Floated a creek up north with a couple of friends. Only used mouse patterns. Had blue skies and a lot of fun.
Life is better with dogs.
Navigating the cold clear water.
We caught lots of fish. They weren’t all this happy.
After the madness of Memorial Day, we headed south to the Anchor River to see if we could catch a King Salmon on a fly. The patriotism of the bald eagles were in full swing.
The night before we fished, we got to spend some time by a campfire doing the usual things. It seemed like a good omen.
The evening was lovely.
The next day, we had a hook up! Hanapa’a.
The eagles were vigilantly watching to see what would happen.
We did it! We landed one.
That gave us plenty of time to explore the beaches in the area. What a beautiful spot!
Maybe it looks hard. Maybe it was. Maybe it was hillier than we thought it would be. Whatever. Totally counts as hike 5/52 also!
Amanda: 1:50:33 7/146 AG 179/1583 OA
Rory: 1:47:11 13/82 AG 125/1583
As I was coming home from work one recent morning, a moose crossed the road in front of me. Luckily, I had plenty of time to stop. Then the moose stopped as well. He stood in the middle of the road and I stopped. Idling the bike, I lowered my feet unsure of what to do. If he charged, could I turn around fast enough and gun it? Probably not. Would we play chicken and I try to skirt around to the other lane? Doubtful. We looked at each other for a while. I think that he realized that I wasn’t too much of a threat. He walked down the road keeping a wary eye on me.
He was on the same side of the road as I was, so I was going to have to drive on the opposite side of the road to give him plenty of space. A couple of cars came by. Some stopped to make sure that he wouldn’t charge them as well. Some zoomed by either not noticing or not caring. I slowly started approaching him from behind, but got into the other lane (hoping there was no oncoming traffic) and he stopped to watch as I passed him nervously.
These giant animals are still amazing to me. To the locals, they are like dairy cows in Wisconsin. Big, never trusted, and seen everywhere. Locals don’t take pictures of moose. I still do. I got home and took the dogs on a short walk. A few minutes later, this brute come clomping down the road just like he was when I passed him. He still didn’t seem to have a care in the world. He is a true local.
Just the beginning of the trail. Or I guess it is the end if you start in Eagle River. 
When I was in Brazil I hiked into the rainforest and would swim under these beautiful waterfalls. Some local kids were there wondering why these non locals were wandering into the forest on their own. They followed us into the jungle. Communication was difficult as they didn’t speak any English. After a couple different waterfalls I kept inviting them in to swim and they constantly refused. I didn’t think anything of it. Eventually we saw a small snake and through hand signals, I think they said that they don’t swim in the creeks because of the large snakes that could eat you. That made me pause and remember where I was. Holy shit. 20 foot anacondas. Man eaters. I had no thought of that while giddily jumping off waterfalls into unknown pools.
A few future nurses headed out to explore on our spring break. We were fresh from school and recently completed an ACLS course. Feeling like being outside, I took the dogs (Obi’s first hike), and we met at the trailhead. It starts off easily enough through the trees.
Not long after that, the views really expand and the hiking gets a little more strenuous. It was nice to be sweating in the sunshine when we should be knee deep in snow. It was still March after all.
When we first arrived at the lake, it was mesmerizing. I love the alpine lakes. The water was calm, clear and looked good for fishing (which is always on the back of my mind). We were amazed that there was no snow to be seen. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the lake had ice on it this time of year.
I couldn’t stop taking pictures. Panoramas were almost as popular as selfies this day.
I am not afraid to admit that I was given a selfie stick and I used it. The BSB (blue shirt boys) were in full effect on this hike.
Thanks as always to my hiking companions that show up and don’t complain. Also, if you hike in Washington State, you probably know about WTA, but if not, check them out as they have more information than you will know what to do with. Become a member.
