Since Anchorage has been a bleak morass all day I'll share some photos from my hike on Saturday through the Enchantments in the North Cascades with my mom & dad.

Peter Valaas way down below me.

After I took this picture I actually scrambled back along the base of the steep rocky part of the mountain to get back on the trail and in doing so experienced one of the scariest moments of my life because I kicked a rock down the mountain. Here "kicked" means accidentally nudged a slightly-larger-than-football sized rock which happened to be resting its relatively flat side on a relatively flat slope. Anyway, it went over the edge and out of view and I thought, "I'm going to kill someone." Because Asgaard Pass is steep and long and full of other loose rocks and there were at least 15 other hikers coming up below me. I also couldn't see over the edge of the rock face on which I was standing to see where my rock was going. I was reassured to hear my call of "ROCK!" being echoed down below me. I didn't, in the end, kill anyone but in the future I think I'll avoid scrambling when there's people below me.

Susan & Laura Valaas
Peter Valaas
Susan & Peter Valaas

Here my mom is taking a photo (Crystal Lake, I believe). I'm not even sure what my mom looks like because she always has a camera in front of her face. And I don't even have any of multitude of photos she took Saturday. (Mom, send me your best mountain goat photos please.)

Susan & Peter Valaas

My mom is taking a picture of me from across the lake. I am lying on a rock because I am tired of walking slowly and stopping to take pictures at every lake. And I figure I can always catch up.
Susan Valaas

My mom and I are taking simultaneous pictures of each other. I assume there's something scenic behind me. Too bad I'm holding a camera in front of my face too.

Susan Valaas taking a picture of a pretty waterfall with Little Anapurna in the background.

It was a very long day out hiking but the most perfect weather and scenery. I think we spent about 11hrs from trailhead to trailhead.

Labels: photos, wenatchee