Three Fingers 9/28/08

Tim and I had wanted to do Three Fingers for quite some time. Three fingers is best done later in the hiking season (August-October), as snow and ice make the route very difficult. Anyway, this weekend seemed to be the best time to do it, especially since the weather forecast was for sunny skies. We drove to the trailhead Saturday night and got there around 8pm. It was too late to find a nice camp spot, so we slept in the car.




We woke up and were on the trail at 6am. Yes, very early but we knew that the day was going to be very long. The route was estimated at 16 miles total. We started with our headlamps and stowed them as it got lighter. Above is a pic of me at the trailhead and the other our first glimpse of Three fingers from the trail.

At 2.5 miles we reached Saddle Lake.

After another 2.5 miles, we reached Goat Flats. Here, we noticed it would be a great place to backpack and camp as there were quite a few campsites. Cool views and nice that there is also a toilet nearby. :P

Heading to Tin Can Gap.

When we arrived at Tin Can Gap, the trail was hard to follow since snow was present. It looked like we could go below (very sketchy with one wrong step could get seriously injured) or in a moat (between the ice and rock). We chose the latter. Above is a pic of Tim in the moat.

There was one last bit of snow we had to cross before the lookout. Here we took out our ice axes, it wasn't required at this point since the snow snow was softer, but it was still good to have. Above is a pic of Tim on the snow.

You know you're at the lookout once you get to the ladders. To get to the lookout, you need to climb the three ladders shown above. I was ok going up the first two, but the third one was the one that kinda got to me. It was kinda freaky going from the second ladder to the third in that I had to kinda jump from a ledge to another ledge. Once I got the the third ladder it was ok going up it, but to get from the ladder to the lookout is a sloping rock with steep drop-offs on the sides. I guess there normally is a fixed rope here, but the Everett Mountaineers took it with them as this was probably the last best weekend to climb to the lookout. Anyway, as Tim tells me, I scampered quickly to the lookout. :)

At the lookout, the views were amazing! At the top one can see Mt. Rainier, the Stuart Range, the Pickets, Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, and the rest of North Cascades. Above is the side of the Lookout and if you look below, is the third ladder (the one I had most trouble with). The other pic is inside the lookout. Inside is a fire finder, summit register, books, a bed, and other supplies. I really think it's amazing that this lookout is up here.

Me and Tim on the summit.

Me at the door of the lookout.

Tim heading down.

On the way up we took the moat. However on the way down, we forgot about the moat and ended up following the trail down to the tricky part. This was the scariest part of the whole trip. The snow crossing was pretty much ice, very hard, and one wrong step one would have been seriously injured. I went across as steady as I could, but I felt very uncomfortable and not very safe. I was so glad when I crossed over. Above is a pic of Tim crossing. He was smarter and used the dagger technique.

Here's a pic of me going up a small gully with the help of a fixed line.

Back at goat flats, we still had 5 miles to go. We took a little break, the legs were getting tired, but we pushed on. We made it back to the car at 5:30pm. So a total of eleven and a half hours round trip for 16 miles. It was one long day but well worth it. :)

Phantom of the Opera

We got a great deal on tickets to the Phantom of the Opera at the Paramount for last night. I got off work at 5:00pm but the show didn't start until 7:30pm so Tim and I got something to eat. We had planned on hitting happy hour somewhere, but all the places were so crowded with no place to sit. We ended up at Mccormick and Schmicks on 1st Avenue and just ate from the normal menu. We did have our Entertainment book, so we saved $20. :) After dinner, we still had time to kill, so we walked the streets of downtown and ended up at Pike Place Market.


Here's Tim and I in front of the market. It was closing up when we got there. If you can see behind us, there is no fish nor many people at the flying fish stand.


After Pike Place, we walked to the Paramount to get our tickets at Will Call. Here is a picture of the venue.


We still had time to spare after getting the tickets, so we walked to Pacific Place and went inside the mall and walked some more. After Pacific Place, we wandered to Westlake and walked even more. We browsed Daiso and came across an interactive screen on the floor in front of their store. It was pretty cool since the screen was sensitive to wherever moved your feet. Below is a pic of tim playing around with the screen.


After playing around with the interactive screen, it was finally time to head back to watch the show. It was my first time seeing Phantom of the Opera and I thought it was really good.

The effects were great and the singing was very good as well. I didn't really know the story so I was pleasantly surprised. It's a great show.

Sushi, Wine tasting & Maroon 5

I had talked about not having sushi for a long while with Tim so I figured it was time to get some. So, I got a group of us to go on Sunday for lunch to Blue Fin Sushi in Northgate for the all you can eat buffet. I'm so glad that I ran that morning, because I ate way too much sushi. It was good stuff! Let's just say I got my money's worth. :)

After sushi, we went to the grand opening of the Sheridan Vineyard tasting room in Woodinville. There we tasted a couple of their wines along with the soon to be released reserve wines; 05 Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Syrah. They were both pretty good, but I'm not the best wine connoisseur. To me, after a while they all kind of taste the same. :P


After the Sheridan tasting room, we decided we would hit another tasting room. Next up was Guardian Cellars. It was really nice when we got there as it wasn't very crowded and there was a nice comfy couch that we sat on. There we tasted their wines, munched on crackers & cheese while watching the Seahawk game on the flat screen tv they had. It was great. I believe we got there middle of 3rd quarter, and when we finally got up to leave, the game had already finished. :P I also discovered some yummy pita crackers with some sort of garlic seasoning that I will get at Costco on our next trip.

