(All photos by David Gedye.)

I fly up to Seattle to see various people, first and foremost David Gedye, the Godfather of volunteer computing. We get up at the crack of dawn, stop for provisions at the Mercer Island Starbucks, and do a modest (9 mile, 3,600' vertical) hike/run involving the quaintly-named Putrid Pete's Peak, Mount Defiance, and Mason Lake.

Going on a hike == good mood

Any suggestive imagery is completely unintentional

Panorama on steep part; Ranier in distance

Dave and I both like dead trees. Another hiker visible above me

I-90 far below

We chat with two other hikers at the top of Putrid Pete's Peak. We traverse across to Mt. Defiance but don't summit it because of time constraints.

Wild blueberry in full fall colors

It's usually Rainier than this

Dave runs every day and is in great shape

Local fluctuation of gravity field

The water was freezing; I stayed in just long enough for this pic

We jog most of the way down, which is sort of a new thing for me.

Our moving time is 3.5 hours, which sounds really fast until Dave tells me he did the same hike with another trail runner last month in 2.5 hours.