Photos from my recent Spray Park hike in Mt. Rainier National Park with my friend Jeff Kimes are up at Flickr/playapixie

Are you ever so delighted by an experience that you almost feel like you are getting away with something? That's what my September 20, 2012 overnight into Spray Park with my friend Jeff felt like: a few lingering wildflowers and blueberries, perfect sunny weather, soul-inspiring stargazing, jaw-dropping views from the flank of Rainier, early fall colors, solitude, and a peaceful bear, and all just two days before the official start of fall.

We weren't sure if we'd be able to camp in Spray Park (only two parties are issued cross-country permits for that area, and it took some sweet-talking of the ranger to even be issued one of them), but we got lucky, and I believe we had the entire area to ourselves on Thursday night. We got a late start up the trail at 2:30PM, and only encountered a few day-hikers and one fellow headed to Eagle's Roost camp. By sunset, Spray Park was all ours, and we didn't see or hear another person until around 10:30 the next morning. Stargazing from the meadows was epic, as there were clear skies and no moon (although wildfires in the Cascades and the lengthy high pressure system we've been having in the region made for a bit of haze.)

The next morning, a bear joined us for our yoga/meditation hour, and hung out at a respectful distance. I first spotted him between my legs from Downward Dog pose (!) maybe 300 yards up the hillside towards the ridge between Hessong Rock and Mt. Pleasant. He eventually meandered to within 40 yards of our camp, but never acted threatening, although he clearly knew we were there. We watched him for at least an hour before he eventually wandered out of site to our west (after first checking out our camp kitchen, where we had wisely cooked our delicious Salmon dinner the night prior quite a safe distance from camp, though nothing of ours remained there at that point.) I was glad we had carried in a bear canister (borrowed for free from the ranger station at Carbon River), as there are no good trees for hanging food at that altitude, and salmon and veggie-scented trash in a tree would probably have been all too inviting.

Friday afternoon we hiked straight up the little trail from Spray Park to the ridge between Hessong Rock and Mt. Pleasant, and followed the trail along the ridge to the top of Mt. Pleasant. Fantastic views of Fay Peak, Knapsack Pass, Mist Park, and Seattle Park awaited (stirring up schemes for a multi-night trip in the region during wildflower season.) To the west, low overcast at around 4500 feet obscured Mowich Lake and everything westward (reinforcing our giddy feeling of getting away with something, since we were in 70 degree sunshine, knowing that everyone at home was having a gray Seattle day.) From Mt. Pleasant, we followed the ridge between Seattle Park and Spray Park, where we serendipitously ran into our friend Sheri (who had hiked up through Knapsack Pass earlier that day.) We then followed the ridge trail further to where it joined the main Spray Park trail, and back down to pack up our camp and head back for the trailhead.

One last break for a small dinner at the viewpoint just below Eagle's Roost gave us one last sweet surprise. Right around Eagle's Roost we began descending through fog, and when we first arrived at the viewpoint, Mt. Rainier was completely obscured in clouds. But within just a couple of minutes, it completely cleared, and we drank in a pink and gray dusky mountain landscape with our last trail meal, the icing on the cake of an entirely perfect weekend.

By the time we reached the parking lot, at around 8PM, it was dark, and we needed headlamps for the last 3/4 mile or so. We passed several groups (including one very large group headed for Eagle's Roost) who were on their way in, and the campground at the trailhead and the parking lot were both packed with friday night visitors, presumably staging for an early start for their saturday morning hikes. We were even more grateful that we'd hiked thursday/friday, as we realized just how popular Spray Park is, and just how lucky we were to have it all to ourselves.

(My Washington Trails Association trip report).

September 15-16 Summit Lake hike with Everett (I can't wait to see his photos, especially the stargazing photos!)

Full set up at Flickr/Playapixie.

Last of the wild flowers & blueberries, first of the fall colors...

This was one of those weekends when everything falls perfectly into place and the universe conspires to remind me that I am one lucky woman.

We got a late start on the Summit Lake trail at 5PM saturday, and arrived at Summit Lake just in time to take in one epic sunset over Mt. Rainier from the meadow near the lake before setting up camp. Perfect weather and clear (if cold) skies made for ideal conditions for hours of star gazing and some star photography from that same meadow look-out. We saw only one other set of over-night campers, although we heard that there might have been one other group camped on the ridge.

