To the Mountain!

Posted by Amy Baranski

Doodle by Amy Baranski

Summer's nearing it's end...or in Seattle that means heading into it's last month: September. The best month in the city, except for my birthday month and a few others. But the angle of the sunlight is almost always prettiest this time of year in our hemisphere. It is almost always painful as it pierces the corners of your eyes.

This morning, however, is not sunny.

Which means that from our point of view, which would be on the roof of our apartment building, the Mountain is not out today. That would be Mt. Rainer, or Big Mama. There's a street in Seattle named after Rainier,  it's big and sometimes dangerous, and on a very clear day the Mountain dominates the horizon as you head South.

My Aunt Julie loves Paradise--who's doesn't? It's not a non-sequitur really. Paradise is a section of Mt. Rainer national park. Aunt Julie would rave about it every time she and Uncle Dave came to visit. So, one day I finally went up there with my husband. I can't remember if we were married then, it's been some time. We went in summer, so I wore shorts. But there were still drifts of snow all about the upper parking lot near the Inn. That Inn serves ice cream and other treats.

This time around I am not going with my husband but with friends, and we are not staying near Paradise but near Sunrise Point.

Truth is I've never spent the night on the mountain. So, in many ways, this is a new thing.

The thing about hiking is that in many instances it requires camping, which requires time, money, and fuel. Melissa and I were remarking about the opportunity for next month, coming in the shape of simplicity. For Urban Homesteading one of our shared goals will be in a way simplifying life, and in return saving money. Melissa offhandedly refers to these as Austerity Measures. 

My idea of the Mountain, and in particular Mt. Rainer, is austere. How could rock be anything but unforgiving?

I have 40 minutes to get my things together. I'm completely unprepared. It's going to be one of those I packed in a paper bag moments. By the time we return the month will be close to changing cycling over again from 31 to 1 and so the blogging adventure continues. Until then.