Carkeek Park
Steps 5,079 //
Distance in Miles 2.22 // Floors 38 // Duration in Hours 00:52
Carkeek Park is one of the many gorgeous water-front
parks in Seattle and the surrounding area filled with windy forested trails. On
the particularly rainy morning set-aside to hike it, my date texted to offer to
find a more dry activity, but I let him know I was totally game rain or shine.
When he texted me to let me
know he had arrived, I had a sense we were in trouble (come to the door,
dudes!) We drove the less than 7 miles from my home in North Seattle to the
park with polite, minimal conversation. One thing I have had to work hard on in
dating is not carrying the conversation. It’s really easy for me to do in
general and often a part of my work-life to be a facilitator of meetings or be
the most engaging person possible on stakeholder meetings. When it comes to
conversations on dates, I try just not to force it.
Even though I run an
adventuring group that sometimes throws me into long hikes or bike rides with
friends of friends I’ve never met (so thus I’m used to hiking with relative
strangers), for dates (*especially the first few* I tend to stay away from
anything that doesn't have the built-in escape of a check arriving or me having
my own car on hand). No thank you to any road trips and I’ll pass on any
first-date hikes.
Luckily, by the time we had
found the trailhead he wanted to take, the conversation had become a little
more relaxed. Then we began quickly climbing up trail and conversation ceased
in favor of heavy breathing until we got to a less intense incline.
I told him about the 52 Hike
Challenge and we talked about our family’s respective cancer histories, how
much time we got off a year for work, and the water treatment plant nearby. The
hike was nice, short (I had a wedding to attend later that day), and cool
(weather wise). The conversation was reasonable and afterward we walked down to
the beach to take in the view of the Sound.
I have a lot of great
memories at Carkeek Park. It’s really beautiful, especially at sunset, and is a
nice short drive from my house. It also has a big slide on the playground that
is shaped like a salmon. Growing up in Arizona, I remember one of our park
slides was a giant Gila Monster. The inevitability of those two slides being
constructed kind of makes me giggle.
Talapus &
Ollalie Lakes
Steps 15,811 //
Distance in Miles 6.90 // Floors 128 // Duration in Hours 3:05
For this hike, my hiking partners were my friends Katherine
and Mallory. At some point, the friends I used to go dancing with turned into
the friends I go hiking with – and I’ll admit it’s kind of great (no offense of
course to a good night out).
Mallory has a great book of
Washington hikes and I’m always impressed with her ability to pick out a day or
half-day trip the “old fashioned” way. We found our way to the alpine lakes
along with Titan, Katherine’s boyfriend’s adorable (and quite protective) dog.
Toro County Park
Steps 8,798 //
Distance in Miles 3.84 // Floors 70 // Duration in Hours 1:33
Ok, I’ll admit it – I forgot what it was like to hike in the
heat. Last weekend I was in Salinas, CA visiting my good friends Amber and
Robin. It was kind of a perfect weekend: active, wine, laughter, talking about
feminism, In-N-Out – all the good things!
Amber and I grew up together in
Phoenix – our families being close friends – and there’s something I love very
much about us, and our families, being still friends today. Amber and her
husband Robin live in Salinas and lead a pretty badass life. They welcomed me
into their awesome home for a packed weekend and took phenomenal care of me
(Thank you, Amber & Robin!).
On my first morning there we set
out to hike Toro County Park. As we hiked/stopped along the way because holy
shit it was hotter than I was used to! – Robin pointed out different pieces of
Salinas history along the horizon. After just a few hours of exploring with
these two, I added East of Eden to my
Goodreads list, and had visited Steinbeck’s grave.
It was fun to hike in the desert
and a stark contrast to my previous weekend’s hike in the lush fall of the
Pacific Northwest.
The Pinnacles National Park
Steps 10,863 // Distance in Miles 4.74 // Floors 122 //
Duration in Hours 2:59
“For an hour you will hate your life, and then it will be
worth it,” Amber had promised multiple times before we set out on our second
hike of the day: a sunset and then night hike to the top of the Pinnacles.
The Pinnacles were gorgeous even
from afar, and I could hardly believe Robin when he said: “Christina, in an
hour you’re going to be sitting on one of those peaks.”
After an afternoon of wine
tasting along River Road, we met two more of their friends in the parking lot
near the trailhead and set out on another dusty hike.
It totally was worth it, and I
absolutely had a couple moments of hating my life on the way up. At one point,
I ran ahead of everyone just because I had to feel like I had had a victory
against one of the seemingly endless switchbacks the trail provided.
Once at the top, we opened a
bottle of wine and all took pulls as we told stories, marveled at the
incredible brightness of the moon (it was the night before the Super Blood
Moon), and Robin took some incredible night shots that made it look as if we
all were perched on a piece of Mars somewhere.
The hike down was filled with
talking about Star Wars that once at the car, transitioned into a great
conversation about survivalism and zombies as we wound our way toward In-N-Out,
passing wildlife in the dark en route.
Past Hikes
August
1. Barclay Lake
Total for
September
Steps 18,395 //
Distance in Miles 8.15 // Floors 54 // Duration in Hours 3:29
Total for the
#52HikeChallenge
Steps 18,395 //
Distance in Miles 8.15 // Floors 54 // Duration in Hours 3:29
