Kitty's Scratch Pad

Math Problem

Before bed I read a book about bugs to Fen.  We talk about bugs a lot.  Fen loves entemology.  After we finished reading, we practiced some math problems - specifically subtraction.  The example showed 6 flowers with 4 of them scratched in order to show 6 - 4 = 2.  We moved to the next problem - 10 minus 9.  Fen told me if there are 10 aphids and a ladybug eats 9 there is one aphid left... 

Glacier National Park

We somehow managed to inventory and shop the weekend prior to our trip.  We had everything packed and ready to go on Thursday night.  Unfortunately Fen came down with a fever and it was touch and go as to whether I would actually be able to go.  Thankfully his fever broke that night and we stayed home from work/school to be sure he was feeling 100% better.  The complicated part came when he needed to meet up with the caregiver.  Alex packed the car and I ran him to the meet spot and came back home only to jump directly into the car and head for Boeing Field.  Michael and Anh were there waiting and pre-flight was complete.  We loaded the Saratoga and were wheels up by around 5:30ish.  It was around 2 hours later that we landed at Glacier National Airport.  After unloading the plane and loading the car we were off for some good ol' Montana grub.  Michael and Anh frequent this area and have found a nice little place called the "Back Room" that serves up some fine ribs and fry bread.  We gorged knowing this would be our last big meal for most of the next three days.  We got to the first campground and set up our tents.  It would be an early morning and we all crashed quickly.  I have to admit, I was a bit anxious heading into this trek.  I am sorely out of shape and wondered if I would be able to finish what was laid out.  The plan was:

Saturday: Lake McDonald to the Sperry CG - 6.8 miles

Sunday: Sperry CG to Sperry Glacier - 8 miles then Sperry CG to Lake Ellen Wilson - 2.7 miles

