book is a connector between the first and third books. I would have to agree (although I haven’t finished the third book yet). There is a interesting concept in the book in which Norton lives time backwards (our future is his past and vice versa). This was an interesting mechanism but there was a section in the book in which it was more cumbersome that enlightening.

All in all, I recommend this book but I think you should have measured expectations.

Mount Pilchuck Trail (3)

Well, Saturday was suppose to be a nice day and Bogie wanted to make a repeat visit out to Mount Pilchuck. So we took off about 10:30 AM and got back about 5:30 PM. It was a very nice hike and worthwhile work out for the both of us.



I wasn’t in a hurry at all and took a number of breaks on my way up to the peak. There was a lot of people on the trail and many other dogs. The Friday before, I went for a 7 mile walk with Bogie on Centennial Trail. I don’t know if that is what kept slowing me down on Saturday but I was having a much more difficult time this outing.




Anyway, you can see that there was a decent mix of cloud cover and nice sunshine.

Mount Pilchuck Trail (2)

Well, we had three days of really crappy weather and the forecast was for sun in the afternoon. I started work about 5 AM and called it a day at 10 AM. Packed up Bogie and headed back out to Mount Pilchuck. Last time, I didn’t make it to the summit because of the snow pack. I was pretty sure that wouldn’t be the case now and wanted to get back up there before it snowed again.



I got to the state park about noon and it didn’t look good. Figured I had about 2 hours before getting to the summit, so perhaps the sun would come out by then. Turns out that I missed that margin about about 90 minutes. It was getting nice just as we were mostly back down to the trail head.





We didn’t actually make it to the lookout. The bolders were pretty large and it was freaking bogie out. What can I say, he is almost 10 years old now and just doesn’t have his reckless puppy abandon any longer. Still, it was a nice hike and did wear us out pretty good.



Do you think bogie looks ok to drive?

Red Hook - Late Harvest - Autumn Ale (um-tasty!)

Well, it was 2PM on a Sunday, I’ve completed a first pass on some client work and decided it was beer thirty ... if ... it was one of those house cleaning ... dusting ... moping ... not just a man cleaning ... sessions. Went to the store to pick out something a little different and happened upon this brew.



Really liked this brew! Literally, cleaned the kitchen (including moping, microwave and toaster shaking ... didn’t clean the crisper though ... oh well ... still got time), dusted, vacuumed the staircase (you know I’m serious when I do that), started a weight lifting session and writing this blog.

Seriously, if you are in the store and see this brew ... give it a try. Very full bodied and I would recommend you drink it on an empty stomach. Very nice buzz and this brew is a bit filling. You might not get the through the first two unless your tummy is empty.

Discovery Park

Well, I didn’t enjoy this hike (practically at all) for a number of reasons. Getting to the park itself is a navigation challenge for the Ballard inexperienced, the trails are not marked very well, the parking lot tells you it is a high theft area and the trails themselves crisscross in a chaotic manner.

I never made it to the lighthouse. After spending about a hour trying to figure out the logic of the trail system (then deciding there wasn’t any), I cracked open the 60 Great Hikes book. Then discovered the directions to the trail going by the lighthouse were ... well ... whacky. So I decided it wasn’t worth it and headed home.


That being said, I do think the beach part of this trail is very nice.

However, if you live in this neighborhood, you probably love this park. It looks like an absolutely fantastic place for an after work or weekend morning job. In situations like that, the whacky trail system would be fun and worth exploring. I wouldn’t recommend this for someone coming in from out of town for some trail action.

Went To The Huskies / Sooners Game

Last Saturday scored a ticket to the Huskies / Sooners game from my good friend John. The Sooners looked awesome in the 44-10 win and the Huskies definitely were struggling against this third ranked team in the nation. There was some bright spots for the huskies but I was amazed how often the Washington quarterback (in shotgun setup) was fielding grounders from the center.


Although it wasn’t a great game from the hometown perspective, it was a super day for being at a college football game. The weather was fantastic and everyone seemed to have as good of a time as they could while watching Oklahoma tear up and down the field. What can I say, I’m an Illini fan but have no problem pulling for the Huskies.

Lime Kiln Trail

I had done the Lime Kiln trail earlier in the year with April but my photos didn’t come out very good. So I opened up the office about 6:30 AM this morning and worked to about 2PM. Then the wonder dog and I headed out to Granite Falls and try the trail again. This hike runs along the Stillaguamish River and the old Monte Cristo Railway.

Here you can see bogie at one of the first bridges.

As advertised, you come across the Lime Kiln about 3/4 th the way through the trail. It used an old time method of extracting powdered lime from limestone.



A little farther down the trail, you get to the Stillaguamish river. The first time we visited, it was very high, fast moving and scary. This time the water was low, very low in parts and a welcome swim for the wonder dog.

A little post swim look from Bogie.

The trail itself is not the best I’ve been on but it is a nice 6 mile loop and was just what the doctor ordered on a pleasant day like today.

The Lime Kiln on the way back in a different light.


Here is a video from our May 18th visit.

Iron Goat Trail

Well the day started off with us trying to hike the Mineral City Town Site but was thwarted by road construction. So another 20 miles down the road, the Iron Goat Trail was our destination. We have hiked the Iron Goat Trail a couple times but not since 2006 and never completely from end to end.


This trail is an old train route that I first discovered in one of the Rails To Trails books and is also included in the 60 Great Hikes book. The trail has an upper and lower grade and we set off to take the upper grade all the way from the Martin Creek Trailhead to the Wellington trailhead (about 6 miles and 12 miles round trip).

The first of many water stops for Bogie.

The site is full of history and well placed signs explaining the background of the trail. The trail is also one of the best maintained trails I’ve seen this year. There is a bunch of tunnels, spillways, viewpoints, nature and even a Moria like section of this trail. Has to be one of the better 6 mile hikes in the state of Washington.

You can hike up to one of the spillways and check out the waterfall.



Here you can see some of the great views and one of the many backwalls you come across.





Here you can see the trail to Wellington starting about 4 miles into the hike. You can see the Moria like all concrete snowshed and it is a little eerie but also very cool. You can see one end that is damaged and that adds to the freaky factor a little more.

Coming back from Wellington, we took the switchback trail down to the lower grade at the Windy Point Crossover. This was a lot steeper and longer than it looked on the map. Just when you thought it was over, you would have another series of switchbacks to complete. The lower grades is not to be missed though, with a number of unique tunnels, an adit (a short tunnel used in construction that has wicked cold air coming out of it), great views of its own and a nice little footbridge to enjoy.

Here you can see an avalanche site that happened back in February of this year. The trail has been adapted to not only deal with the pile of trees but to allow you a closer look at it. It is mid September as I write this and was stunned to see that under the pile of trees, was the remainder of the avalanche ice!

Here is the cool little footbridge I talked about and you can see the almost 12 mile hike has even worn Bogie out a little bit.

O. O. Denny County Park Loop Trail

Yesterday, I wanted to take a quick break from the office and knew that April had the day off. Called her to see if she wanted to do this quick little trail we had seen in the 60 Great Hikes book in Bellevue.


So we made it to the trail without too much trouble. The trail itself is nice but not remarkable considering the plethora of great trails we have here in the Pacific Northwest. There is some information about Salmon spawning and the trail is well maintained.


On the trail is the remainder of the largest Douglas Fir in King County. It is an impressive tree (or what remains of it) and is a nice aspect of this trail.



Right across the road in a beach to Lake Washington and a nice place to take the dogs to after the hike. We were able to see seaplanes flying by and some wind surfers.

Here is a nice picture that I took of April and Patches.

Time to go home!