I first heard of the hike to Marmot Pass through a report at the Washington Trails Association, which claimed that it was possible to see Seattle’s Fourth of July fireworks from the pass. I had been back from a week in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness of the Umatilla National Forest for only a few days, but having had a shower, a shave, and done some laundry, I was ready to head back out again. I planned to go there on Saturday, when the rest of the country would be eating hot dogs and preparing to blow stuff up in celebration of the violent overthrow of a government (being too fat, no doubt, for a more fitting remembrance, such as staring a local militia movement.)

Assuming that the traffic would be poor and the ferry to the peninsula jammed because of the holiday, I awoke early and hit the road as the sun came up. As it turned out, there was almost no traffic and I only had a 5 or 10 minute wait for the ferry.

The ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston on the Puyallup is a short, 25 minute cruise. I entertained myself by taking pictures from the bow as the mountains appeared.

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This past weekend I took a walk out to the Chuckanuts, visiting the same spot Avagdu, HatterOfMaddnesz, and I visited a couple months prior. The ice had disappeared from the lake by now. I opted to pitch my tarp up at the viewpoint above the lake, which had caught my fancy last time around. The sun was out and not a drop of rain fell from the sky for both days, making for a pleasant contrast with the last few trips I’ve taken. In the evening I could watch the sun set over the San Juan islands in the west, and the following morning watch the sun rise over Mt. Baker to the east.

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To the multitude, whether city or country bred, the bare idea of faring alone in the wilds for days or weeks at a time is eerie and fantastic: it makes their flesh creep. He who does so is certainly an eccentric, probably a misanthrope, possible a fugitive from justice, or, likely enough, some moonstruck fellow whom the authorities would do well to follow up and watch.

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Last weekend Avagdu, HatterOfMaddnesz, and I loaded up our packs and went for a jaunt in the Chuckanuts. The hike in was about 6 miles, with an elevation gain of something on the order of 1,600 feet. (In the planning stage, I had told them to expect 7 miles and 500 feet. I suppose next time I should look at the map, rather than relying on memory.)

Avagdu and HatterOfMaddnesz claimed that this was the longest hike that they had done in a while, but they both pulled through. Avagdu used the opportunity to field-test his INCH Bag, which was quite heavy. It gave him a hard time. I think he’ll be shedding some of the redundancy the next time around. Certainly, we all learned something.

We spent two nights at a lake and took a hike up to a ridge that gave views of Mt. Baker to the east and the San Juan Islands to the west. (I took a nap.) My camera battery died soon after setting up camp the first night, so pictures are sparse.

Saturday’s forecast was for 67F and sun. I’d forgotten what anything above 55F felt like, so I loaded up my ruck and hit the trails. My new Kifaru Parahootch came along for its first night out.

I’m out in this area most weekends, but hadn’t been to this lake before. It was great. Surrounded by a lot of new growth, and only a 13 mile hike. There was even a bench by the lake where I chose to make camp.