All Things Chill

LOL. Liana and I have been gearing up for out Half Dome hike in Yosemite in two weeks (EEEEEEE). We’ve gone to the flagship REI here in Seattle (huge and awesome) to try on shoes, pick up Nalgenes (hers blue, mine red) and find other things we might need for the long haul. It’s been fun experience picking up new equipment that I never thought I’d need EVAR. No, seriously. EVAR. LOL.

Finding the correct shoes were hard. Boots? Cross trainers? Shoes I could wear on the street normally? Blah. I had it all narrowed down to Merrell Outland and a Keen mid hiking boot. I ended up getting the Keen Targhee II eVent Mid Hiking Boot, which has CRAZY arch and ankle support. The Merrell was very comfortable, but it didn’t feel as “snug” as the Keens. Apparently, you’re all good if your toes don’t touch the front of the shoes. Pictura below:

So with a quick trip to Second Ascent in Ballard for a few last minute items – moleskin for blisters, new wool socks and a map – we made our way to Rattlesnake Mountain for an easy hike. Easy? LOL. LIES. We hiked 8.2 miles to the Rattlesnake Mt. ledge with one stop for lunch (mmm sammiches from Other Coast!). It had a good “pace,” but the trails hit 45 degrees for very LONG stretches with little to no flat areas. It was rough, but we made it! Victory shot below:

Larger view here. It was really hard to imagine that we were all the way DOWN THERE. I haven’t caught the hiking bug (I was kinda hoping to), but it was a fun trip into the outdoors. Here’s to working my ass off the next two weeks for half dome!

w00p w00p!

~Spec

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 11:03 am and is filed under Seattle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.