07.04.06 Sauk Mtn

"romantic" was the word Cass and i had in mind for the 4th.  we invited our other pal in hopes of a threesome, but only to hear excuses, excuses...  so it was just Cass and i.  Sloan Peak was the plan.  we left Seattle at 5pm on the 3rd, drove to Arlington for dinner.  after dinner we stopped at the grocery store for food.  i realized then i had forgotten my cooking pot.  i couldn't stand the thought of not having Ramen noodles and a grande cocoa for breakfast, so i decided to buy a $5.39 Pyrex bread pan for cooking.  i figured i could sure use another bakeware at home to make bread.  the Pyrex was the only thing i found in the store that would work, and the label said "heat tempered and oven safe" --  oven safe means PocketRocket safe right?  shortly before 8pm we arrived at the TH. Cass wearing shorts and me sporting flip-flops,  we decided to do a "recon" (short for reconsider  ;)) to scope out the river crossing to save time in the morning.  we schwacked up the trail for about 1/3-mile.  parts of schwack was painful because of the stinging nettle.  my feet felt like two muddy pincoushins.  after making our way over two creeks (via log crossing), we ran into a problem: the main vein was too deep to ford, about waist deep.  the current felt pretty strong.  there was no easy way to get to the other side.  somewhat irritated, we decided to abandon Sloan.  #$#@#$!!!

earlier that day Silas told me he'd be up on the Squak the next day.  "let's go meet him Cass," i said.  Cass mubbles, "um - kay."  shortly before 11pm we arrived at the trailhead at Schreiber's Meadow. it was nearly empty and very quiet.  where is everybody?  neither of us knew what Silas was driving, so we decided to sleep and get started at 5pm in hopes of running into him.  the next morning we felt very lazy and decided to sleep in.  the gloomy weather didn't look encouraging either.  at 8am i boiled water for two grande cocoas using my new glass cookware.  after the water, i made Ramen and boy and i nearly die of a heart attack!  i wanted that Ramen so bad!!  then five minutes later we heard thunder, followed by rain.  we threw our stuff in the car and drove down the mountain.  how romatic.  now what?

there's always Sauk Mtn.  it's a quick hike for turns over sun cups.  indeed it was fun.  we made it back to Seattle in time for fireworks.  now that's romantic!