Monday: Lake Ellen Wilson back down to Lake McDonald - 9.5 miles

If I recall correctly, we were on the trail around 9:30 and made our first two miles without any worry.  My legs were a little wobbly but I felt I had found a rhythm.  The whole vertically challenged thing means 9 times out of 10 I am always the pace setter.  This is sort if difficult for me since I am constantly paranoid about keeping people from their normal faster pace.  This never bothered my team - they were super cool about enjoying the jaunt.  After about 4 miles we stopped for lunch.  We had just met up with a group of middle aged women all hiking together to the Sperry Chalet.  For $150 a night you get a room that sleeps four in a cool Chalet and hot cooked meals.  All you need is your day pack with hydration and a change of clothes.  This seemed especially cool since at the moment they were describing this my pack suddenly started to feel a bit heavy...  We ate our peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches and tried to refuel before taking off for the final stretch.  At that point I started noticing blisters on my heels.  I had put moleskin on trying to prevent such issues but apparently my superfeet were rubbing against the edge of my heels.  I put on an extra pair of socks at Michael's suggestion and started up again.  I think all hope was lost at that point and I would certainly need to figure out a new solution before our next days hike.  This was also about the time we started our fight with the mosquitoes.  It was feeding time and we were their main course...  We got to the Sperry Campground just past 4:00 or so and that was the last time I wore my boots.  We set up our tents and headed to the cooking area for dinner.  The views were incredible.  I do admit I was slightly jealous passing the Chalet for our more rustic location but shit - it's good for me.  Michael and Anh were in charge of Saturdays dinner.  We ate spaghetti and chili and had brownie pancakes for dessert - YUM.  We hung our food and made sure all signs or smells of food were at distance from our campsite.  Michael represented our group at the permit station and reported back his knowledge of how to handle Grizzly Bears.  We learned about normal bear intrusions and my favorite...how to handle a bear that is stalking you.  I have never packed in a park with Grizzlies and have to admit I was a bit nervous going to sleep.  We passed out early - no later than 6 or 7.  I awoke at 2 to Michael - "Kat, was that you?".  I had just shifted in my sleeping bag and replied with a quick, "yes".  Another 30 seconds went by and I heard a noise outside our tent.  "Michael, that was not me".  The next thing we knew, Michael began speaking firmly and saying, "Go away critter! - We don't want you here!"  For some reason the critter wasn't listening to Michael.  We tried to look out the window of our tent but could not see what was there.  This went on for what seemed like a couple of minutes.  Then, I remember Michael saying, "I am getting out of the tent - if that is a bear, we're f!@#$%". Michael popped out with his poles in both hands and head lamp at full light...it was a goat.  We all breathed a sigh of relief but I have to admit I was still a bit disturbed about the notion of any kind of critter around our campsite - especially a bear.  During all of the commotion, I soon had to pee like no tomorrow but wasn't willing to walk all the way to the pit nearly 200 feet and three campsites away.  Alex suggested I find a rock and he was willing to come along so I wouldn't venture alone.  Once relieved we got back in our tent in hope of some more sleep before our next big day.  By 7 the next morning I had lost count at how many times the damn goats kept coming back.  It seemed every 15 minutes we were yelling at them and bashing our poles to get them away.  During the back-country video, they mentioned not to pee on the ground - the critters like the salt and will dig.  Instead you should urinate on top of rocks.  Apparently Michael had found the first rock earlier that evening and meandered back to the tent unaware that whether a rock or the ground, critters like urine no matter what.  Instead of digging they just lick it directly off of the rock.  We only discovered this the next morning when getting out of our tent.  Just 30 feet away was a big ass goat licking the rock I had peed on earlier that night...lesson learned.  We made some breakfast and filtered some water before hanging our packs and heading out for the 8 mile day hike to the Sperry Glacier.  This was by far the best part of the trip.  I knew we would not have the load of our packs and I was really looking forward to the scenery.  The only thing I had left to contend with was my feet.  I put my boots on but quickly realized there was no way I would be able to go any distance in them.  I have put on many, many miles in my Chaco's and decided that was the best bet.  I would do the day hike in my sandals and address the next hike later.  The hike to the glacier was incredible.  We had a long traverse and headed inside this U-shaped geological amphitheater.  The cirque had two prominent points at either edge and the inside was covered in layers upon layers of rock.  We crested the first ledge and entered a couple moraines littered with small lakes - some filled with little icebergs.  There were meadows filled with boulders and it seems everywhere we turned there were deep green grasses and small meadows filled with wildflowers.  We saw tons of wildlife.  We felt pretty confident after our first goat encounter.  Michael had learned to speak goat overnight and we were certain his skills would move them off the trail and out of our way quickly.  They impressed us with their 5.12 abilities and shifted up the cliff-side with ease.  We saw marmot, ground squirrels, chipmunks and a Mama quail and her baby chicks.  We ran into our friends, the group of middle aged women.  After stopping for lunch - we had a short distance to go before we were nearing the final peak of the hike.  We still had trouble seeing how we would get up and over the ledge. As we approached we saw a set of stairs carved into the ledge.  There were probably 15 or more stairs leading up a 2 foot hallway  with one small cable line to your right leading you up over the ledge.  When we reached the top we still had a few more way points to pass before getting to the glacier and lookout.  Mind you, I was still wearing my Chaco's and had managed through a couple of very short snow fields but the ones ahead were a bit longer and the consequence was much greater - especially without an ice-axe.  I decided to go for it and see at each start whether it made sense to cross.  I ended up doing all but the last field which led to the final lookout.  Luckily I didn't miss out on the views.  I could see to my right the dying glacier and was able to watch the shadow of the clouds move across in rapid succession.  Every once in a while the sun would hit the glacier just perfectly and you could still see the deep blue and make out the crevasses.  It was incredible.  Our turn back time was 3:00.  Not far after we began our descent, we ran into our pack of middle aged women again.  This time they announced their friend who had knee surgery three weeks prior had stayed behind and below the stairs unwilling to jeopardize her knee repair on the stairs.  Apparently she watched a Grizzly waltz up the stairs right in front of her.  Another member of the group had said she saw the bear at the top...  Good timing on our part! We got back to the campground and were on the next trail by 6.  Anh and Michael decided to push and see how fast they could make it to the next campsite.  I kept the Chaco's on and Alex and I took our time slowly meandering up the 500 ft gain in .7 miles and spent the next 2 miles heading down 1,000 ft to Lake Ellen Wilson.  The weather started to shift about halfway into the hike.  We could see the clouds swirling in 3 different directions and one rather strong current was pushing a huge plume of fog through the valley and on top of the lake.  The temperature dropped 15 to 20 degrees and all of the sudden we were fighting to go downhill in an headwind.  It was wild.  We finally made it to the campground in just about 2 hours.  Anh and Michael had beat us by almost 45 minutes - nicely done!  We set up our tent but needed small boulders to secure it from the huge gusts of wind tumbling through the valley.  Luckily a guide and her three guests had set up a tarp for cooking and we had shelter during dinner time.  Alex and I cooked up some soba noodles with spicy peanut sauce and tom-yum soup with chicken dumplings.  We attempted pudding but something went terribly wrong...it tasted awful.  After freezing our asses off during dinner I decided it would be necessary to warm up a nalgene for heat in the tent.  We all made way to the site and laid in our bags listening to the wind and watching the tent shake all around us.  I think I finally fell asleep during the last half of the night.  We had a big day ahead and got up at 6:30.  We at breakfast, packed and were on the trail by 8:30.  The first couple of miles would be uphill but the final 7+ would all be down.  Once we reached the top of the ascent I started dreaming of the cotton pants that awaited me in the car at the bottom.  Ahhhhhh - pants I hadn't worn three days in a row.  At that point I decided the only way to get down was to run.  We're not talking full speed but let's just say I was speed hiking down - using gravity to yank my body down the hillside.  I didn't care that my feet hurt and tried not to pay attention to my swelling knees.  Alex was kind and had carried our tent the entire trip and offered to load our food after the foot thing fell apart.  His back was hurting and we needed to stop and rest.  I remember being bummed - so selfish - all I wanted was to keep going!  We stopped again for lunch and then I found my legs again and kept moving.  We were down and off the trail by 2:00.  I started running the math in my brain with about a mile to go and realized at the end we would have hiked a marathon over the past three days.  It was approximately 27 miles start to finish and I was so relieved to be done.  We fought with the weather but eventually took off around 6 or so mountain time and made it back to Seattle by 7:30.  Now that I have done the trip I think the plan is to go from the other side next time.  I would like to hike sans pack from the Jackson Glacier Overlook 13.3 miles to the Chalet - get a good meal and nights rest - sleep in and then head out to explore some of the other nearby hikes.  Then head back down to finish the trail at Lake McDonald.  Of course there are also many other fun places to explore in the park.  I just have to decide if I want to continue my backpacking experiences in Grizzly country or stay over here instead... 

