Schmuck, Half-Canucks and Maps - oh my!

So I was so happy and lucky that my long-lost favorite half-canuck couple (Becky & Scotty) came into town this past weekend. I was introduced to them by my beloved Schmuck years ago and my life has felt sweeter ever since.

Becky used to live in Washington between getting her Bachelors and Masters Degrees and that girl never went to Mt. Rainier once. Appalling! So during their visit we went on one of my favorite hikes - Spray Park.

My hiking posse: Schmuck and the Half-Canucks. This can be a popular hike since it's part of the Wonderland Trail. Spray Falls is only 2 or 3 miles away and sometimes I like to scramble up to the base of the falls but we decided to play it safe this time. Well....

The one thing that didn't play safe was the camera. Scotty should get an award of positioning this camera perfectly on a boulder that had a rushing water all around it. All four of us scrambled rocks to get this perfect shot. Thanks for not dying camera.

Aren't these falls beautiful? I never get tired of seeing them or feeling their sweet spray.



We all look perfectly positioned and dry in that picture but in reality this is what my foot was balancing itself on.

After some switch backs we finally arrived to Spray Park. Schmuck thought it was totally worth it...or at least she was threatening that it better be totally worth it on those switchbacks.

These dudes above were funny/creepy. That's them trying to figure out the glaciers on Mt. Rainier with Scotty. Men love maps. Later these guys showed us pictures they took of us that we weren't aware of. Awesome.

Taking it all in....Hello Gorgeous.

Can you spot all the differences in these two photos??

Avalanche Lilies! Thanks Jayme!

This big beautiful b*tch was out on our right side as we ascended Spray Park. Last time I did this hike on a sunny gorgeous day I forgot my camera. And let me tell ya, pictures just don't do this scene justice.

One of Scotty's pictures to show our hiking bliss. Another one of Scotty's tripod pics - he took so many good pictures - I'm expecting the 2010 calendar man!

Up never looked so good to me...

See what I mean?

Another one of Scotty's pictures. It's like Senior Yearbook goes hiking - I love it! Rah! Rah! for hiking!

On Scotty's map we found out this was called Mother Mountain. She's a big Mother.

Our pefect lunch spot. Scotty with his map, Mt. Rainier to our right (not seen) and none of us had any idea what time it was. It was stinking perfect.

Can anyone guess what Becky is doing here? Look at that mischievious smile!

Right here is one of my favorite parts of hiking is the descent - making plans for the post-hike burger and beer. Which took us a while to find but was well worth the wait! Thanks Sumner!

I can never resist dunking my head in water if not jumping in water after a good hike. Brr this was cold!

Somehow Scotty seems more GI Joe when he does the same thing. He went down and gave us 20!



I'll miss you....see you soon.

Thank you again for the great day Half-Canucks! Schmuck and I will hold down Washington while you guys go tear up Europe. Thanks for always keeping it Maple!!!




Scotty & Becky take on the snow...

Super Krista takes on the snow!

Go Scotty Go!

And last but not least....

The Witch, the Run and the Gun.

Sounds like a children's book! Just a title of things that are currently on my mind.

First is the witch, who I met on my run. This isn't an actual picture of her but it's very close! She's a woman whom I would pass seldomly on my runs around the park with long, black frizzy hair and two different colored eyes. She never looked at me until one day when I was stopped and stretching.

Witch: Are you a religious or virtual person?
Witch: Do you believe in God?
Witch: God's name is John and John is dead.

And this was my first conversation with her - after she tells me God is dead she turns and walks away. I stand there in awe and she immediately turns back around and marches straight back to me looking at me with her two different colored eyes. I couldn't look away as she got inches from my face.

Witch: Are you a virtual person? (What the h*ll is a virtual person anyway?)
Witch: How long will you be staying in this body?
Witch: What you were doing isn't what a real person does, it's what silkworms do (my stretching).
Witch: *walking circles around me, looking me up and down* You get hit really hard...you're turning blue...you're dead!

And that was all she said. The remainder of my run was me praying hard to not let her scare the bejesus out of me. Later I was told I wasn't the first person she's scared, she seems to not discriminate about who she is crazy with. So I got that going for me, which is good (name the movie).

But just in case I alter my running route to avoid her making it significantly shorter to run. Which isn't good.

But then my co-worker Shannon has this crazy idea, and I mean maniac crazy idea to try to qualify to be a Half Fanatic.

Just to qualify for the first level you have to do 2 half-marathons in 16 days. Being convinced by her craziness I know I must commit to my full running route again and risk seeing the witch.

I see her, but she's sleeping on a bench...or smothering a toddler. Could be either.

In any case, I'm sore. I need wine and a ice bath. I need both.

Or...I need to show my brother some gun skills! My Big Bro tried to convince me that he's a better shot than me. Our Pa will be the judge of this. I went shooting with the old man and shot the following:

Smith & Wesson revolver, 38 Special / 357 Mag.
Ruger 22 revolver
Ruger 22 semi auto pistol
Ruger .223 assault rifle
Ruger 10/22 semi auto rifle

The 38 special was my favorite and the assault rifle tweaked my muscles I think. But it was stinking awesome!

Here's a picture of the target that I sent my Big Bro. My Pa said it looked a lot better than Big Bro's but we should still officially compete one on one with my Pa as Judge. So there it is Big Bro, the gauntlet is thrown down. Don't be scared...I'll be gentle.

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