Our Second Furry 5K Is In The Books

I had almost forgotten about the Furry 5K but we did get our reservation in on time. Although Bogie is going on 12 years young, I think we shaved a few minutes off of last years time. Of course on both occasions, we were not in it for speed. This is a blast of a race with hundreds of well mannered dogs, loving owners, beautiful day and exercise!


We did things a little different this time around. We didn't pickup our race packets on Saturday but opted to arrive to the race about a hour before it started. Remarkably, we parked in about the same spot as last year, picked up our packets, took all the free shwag back to the truck and got a nice long dip into the lake before race time.


As you can see, bogie was really enjoying the pre-race soak idea!


The race starting line was a little different as well, most notably louder! There were a few beagles in strategic starting positions and they all started to yelp at the same time.


This drove many of the other dogs a bit crazy and we were in the middle of a little canine rave!


Just before the two mile mark, I went off the course to let Bogie get another nice soak in the lake. I really think that invigorated him for the remainder of the race because he jogged right along with me until the end!

Lots of folks gave Bogie compliments at the finish line and it was a very fun outing!

Finally, I Decided To Hike Mount Si

I've hiked Little Mount Si a half dozen time or more but I've never ventured a couple miles down the same road to hike Mount Si. Now that I'm living south of Seattle, the drive time here isn't a challenge at all. Weekend hiking traffic however, is a HUGE problem for this popular hike. This is the main reason why I never did it in the past.



So Sunday I arrived at the trail head about 7:45 and there were 20 or so cars already in the parking lot. By the time I returned from this 8 mile excursion, the lot was packed to the point of stupid. Good thing I'm an early riser.



This hike itself reminds me of Mount Dickerman, four miles straight up via switchbacks and four miles back down the way you came. The view at the top of Mount Si is quite impressive but doesn't hold to Mount Dickerman (in my opinion).

A snow break was very nice for Bogie and he couldn't wait to snuggle up with this small patch.






Yet more stunning views!


Yes, Mount Rainer was showing herself that day and hope to do some hiking over there later in this summer. As you can see, still has quite a bit of snow still left.

This was the last stream before the trailhead parking lot. As you can see, Bogie was pretty worn out by this time. The look on his face at this point was almost blissful.

Last Sunday Walk From Apartment To Green River Trail

Here are some snapshots from last Fridays little walk from the apartment.

Last Friday At Squak

Last Friday was a beautiful day and the forecast for Saturday / Sunday was rain. I had a new database to install on Saturday anyway, so headed out of the office early for a rare after work hike.


A bogie classic, I think this stream would be a wonderful place for a quick sit down.


Trying my hand at a nature shot of this massive moss covered tree.



Kind of funny but you see lost hats like this on trails all the time.


Eight stumps all in a row.


Hard to see but there is a pretty cool little waterfall way in the back!


Trying my hand at some nature shots, this grove of trees looked amazing in the afternoon light.


Another cooling stream sit down break for Bogie.

Saturday At Iron Horse State Park

Last week I picked up a couple new trail books and have been itching to try out one of their listed hikes. So today's guide was "Day Hiking Snoqualmie Region" and we picked out number 22, The Iron Horse Trail: Washington Creek. That part of the journey didn't turn out well. The book is a bit confusing, it makes it sound like there is an awesome trestle with a spectacular view but there isn't on that part of the trail. So we did 9.5 miles and didn't reach the intended destination and it still turned out nice.






The book makes it sound like the trail is over by Rattlesnake Lake, so we walked a trail around it. Had no idea there was a trail there and that mad the disappointment that our goal trail is no where near it. Still, we enjoyed this failed journey and bogie went for a couple swims. Bye the way, the other side of the lake is Rattlesnake Ledge, that we visited and I've written about a few time before.



We finally found the correct trail and we followed it all the way to Twin Falls (which we have also visited before).





It looks like the trestle that I wanted is quite a distance farther down the Iron Horse Trail from there even. Next time, I think we will start off at the parking lot for twin falls, follow it up to Iron Horse and then try to make it over to this elusive landmark.