I allowed myself fifteen minutes to get ready and have my stuff packed in the car and headed to I-5. They still didn't have food in their house. Lame. I tried to find Doug to tell him bye but I couldn't find him.
There was actually a lot of people on the road for it only being 5 a.m.
My GPS said I would be there around 6:15. I hope my car will get me there. Haha.
I merged onto I-90 and drove across the Mercer Island tunnel. It was kinda fun that early in the morning.
I went through Issaquah, North Bend and made my way to the up hill grade towards Snoqualmie Pass. My car had trouble on the really steep parts of the climb. This is why I don't drive my car outside of Thurston county. I got to the Hyak exit and followed my instinct since my Nuvi wanted me to go another way further down the freeway. I followed a one-laned road that parralleled I-90. It seemed right but I wasn't sure so I called Bev. She couldn't remember. How could you not remember something like that? You either remember a freeway or you don't. They came up in October for Shrek198's (Jacob) milestone event. I was going to go but got called into work.
That paved road turned into a rather bumpy dirt road. This continued all the way to the trail head parking. I took a wrong turn and had to turn around....effing Nuvi! I made it to the parking lot and I was about a minute late from being in the trail head picture. Poo. I grabbed all the things I might need and joined the group of people. Painter was among the crowd. It was nice to see him. I didn't realize this gathering would be so popular. GrnXnham should have made this into an event but they said they didn't want to take away from the Ape Event. Which is understandable.
Along the way up to the first section, I talked to several people who were not from here. It was fun chatting as we hiked. There were two caches along the way. I wanted to grab them on the way back down...when there were less people.
We took another break at the second landing just for the people who did stop at the caches to catch up because this area is where people have trouble navigating. This third piece to the hike was the less steep part because of the switch backs. She took us around and then through because the last 200 feet was bushwacking...she tried to minimize that for us, especially the cachers who really don't do hikes and/or forest caching. It didn't bother me either way.
And now the cache we've all been waiting for...GCD! OMG OMG! I was stoked when we got there. We arrived around 8 a.m. It took us an hour and a half to get up the mountain. I immediately grabbed the pathtag that was in there. I signed the logbook shortly after and then took a selfie of me and the cache. I was interviewed by a cacher with a small video camera. He said once he splices them all together he would post it on his log. I ate my Odwalla bar I am so glad I brought with me...since I didn't have breakfast. I spent some time hanging out with the ET Highway guys, Gus gave me one of his pathtags and then I wished I had my own to trade with him. It is in the workings. :)
After spending some time up on top of the world, it was time to head back down to the parking lot and then across the freeway to the Ape event. I walked down with Painter and grabbed I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up, which was dedicated to a guy on a hike with his dog, tripped over his dog, fell, broke his leg and had to be airlifted to the hospital and 56 Miles and 4 Days. We actually got down the hill pretty quickly in a little over an hour. I found the Mt. Margaret Trail Head cache and then went to the car and drove to the tunnel.
I called mom along the way to see if they made it to Hyak yet. They did and her and Bev were waiting in the line to get a parking pass and to park. I was about five minutes away from parking my car. I finally got there and they were waiting in line to buy a coin. This year I volunteered to help out WSGA since this was their major event of the year and I felt like I needed to, to give back in a way.
After Bev got her coin, we made our way to the tunnel, for the second time this year. Mom and I were here back in July grabbing the state park cache near the entrance. Abby has had to replace and move it several times since the launch back in June. There was a mob around it when we went by. I rode by bike while Bev and mom walked. Inside, we did the new earthcache, which required us to answer a bunch of questions. We took pictures.
We turned around about the half way mark and headed back. My shift was about to start soon. Lots of people were walking past us. Many people brought their dogs, you could see their green eyes glowing in the tunnel. There were these two girls who had just met. They were really excited about walking through the tunnel together. We reached the end and made our way back to the event area. Bev wanted her picture with the ape.
They both decided to go home. I spent the next two hours in the sun making sure everyone signed the log and that JCar didn't die in the ape suit. For volunteering, I received an ape event t-shirt. I got to talk to a lot of people and even made a new friend who lives in Rainier. She just started caching.
At the end of my shift, I hung around a little while longer. I was getting really tired and hungry. I spent some time talking to the WSGA members and listened to Abby tell the story of what happened last year in the parking lot. I used the restroom and headed to North Bend for some food! I was so hungry.
I got home roughly around 5ish and unloaded the car, took a shower and passed out. This weekend took a lot out of me but it was fun.
Next Adventure: China Town and a Storm Game
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