Monte Cristo (June 2010)

This hike was another leap of faith in weather.com, because it wasn’t a pretty day when we left. The hiking gods were smiling upon us once we reached the Monte Cristo trail head. We had hiked this trail last October and really enjoyed this early summer version. Here is a link to last years hike (click here).






The weather was almost perfect and we made very good time down the trail before the river crossing.






In fact, we made it to the Monte Cristo town site much earlier than I expected. It being a weekend day, there was a lot of folks enjoying the trail and we didn’t linger at the town site very long. I had taken a lot of pictures last year but I experimented with some alternate shots. I really like the one with bogie and the old lodge sign!




After we reached the Monte Cristo town site this time, we decided to venture down the Poodle Dog Pass trail. I knew that we would get there or even the Silver / Twin Lakes because of snow pack. However, I wanted to check it out for a future hike sometime mid summer.




We passed by Sunday Falls but I didn’t find a position that afforded me a very good picture of it. The trail was nice but we eventually turned around before reaching the lakes (because of the snow pack). I still had memories of trudging waist deep in snow from the Mount Dickerman hike. Plus, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get any good pictures because ... I DROPPED MY CAMERA INTO A BIG MUDDY PUDDLE!

Here you can see a very nice shot with soggy camera innards.


I have been upgrading my point and shoot camera every year for awhile now. So now I’ll be moving from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 to Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS6. I didn’t want to have to learn a whole new camera and the reviews for it are kick ass! I do hope the big moisture drop in the middle of the lens on my ZS1 clears up but looking forward to using this new model!

More Pictures Of Our New Neighbors

These were snapped by my landlord.

Furry 5K Is In The Record Books

Just got back from Seward Park for the Furry 5K, the first race I have done with the wonder dog. He did OK, he was pretty tired the last mile and was obviously ready for it to be over. I think we came in about 38 minutes and some change. Not bad considering how many stops we made the last mile and had one potty break in there as well.

Got Some New Neighbors - Baby Coons!

Landlord had cut down most of a dead tree a couple years ago and it turns out to be mostly hollow. A momma coon has had a litter in their and they occasionally take a peek outside.

Lake Serene (June 2010)

The Lake Serene trail is shared, to a point, with Bridal Veil falls hike. I’d done the later a couple times but had never taken the fork in the trail that leads to Lake Serene. So last Sunday was the day to explore that hike and it turned out to be more exercise that I thought! Here a links to the previous Bridal Veil hikes ( 2008 - 2009 ).




The hike starts off with a long romp in the woods and many streams along the way.



Although not as dramatic as the Bridal Veil falls, these were quite nice. Lots of winter water still running downhill on the trail!





More woods hiking going straight up and the occasional visa view of the Cascades.



An off leach friend would catch up with us from time to time and then trot back down to his owners (a little farther down the trail).






More woods hiking going straight up, a nice place for bogie to cool off and yet more nice views of the Cascades.





At last, the lake! Very nice and we hung out here for quite a while before heading back.



The trail was a very nice exercise and bogie was totally worn out. He couldn’t keep his eyes open and kept nodding his head. Finally, he relaxed and started snoring on the way back.