The next day we hiked to the top of the cliffs and soaked up the late summer sunshine under the gaze of Rainier, lingered for a lazy afternoon, meandered through meadows and zen gardens, ate blueberries, and enjoyed every last minute of this wonderland.

Wildfires in the Cascades reduced the visibility and clarity, but made for some spectacular lighting as the distant mountains faded, especially in the late afternoon. We packed our gear and headed down the trail as the sun set, wildfire-tinted pastel skies making a watercolor canvas backdrop to the wooded trail, with more sunset views of Rainier and the surrounding hills peeking through occasionally. Made it back to the van just as we were losing light on the trail, where we were the last car in the parking lot.

Playapixie's Summit Lake hike report at Washington Trails Association.

The Earth Harp (a musical instrument strung from the temple!) at Burning Man last year.

Off to the playa in the morning. See you in the dust, or on the other side!

Photo set from the sweet audiblebicycleday are up up at Flickr.

13 months later, I've finally posted my Thailand photo set at Flickr. The long delay was due the fact that I had over a thousand photos from 6 weeks of travel to par down to my favorites and edit (and post processing is my least favorite thing about photography.) That's excluding the photos from Laos, Cambodia, and diving in the Andaman Sea (those sets I posted shortly after coming home last March.)

I still ended up with a bigger set than I'd intended, but in the end I decided to post the set that captured the breadth of my memories rather than the set that would have only included the "best" photos. As a result, some of these are iPhone and point & shoot snapshots, and some aren't great photos. But they are great to me, as they remind me of the many blessings along that path that is my unfolding life.

Ton Sai, the little hippie/backpacker village at Railay, Thailand (Krabi area.) This was the first place I stayed in southern Thailand (after traveling throughout Northern Thailand, Laos, and a bit of Cambodia.) I had been traveling at a rather rapid pace until this point, and was pretty emotionally beat up by the poverty and corruption of Siem Reap, Cambodia. I had also sprained my ankle about two weeks earlier and was still pretty gimpy. So by this point, I was really ready to just kick it on the beach and enjoy the chill vibe of this sweet place. Being a beach bum doesn't actually turn out to suit me very well, though, so I moved on after 4 days here. In retrospect, it was one of my favorite spots in the south, though, and would have made a good home base for day trips/adventures.

I'm still trying to cull the 1118 photos I took in Thailand into a decent set to post, or I'm going to be really really behind when I return from Spain (I leave in 10 days!)

Winter walk at the Seattle Arboretum Winter Garden with Everett Kiethcart. Full set at Flickr.

Also just posted pics from Jessica & Eric's wedding (10/1/2011.)

Winter walk at the Seattle Arboretum Winter Garden with Everett Kiethcart. Full set at Flickr.

Also just posted pics from Jessica & Eric's wedding (10/1/2011.)

11 months from when I left for Thailand, and I still haven't posted my Thailand photo set. I wish I liked post processing as much as I like taking the pictures...

Last lingering days of fall slipping by...savoring every splash of color, from gold-red-orange-yellow leaves to patches of blue sky...life is beautiful.

One of the lovely ancient Buddha images at the Sukhothai Historical Park in Thailand. Still working my way through all of the photos I shot in Thailand, and hope to get them posted soon.

Sukhothai is a lovely historical park in northern Thailand. The ruins (with many beautiful Buddha images) are around 800 years old. This was the first place I visited after leaving Bangkok, after traveling by train via the town of Phitsanulok. This image is a couple of Thai teens sharing a lunch at the park, with one of the many mangy feral dogs that roam the park hovering over their shoulders attentively.

Early stages of researching my next travel adventure show that my daily budget for Barcelona, Spain will probably have to be about three times my daily budget for SE Asia (and that's still traveling backpacker-hostel-style.) Wow! I still have my heart set on Barcelona, especially since I've never been to Europe, but I'm thinking that after this trip, my sights will probably return to developing countries, where my travel dollars go further (and are needed more.) India? Indonesia? Vietnam? Central or south America? I don't know, but I love the dreaming and researching...

Still working my way through last winter's Thailand photos, but hope to get a set posted within the week.

"Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind." - Buddha

While I managed to get my Laos, Cambodia, and Andaman Sea scuba diving photos posted in a timely manner, I'm just now getting back around to working through the set from Thailand. Thanking the rainy weather and introverted fall for the quiet artistic moments, while dreaming and scheming up my next travel adventure...