Ice Caves!

So, I have a backlog of 2 or 3 posts from the late summer and my birthday that are still to be posted. They need some work. But, instead of working on those, I wanted to do a quick and easy and beautiful update about going to some ICE CAVES!!! 

I posted a picture on the Book, and quite a few people enjoyed it. Would you like to see some more?? Awesome! Me too! Over and over again.

I was getting a little wanderlust-y again (a month is too long without an adventure!) and luckily I have an awesome dude friend who was open and excited to go on a little excursion. Actually, Zach was the one who told me about the ice caves, so it worked out nicely we were able to go together. Let start off with some pictures from the trail, where we were treated to a variety of interesting fungus.

Tyneee baaabee musharooms, soo ka-yoooot!

I've seen human tissue that looks like this so frequently that it automatically makes me smell Nystatin powder and steroid creams. Thanks, nursing career!

This one felt slimy and wet. It suspect it is Mother Nature's weird combination love child of a tangerine jelly bean, brains and larvae. Or maybe it's just some fungus.

Polar opposite of one the above!

Picture credits on the shroomie ones above go to Zach. So glad he came because, you see, he is such. A. Fun...gi. 

(collective sigh...)

Aww come on, no love for the 10th grade bio joke? (copyright 2002, Mr. Heifetz)

The taming of the Tree-a-Saurus.
Zach is the only person I know tall enough to look dapper sitting astride on a brontosaurus tree.

Now, down to the serious cave bidniz. I had been reading up on the ice caves over the past few weeks. Out of the more than 500,000 visitors in the past 10 years, there have only been two injuries which were fatal. Because of that, every website containing info on the "Big 4 Ice Caves" has warnings. Many even have diatribes berating hikers they've seen exploring the caves. Honestly? If you are a relatively intelligent adult who is used to nature and has some common sense, it's unlikely anything will happen. 

If you aren't that, then follow these simple steps:

WHAT NOT TO DO IN ICE CAVES

1. Stand under the very edge where the water is pouring off. Standing on the very outskirts of the cave where ice is thinning may sound less scary than going deep into a dark, cold cavern, but I'll take my chances on being stuck inside vs. being instantly crushed to death at the entrance. 

2. Avoid areas with large amount of ice debris. Take an effing hint. Where do you think those ice chunks came from? 

3. Don't play the "echo" game. You know, where you shout something like "ECHO!" or "HELLO!" and wait until an invisible you yells it back over and over? Also, don't: play Marco Polo or let your children scream, and if you have a barking dog, keep it outside and away.

4. Don't try to scale the outside, you dumb, dumb idiot. You will fall, fall through, or cause an avalanche on the people inside the cave. If you want to go mountaineering, go get some crampons and eff off down a crevasse. This is not the place for that. 

Danger: Awesome ahead

First glimpses of the caves, with Zach in the foreground.

Just for a bit of size perspective. See those tiny, tiny little specks to the left of the ice caves? Those are hoomans. 

From just inside the left cave opening

Check out that teal colored icy  action! Waaa sooo neat!

A picture of me, taking a picture, from inside the cave.

Looking toward the back of the cave to the waterfall, with no one in the shot! Zach! How did you get this?? We certainly weren't alone in there!

Zach's a god damn cave-melion. 

The waterfall and cenote-like opening at the back of the cave

And we make our way back towards the entrance, struggling over rocks and boulders for a few hundred feet and taking in the last of the undulating, dripping walls and dark, damp air.

To finish up our day, we took a nice ride to Chuckanut brewery and ejoyed some delicious libations. Overall, a great, successful adventure Saturday, and I'm so glad I was able to go! I'm going to be moving back East next summer, and I'm happy to add this to the list of things I've seen and done out here on the West Coast. Special thanks to Zach for being an awesome adventure companion. More to come soon!

In Which There Is Spring and Summer Recap!

Ahhh salam and good evening to you! Please, please! Come closer!

Time to jump off my mental health high horse and back into the realm of "How I Love the PNW". It was a beautiful effing summer in Seattle. Dark, cloudy mornings with a cool dampness in the air, gave way to bright, warm afternoons with sun and white fluffy clouds. The air was remarkably clear despite the warmth, and the ability to see the mountains nearly every sunny day was pretty unbelievable.

I've had quite a few visitors. Erin came to see me and she was wonderful for company. Matty and Amy just left this morning (I originally wrote that back in August), and Cousin Jess was around as well. Unfortunately, I get a F+ on taking pictures when company is around. They took most of the pictures, which someday I may find and post.

In consideration of that "someday" statement, I'll post some about my other adventures. Weekend trips! I guess I could start off with my two visits to Paradise.

Decisions, decisions...