Birthdays

The booger's birthday is coming up at the beginning of August.  I have always wondered if you could successfully instill the Hobbit tradition into our "all about me" custom.  Rather than get you give.  According to Tolkien's letter #214 in brief, hobbits customarily gave presents away to others on their own birthdays, "as a recognition of services and friendship shown," and typically held birthday parties where all attending received presents.

The scale of the giving varied with the wealth and rank of the giver. Bilbo Baggins, for example, gave fabulously large parties and gifts, paid for with the proceeds of his journey to the Lonely Mountain. Other heads of wealthy families, though, such as the Tooks and Brandybucks, also appear to have given large parties and expensive gifts.  On the other hand, for the more normal and less wealthy among the Shire, it was actually more traditional to give gifts that were made by the giver. 

Being the eternal realist, I understand this may be near impossible to accomplish but if you think of it in a mathmatical and greedy sort of way - in the end you really do come out on top.  Just think - you only have one day a year to remember and the more friends you have the more presents you receive.  It really is perfect...

Anniversary Sale

Nordstrom is having their Anniversary Sale.  Alex mentioned he might want some more T-Shirts.  I really like this one...

Lake Chelan

We loaded the car with all of our gear and headed to pick up the second monster.  We got to Wings around 3:15 and quickly loaded the plane.  Ella decided she would like to co-pilot.  This was cool - she had never sat in the front of a small plane before - she was super excited.  Our plane was grounded in a holding pattern for Sea-Tac for 10 minutes or so but we took off and made it to Chelan just in time to pick up the rental car.  After a stop at the grocery store, we headed for the state park.  We got to camp and set up our tents.  We headed to the lake to check out the beach and the kids took a quick dip.  We then discovered how crazy cold the water was.  The kids still played happily and we read for a while.  We headed back to camp and started dinner...chili dogs.  We made Smores and called it a night.  I am pretty sure the boogers stayed up past 11 telling stories.  The next day, after breakfast, we headed to the water slides.  We got there around 11 and didn't leave until 4.  It was awesome.  The kids literally went up and down the slides like yo-yos.  We got back to the camp site and went in search of our first Geocache.  The first one was in the park itself and was fairly easy which is always good with kids along.  Unfortunately we didn't bring any good stuff to exchange.  We kicked around the soccer ball for a while and then headed to town for dinner.  We got back to our campsite in time for one more round of Smores and then we hit the sack.  This time we heard no word from the kids.  The next morning both kids slept until past 9:00.  After packing up our site we headed to the beach for a while longer.  We tried a couple more Geocaches but came up empty.  After realizing we didn't make arrangements to return the rental car until Monday, we decided it would be best to fly the kids home and then Alex could fly back the next day and take care of the rental car.  I will save the rest of that story for Alex to tell on his flight blog.  We tried the last Geocache hidden near the airport and found it.  It was another easy one.  All in all, it was a great weekend on the Eastside.  Fun for kids and adults.  I wouldn't put it at the top of my destinations but at least it was sunny.  Here are a few pictures.