Kitty's Scratch Pad

Labor Day

Fen asked me what Labor Day is.  He then asked if it had to do with Mothers since they are in labor while having their children.  I love how literal children can be...

Sadly enough I did not have a good answer for him.  But here is what I found:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Skyline Divide is open again!!

This was the last weekend sans booger and Alex and I were excited to get outside and do something fun.  We made arrangements to stay at the Chrysalis Inn in Bellingham on Saturday night.  We took off after my class and I drove us up to Bham.  We took Chuckanut and headed straight to Pine and Cedar Lakes trail just a couple miles south of Bellingham down Chuckanut.  The trail is fairly brutal but luckily quite short.  You climb up Chuckanut Mountain and head directly up for 1,000 feet for about a mile.  The trail eases a bit and after two miles you reach the first lake.  I noticed the cool changes and upgrades to the trails up there.  They have helped by adding some switch backs towards the top of the hill.  What is even cooler is the link between Pine and Cedar and Chuckanut Ridge.  You could literally spend days hiking through the trails and the coolest part is they are only a few miles outside of Bellingham.  I do miss that...  We went to the second lake and then headed back down - total trail covered was around 6 miles.  My knees were pretty sore after the haul downhill and I was looking forward to eating some good food.  We got to the hotel - checked in, changed and headed straight to dinner.  There is a pretty cool wine bar/restaurant inside the hotel and the tables look out over Bellingham Bay.  It was very serene.  Dinner and wine were great and sleep was good too.  We slept in until eight and then grabbed breakfast before heading out for our day outside.  After loading up on snacks and lunch for the trail we cruised up Hwy 542 to the Ranger Station.  I had sort of suggested we do Yellow Aster Butte but had been longing to go to Skyline Divide.  Our misfortune last year after discovering the bridge to the access road had been washed out was discouraging.  We made up for it by doing Ptarmagin Ridge instead - another great hike in the North Cascades.  Alex suggested we ask.  Guess what????  It opened back up yesterday!!!!  What luck.  This is by far one of the best hikes out there.  It has the biggest bang for your buck and is very busy because of it.  I don't think the droves have discovered it's new opening and we managed to skirt what crowds I remember.  The black flies weren't as bad as I remembered either.  We both got out without a bite.  The hike was just as amazing as I had remembered.  We snacked on wild blueberries and salmon berries and on our way back down the access road we discovered wild rasberries.  They were incredible.  Crimson red and full of tart goodness.  We hiked to the top and then a bit farther up to a great lookout where we ate lunch in front of Baker.  We tooled around a bit longer on the trail before turning around.  The total miles were around 8 we think...  We grabbed food at Boundary Bay Brewing Co. before heading back to Seattle.  I have to say - that was a great and quick gettaway and we were happy to take advantage of our freedom.  Tomorrow the booger returns and life becomes a little less whimsical...