Mount Rainier is an active Volcano (capital V, show some god damn respect), the PNW's largest, and it is glaciated year round. If ya'll don't know, it's pretty epic. There is a reason people here just call it "The Mountain." No, not that Mountain. This one. I've taken two trips: a rather ill-planned, slightly terrifying one and an incredibly beautiful, serendipitous one.

First trip, I left after work one night, since Mt. Rainier appears to be in Renton's back yard. NOTE: THIS IS NOT ACCURATE.


Pfffp I could walk to that before sundown!

I left at 10 of 6, knowing that the sun did not fully set until 8:30 or so. "I should have at least a half hour of sunlight before it's too dark to seem," I thought. That probably would have been the case had I realized that it was over 2 hours away, and the sun actually set closer to 8, since that's when it dipped below the mountains to the West, and also, here's a tip for all you nature sprites out there: the forest gets darker, earlier! Also, I should have probably told someone I was going, since I lost cell phone coverage half way there. And, my car was on it's way out of this universe. All cars go to heaven, right?

Paradise is named for it's beauty and uncompromising views of Mt. Rainier. So, it's May, and it's warm outside, Spring is in full bloom in Seattle. It should be about time that things are manage-ably melted, right?

"Nope," says the 17 foot snowbanks.

Well, at least it's safe. the road wouldn't be open if it wasn't, right?

"Here's a big serving of Nope, with a side of you-apparently-know-very-little-about-mountain-climates" says the Extreme Avalanche Danger warning signs.


Goodnight, Cascades

This makes me feel... safe and completely unsafe at the same time.

Well. It was lesson in poor execution of wanderlust, and one of the most terrifying car experiences I've had. Happily, my second trip was really a better one. Me and Zach and Marie decided to wander down to the Mt. Rainier National Park. I've been dying to do the Grove of the Patriarchs' walk, so we hit that up first, then made our way up to paradise. Here are some pretty sweet pics of the day!

Pretty little stream by the Grove.

TWINSIES!

GRAAARRR I'M THE BARK MONSTER!!!

This buck quite liked Zach and I

I also spent a few weeks checking out some of the local parks (because that's how I do PNW best,) and walked around the International District a bit. I won't bore you with too many pictures, because let's face it: too many pictures of greenery and trees all start to look the same, and they never look as cool on photos as they did in real life.


Schmitz Reserve Park. Some of the oldest trees in the city, and a very cool little walk.

AHHHH WTFASDFJJWQETRJADF!!! oh.. oh my god. ok, it's just a tree. Painted like a giant Dinosaur Alligator.Caalm down. But seriously, it scared me half to death. Because it's so.... real...looking... shut up, it was scary, okay?

A little look out park at the end of Magnolia bridge, I walked here and enjoyed the sunset. 

The Gates to the ID

 

Pagoda Park in the ID

The guardians on many, many of the ID's telephone poles. Very cool.

I also took a long weekend and headed out to see my two favorite Spokanians. Miss Katie and Mr. Matt. We did some cool stuff, the coolest of which was just spending time, laughing and having heart to hearts, talking about broken cities and even more broken education systems. We created a performing Trio, in which I opera sing Disney classics, while Katie river-dances and Matt lectures loudly (over my singing) about tactical fishing. Performing arts at it's finest? We think so.

We checked out the Spokane riverfront, went to some rad restaurants, went to yoga, and checked off one of my most wanted things to do in Washington State: Palouse Falls.Check it out!

Spokane reminds me a bit of charming New England. Brick mills and old bridges!

Lower falls. Katie and Matt were not as enthused when they thought this was it.

 
I successfully came away with my first sunburn this year after spending approximately an hour and a half outdoors in the Washington desert! It was totally worth the drive. Thanks, guys, for supporting my insatiable wonder of nature!

I went back East too. I thought, a year is just too long! I needed to see my smallkins and all my loves. 

OMG SEATAC!! I AM SO EXCITED!

Thank you, airports, for finally understanding that water should be free.

I also got to spend some time playing tourist in Boston with Jdogg. So here. Pictures of Boston, where history is magical! 

Uhh.... Well, Tufts isn't known for their literary achievements...

     

The old Statehouse. Golden Unicorn and lion. That's how New Englanders Roll.

Boston is charming. Lots of Iron statues. So quaint.

When I came back, many weekends were full of lakeside beer drinking, waterfall-side beer drinking, and bridge jumping, including the Floating Bridge's ramps to nowhere, where I Zach and I had NO FEAR, jumping 40 feet from the bridge into the swampy lake below. No pictures, but you can see a video of someone else doing it here. I did dislocate my coccyx while trying to spare my broken foot. 

After hurting myself severely enough to need a standing desk for 4 weeks, I decided it was time to cool it a bit. About this time, Ladyhawk starting dying for realz, and I knew it was time to upgrade. You can check out my new ride and my extended summer/fall adventures in the next few posts.