My hike went well. It took a couple hours longer than I thought it would. I think it was actually a little further than I thought it would be too. I was hiking north from I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass, WA. There is a “catwalk” that is about 5 miles away. That catwalk is where you can see both east and west over the pass, and there is about 5 to ten feet to stand at the top, with it going pretty much straight down on each side. Pretty cool, and not really as scary as it might sound.
Starting around 3,000 feet, near I-90 and going up at least a couple thousand more adds a little more to the workout! I’ve been exercising regularly for several months, but at sea level, near my place in Bellevue. Also, the up hill to get there took about 3.25 hours. The downhill to get back took about 1.75 hours. That’s a big difference. The last hour was in pretty much all dark conditions too. I had to wear my headlamp. That wasn’t nearly as fun as earlier when I could see everything with sunlight. The view is a big reason why I went there, in addition to the exercise.
Here’s a link to the set of pictures I took on this hike. All-in-all it was a nice hike, and a good day to do it.
I wrote a poem a few years ago. It’s fitting to share it again here, after hiking up a mountain today.
There are many times when words are the ones that fail us.
There are many times when we are the ones that fail.
There are even times when other’s words console us.
Then there are the times when being speechless is more than words can say.
There are times when running is the answer.
There are times when the answer is hidden.
There are times when hiding is the answer.
There are even times when we run and hide.
There are times when frustrations mount.
There are mountains of reasons and reasons for mountains.
There are cycles in life and cycles to climb mountains.
There are feelings and these are paramount.
Hiding from the reasons is not the answer.
Running from frustrations may cause us to fail.
Life cycles are like mountains.
They have every situation, but on the top and at the end, you see why you went there.
T. W. Getsch 10/99
Filed under: Life, Perspective, Pics, Writing