We did end up getting a bottle of wine, their 2006 Chalk Line. It's a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Malbec, 17% Syrah, 11% Merlot from Stilwater Creek, Conner Lee, and Wahluke Slope vineyards. It was very good when I tasted it there. I just hope that it tastes as good as I thought when we open it up later.


Our last tasting that afternoon was at the Jones spelled backwards Estate winery. There we tasted 4 more wines, then called it quits for wine. We also came up with the name for our drinking club. By consensus, we came up with "Cheers!" :)


Next up for the evening was Maroon 5. The concert was was at the White River Amphitheatre in Auburn and they were the main act. Opening were Augustana and Counting Crows. It was really cool to see all of them sing live. I was really happy when Counting Crows came out and their first song was "Long December". It's one of my fav songs of theirs. Maroon 5 was also awesome. They sang my favorite "Sunday Morning" so I was happy. Also, at the end was a special surprise as Brandi Carlile came out and sang her song "The Story". It was a great last song. In all it was a great day. Long but fun. :)

Maggiano's

Tonight we met up with some friends for dinner at Maggiano's. It's an Italian restaurant in Bellevue. It was really good to see our friends Sherry, Tony, and Lora since we didn't get a chance to really talk with them at the wedding. It was really nice to catch up.

Tim and I had never been to Maggianos. The food was yummy. As I am typing I feel so stuffed. :) I had the chicken parmesan and Tim had the gnocchi. Good stuff! It was funny because, towards the end of dinner, our waiter came out with a plate of cookies with a candle. He thought it was one of our birthdays (Our friends had brought gifts to bring to my sister in Oregon, and some gifts that they were unable to bring at the wedding). :P Anyway, it was pretty funny, so we considered it a celebration of our wedding. The waiter smiled and agreed. :) Below is a pic that Lora took with her iphone of our dessert (the candle blurred the dessert).

Flowers and Nike Sportband

Today when Tim got home, he rang the doorbell instead of using his key. I kinda wondered what was up, when I opened the door he had flowers in his hand. I was like wow. He's so sweet. :) Here are the flowers.
I really like the red sunflower.

The day after our wedding Tim also got me a present. He got me the Nike+ Sportband. It's a device that one uses while running to track your distance, time, pace, and calories burned during a run. Below is a pic of the sportband.


Yesterday was my first day trying it out. I really like the look of the sportband. It's a pretty cool looking band. The way it works is there is a sensor that I put on my shoe (I don't have the Nike shoes, so I had to buy a pouch where it attaches to my shoelace of my shoe). The sensor then sends out a signal with every step I take. The concept is really cool. However, when I tried it out yesterday, it was a bit off with the readings. I ran 3 miles but the sensor had me at 3.77 miles. I did the same route again today, but forgot to calibrate it. I finally fixed the calibration so hopefully the next time I run the route it will be more accurate. If the calibration works, I think the sportband is an awesome device.

Shriner Peak Hike

With a great weather forecast for Sunday, we headed out on a hike by Mt. Rainier with some friends.


About halfway up the trail to the peak, we came across a black bear not too far off the trail eating berries.






We had never seen a bear in the wild before, so it was really cool to see one in person. It was especially good that the bear seemed to mind it's own business. ;) Here's a zoomed pic of the bear.


The main reason we chose this hike is the views you get of Rainier. I figure any hike with a lookout probably has good views. :)

DMV, deck, & Bday Celebration for Patricia

I woke up early this morning to go to the DMV to get my license changed to Sharon Regala Hanks. I couldn't believe the line at the DMV this morning in Bothell. I wanted to get there before it opened at 8:30am. When I got there around 8:15, there was already a line from the entrance that curved to the back of the building. Crazy! Anyway, it's now official on my license. :) I've still got to go to Social Security on Monday but after that and my passport (the major documents) I'll be set.

Later that morning, both Mom and Dad came over. Tim and Dad stained the deck while mom and I observed. They did a great job. :)



After the deck, we did some errands and found our way to Southcenter Mall for Patricia's birthday celebration at Red Robin.

Below is the wonderful cake Amabelle made. I thought it was really cool how she decorated it. Very professional looking. She did an awesome job!



It was nice to see Tyler too. He's so cute!



Here's the birthday girl and family. Happy 16th Birthday Patricia!!

Back home

I haven't had time until now to update the blog. We are back in Seattle. Below is a pic of Mt. Rainier from the plane ride. We got back on Friday afternoon. It felt good to be back home.



Ever since we got home things have been pretty busy. We started moving Tim's things into my place on Saturday so there has been a lot of organizing and cleaning going on. It's nice to have him move in. :)

My sister and Nathan came to visit over the weekend as well so it was really good seeing them. Trevor has grown. Here is a pic of me with him. He's so cute.



On Sunday, the family went over to Amabelle and Kajon's place for brunch. It was so yummy! There were waffles with blueberries and strawberries, scrambled eggs, bacon, and even some steak. Good stuff! Thanks Kajon and Amabelle! Afterwards, we went to Ikea where Tim and I got a dresser and two side tables along with some other stuff for the house. It was really cool, because we saved on tax with my sister there. Thanks Ate! :)

After Ikea we went to Mom and Dad's place for dinner where we had seafood pasta. I ate way to much that day, so much good food! It was great to hang out with the whole family. Below is a cute pic of Trevor right before we left. We won't get to see him again until October. Hopefully my sister will put more videos of him online, so we can have updates.



Monday, it was back to work. It was hard to go back, but it was good to see everyone again. So back to the normal routine of work. Lately we are still organizing the house so that is taking up a lot of our time.