#Walking Bud Blancher Trail - Saturday Snapshots

After my recent hike up Little Si, I needed something less strenuous. The Bud Blancher Trail (near Eatonville, WA) was just perfect. Formally opened in 2014, the trail accommodates walkers, bicyclists, and runners. Our route covered 4.5 miles (round trip) on a mostly level, crushed-rock path.
[Click on photos to enlarge.]

Newly-constructed bridge over the Mashel River

Here's our group of 14 walkers. 

A great place for a family picnic.
Our group ate at restaurants in nearby Eatonville after our walk.

A serene spot by a pond to 
sit and contemplate nature.

This was a fun walk. The pace was brisk but not heart-pounding, and there were lots of opportunities to take photos and to have conversations with other walkers. Afterwards, the group split up, with some lunching at Bruno's and others (my group) at Cruisers Cafe in Eatonville. Delicious sweet potato fries and milkshakes, and we'd burned off the calories in advance!

More info here: Bud Blancher Trail

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#Blooms & Berries on Pacific Northwest #Hikes - Saturday Snapshots

I've been posting quite a few photos lately of trees, mountains, rivers, and people from my hikes and walks. I also take pictures of plants. So here are a few blooms and berries I've captured recently. 
[Click on photos to enlarge.]

Common Yarrow - Achillea Millefolia

Hardtack - Spirea Douglasii

Thimbleberries - Rubus parviflorus

Salmonberry - Rubus Spectabilis

Red huckleberries - Vaccinium parvifolium 

Purple sage - Salvia dorrii var. carnosa
 (I think!)

A mystery.
These berries were the size of English peas.

I identified these plants by checking this website, as well as others:
Turner Photographics - Wildflowers
Let me know if I got them wrong!

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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Dialogue - Smart Girls Read Romance

I'm over at Smart Girls Read Romance today, blogging about how much fun it can be to write dialogue.

Come on over and say "hi!"

Here's the link:
Dialogue, Y'all

#Hiking Little Si - Saturday Snapshots

I've been having so much fun on my hikes and walks! Here are a few photos from Little Si - my most challenging hike yet. [Click on photos to enlarge.]

The Washington Trails Association (WTA) website says this:
"A sharp incline awaits you as you depart the trailhead, threading you through a few winding switchbacks and well-beaten paths, but do not despair! The hike eventually levels out to reward you with some respite from the calf-burning first quarter mile." 

I apologize for the fuzziness of this photo, but I'm pretty sure I was shaking from the "calf-burning" incline. The trail was steep, laced with rocks and tree roots, and slick with rain. Are we having fun yet?

Huge boulders and sheer rock faces lined much of the trail. I've been told that rock climbers love to tackle them. From the WTA:
"As you continue through this temperate slice of woodlands, you will pass short tangential rock climbing paths, a prominent scree slope, and a boulder field to the west before swooping around the slope at the 1.3 mile mark to make your final push toward the summit."

We stopped for lunch at a sheer drop-off near the top. 

Then we made our way to the summit. My legs were definitely shaking by this point! (The young people with their phones were playing PokemonGo.)

We used a completely different set of muscles to work our way back down. By then we'd been rained on, and the path had even more slick places. Kind of scary to me.

Although comments I found on hiking websites said this hike is good for families, I wouldn't recommend it. Surely it wouldn't be safe to take a child up to the sheer drop-offs near the summit or expect little legs to clamber over the boulders on the path. In some sections, it felt like we were taking stairs two treads at a time!

I'm proud of myself for completing this walk. Even though it's classified as "easy," it was a challenge for me. Perhaps on a dry day it wouldn't be so difficult.

Wikipedia says: "Little Si is a mountain in the US state of Washington, named after its taller neighbor, Mount Si. It has an elevation of 1,576 feet. and lies on the western margin of the Cascade Range just east of the town of North Bend." 

Links to more info: 
Washington Trails Assoc. - "Little Si"
AllTrails.com - "Little Si Trail"

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The #Revenant - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

After hearing so much hype about the book and the movie, I picked up The Revenant at the library and decided to give it a try. I loved this story. At first, I was put off by the omniscient point of view. The author tells what every character is feeling and thinking, even the wolves! It didn't take long, however, for the story to capture me and for the point of view shifts to stop bothering me so much. Although there is quite a bit of violence in the story, it's definitely worth reading. I'm hoping to see the movie too and will read more books by Punke.

Genre: Western/Historical/Adventure
Book Length: 272 Pages (paperback)
Amazon Link: The Revenant
More Books: Michael Punke Author Page

Book Beginning:
September 1, 1823
     They were abandoning him. The wounded man knew it when he looked at the boy, who looked down, then away, unwilling to hold his gaze.
     For days, the boy had argued with the man in the wolf-skin hat. Has it really been days? The wounded man had battled his fever and pain, never certain whether conversations he heard were real, or merely by-products of the delirious wanderings in his mind.

Teaser (Page 105 paperback):
The white wolf stopped to contemplate the changing odds. He knew well his place in the pack: Others led and he followed.
[Ooops! I messed up. Since the book is back at the library, I'll have to stick with this excerpt instead of something from Page 56. I apologize.]

Synopsis:

     A thrilling tale of betrayal and revenge set against the nineteenth-century American frontier, the astonishing story of real-life trapper and frontiersman Hugh Glass   

     The year is 1823, and the trappers of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company live a brutal frontier life. Hugh Glass is among the company’s finest men, an experienced frontiersman and an expert tracker. But when a scouting mission puts him face-to-face with a grizzly bear, he is viciously mauled and not expected to survive. Two company men are dispatched to stay behind and tend to Glass before he dies. When the men abandon him instead, Glass is driven to survive by one desire: revenge. With shocking grit and determination, Glass sets out, crawling at first, across hundreds of miles of uncharted American frontier. Based on a true story, The Revenant is a remarkable tale of obsession, the human will stretched to its limits, and the lengths that one man will go to for retribution.

                

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Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

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July at #MountRainier National Park - Saturday Snapshots

When my daughter-in-law asked if I'd like to drive to Mount Rainier National Park with her, her daughter, and her niece, I immediately said "yes!" Here are a few photos of our day trip. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)

Here's our first glimpse of The Mountain. It played hike and seek behind clouds all day. We wondered if it would ever completely reveal itself.

We were surprised to see snow along the Nisqually Vista Trail. 

The views of the Nisqually Glacier and valley below from trail overlooks were breathtaking (and a little scary!)

This quote is engraved into the steps leading to hiking trails at the Paradise visitor area. (That's my granddaughter.)

Lots of other people decided to visit the park on Wednesday. The visitor center parking lot was full, and the overflow lot was more than halfway full. 

This beautiful waterfall rushed beneath a bridge on the Myrtle Falls trail. Mount Rainier is still hiding behind clouds in the background.

The trail was steep and little girls can get tired.

But we were finally rewarded with Mount Rainier putting in an appearance. I overheard someone say they'd been in the park for three days and that was the first time they'd seen The Mountain.

Link to Mount Rainier National Park

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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