Photos by Dave Gedye - click for slightly larger versions.

I fly up to Seattle to attend RosettaCon in Leavenworth, and arrange to meet Dave Gedye at the Tiger Mountain trailhead at 4:30, for a quick hike before my drive. We both get there at 4:00 and decide to continue up I-90 a bit and do a longer hike, namely Bandara Mountain, a 7 mile round trip with 2,850' vertical.

We drive to the end of a 3-mile dirt road and are walking at 4:45. The first mile or two is in forest.

We emerge from the forest and get a nice view of Mt. Rainier.

Hand-held self-portrait - a Gedye specialty

The main trail continues to a lake; we take a small trail that goes up a steep slope towards the summit.

Dave ponders the fate of Nature and Mankind

Is my butt really that big?

Posed shot - some boulders at the summit

I fantasize about a cold beer

Back down

The light begins to fade.

Arty twilight shot

We reach the parking lot. I change into my jeans, locking my shorts (which have the car keys) in the trunk. Panic sets in. Fortuntately Dave has cell-phone signal and we manage to get a tow truck from North Bend to come out. The driver (another Dave) complains good-naturedly about the dust from the dirt road getting all over his truck (a giant diesel rig, overkill for this application) which he washed the day before.

Dave from North Bend jimmies the door

The bill: $162.50 (what can you do?)

Art shot of tow-truck bed

At 9:30 I say goodbye to Dave and drive on to Leavenworth, stopping in Cle Elum for food. I get to the Sleeping Lady at 11:30. It's a sprawling Asilomar-type resort in the middle of the forest. The office is still open; the attendees are all either drinking or in the hot tub.

The next day I chat with various people. The resort is a cool place - lots of sculpture, a music center with a little concert hall and a Steinway B in the closet (which I play a bit). Also the food (which is part of the deal for ~$200 a day) is great.

I decide to start the drive early, and head back after dinner, stopping at a motel in Cle Elum.