What an exceptional weekend to play!
Saturday was a ~50 mile “urban cycling” outing from Seattle to Edmonds where we made the requisite bakery stop. The tour was complete with a stroll across the Ballard Locks, a classic Seattle sight on a summer weekend morning:
The day’s ride organizer has a penchant for climbing, so the route was punctuated by quite a number of steep ~2 block long climbs. But, also included fun curvy descents south of Shoreline Community College into Edmonds and down Perkins Way in Lake Forest Park to the Burke Gilman Trail.
Sunday was a hiking day. The plan was to hike to Kendall Catwalk, a popular ~11+ mile round trip along the Pacific Crest Trail from the north side of Exit 52 at Snoqualmie Pass.
When we pulled into the parking lot we were surprised to see that it was nearly deserted; although I did check trail conditions, I didn’t check thoroughly enough. A deep snowpack continues to persist, and we were only able to get about 1 mile past the intersection with the Commonwealth Basin trail before the trail gave way to deep snow (as well as a bit of ice). This hike is a regular part of our summer weekend hiking calendar, so we had a good idea about the general direction we needed to head, but turned around after we spent 30 minutes unable to find any signs of hiking activity. As we retreated we met several other parties who had gotten as far as a steep side slope section which they reported was icy and dangerous, so they turned back as well.
Meanwhile, the water cascading off the steep slopes was both scenic and a bit of a hazard. There were a number of deep streams to cross, and in one section we had to cross under a waterfall.
Plan B: We headed up the Commonwealth Basin trail a bit, but it petered out as well under deep snow, and moving up the basin was complicated by difficult stream crossings. So, we called it a day and found a rock outcropping where we enjoyed a long relaxing lunch.
Carpe diem: I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the abundance of outdoor activities here in the Pacific Northwest!
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