happyfeet

  Distance: 2.5 miles Elevation-gain: 1000 ft Rout-type: out and back Pinnacle peak, also known as Mt.Peak or Mt.Pete locally, is a 1000 ft high dormant volcano rising from the flat farmlands of Enumclaw. Osceola Mudflow , a massive mudflow triggered by an eruption swept the top 2000 ft of Mt.Rainier passing the location of current day Enumclaw spreading as far as Kent, 70 miles away. So, what we were walking on may have been a part of the summit of Mt.Rainier 5700 years ago!  Our journey required two buses to reach the South Renton transit center. Unlike our last hike where we missed the information about the bus detour and then sprinted for a mile trying to catch the bus while it galloped away in front of us, this time we did our homework the day before. Not that it helped, as delay in the first bus changed the plan to using the suggestions by Google Maps at the last minute. The bus moved swiftly as there were very few passengers early morning and ...

We started searching for hiking groups as going on hikes in a group would give us the opportunity to interact with different people. Raj came across the Seattle Hikers, Climbers and Peak Baggers group led by Greg Lasala and signed us up for the Mt.Pilchuck hike. As I read more about the group and Greg, I felt terrified thinking if I will be able to keep up with the other group members during the hike. The night before was the worst as I lay in bed fearing for my life, thinking about whether we should cancel, and before long the alarm started ringing. The mixed feelings of fear and enthusiasm were churning my stomach in all directions as we were getting ready. Pichuk!!The journey began fine as we jumped into the bus in time, somehow managing with our flowing bags, trekking shoes, water bottles, some lunch, spare clothes, caps and what not. Now I think we could have started a civilization on a new planet with the stuff in our bag that day. Hari and Vignesh also manag...

Another fun Saturday evening run, a long and scenic run in the familiar Discovery park, among tall trees, beaches, trails and varying inclines. We slowly walked back to where the run started, the bus stop. A good 15 minutes of wait for the next bus meant some time to look around, to notice things that were left unnoticed in the earlier trips. Every bus stop in Seattle displays the bus number, end destination and the schedule of the bus. While we were checking for the arrival time of the next bus on the steel pole, we noticed a metal plate glistening below the printed schedule of the bus. On looking more closely, we realized that it was something we had never observed before. On the metal plate was inscribed the story about about the origin of Magnolia along with the map of the place. This story pole that we saw is one of the three story poles of Magnolia. Reading the story pole we found out how Magnolia got it’s name.  Can you believe, that is the result of a...

First day in Seattle, we walked through the neighborhood trying to find a grocery store with the help of Google Maps. We walked through Seattle Center watching Space Needle with childlike excitement. A few days after moving to Seattle we were all set to resume running. We planned to use running as a medium to explore different places in Seattle. We ran in Kinnear Park, Kerry Park, Olympic Sculpture park and lower Queen Anne. Our favorite running destination turned out to be the beautiful Discovery park where we started going regularly on weekends using Sound Transit bus service for commutation. Our plan was to cover the circumference of the park, through the various levels of vegetation from dark thick dense forest to the smaller trees and bushes and finally to the rocks and the sandy shores of the Puget Sound. Discovery park: 534 acres on the shores of Puget Sound. View of Puget Sound from Discovery Park Light House in Discovery park Queen Anne Hike : As we like to ...

We came across a Facebook group where people give things for free to help out people. My husband Raj joined the group. As he was checking the page he saw a lady giving a decoration piece, a frog in a Yoga pose with the text ‘Find peace’ engraved on it. As I am a yoga enthusiast, my husband felt that it was perfect for me. So he contacted Belinda, the lady who was giving the frog to know if she would be willing to give it to us. If so when would it be an appropriate time to collect it from her. She messaged us the location to meet her and gave us pointers on how to identify her. As we are new to the city it took us sometime to figure out where exactly to wait for her. In the mean time I saw a lady coming out of a building nearby matching exactly her description. So I went running towards her and said hello. She gave us a warm greeting and asked us to come in the lobby. Then with a childlike enthusiasm she said, “I have the frog in my pocket” and with a swift mov...