Hiking up to Lake Melakwa

Considering it somewhat of a travesty to visit such a beautiful area with such a plethora of great trails, and not take advantage of it, I prevailed upon Nathan to take me on a hike last week. (It took all of about 500 nanoseconds of pleading for him to accede.)  We originally planned to take on a place called Bare Mountain, but the access road pretty much became a single file trail around 20 miles from the trail head.  So we turned around and went further up I-90 to another spot.  It was a great day with a lot of fun.

 A great shot we got as we retreated back to the freeway from our first attempt.

 Some very colorful fungus along the trail.  This was bright orange, similar to the Caltrans vests one sees along the highway.

 More fungus.  This one was bright purple, but the lighting would not allow for an accurate photo.

 The trail was full of great shots like this one of a series of waterfalls.

 Not sure you get the full impact of this one, but that is a long way down.

 For the most part the trail was in the shade, nestled in among the trees.  But there were a few spots where we had to cross granite out in the open.  Also, in some places there were not many rocks and roots, making it a great little hike.

 A panorama view of Lake Melakwa.  As you can see, it is a very clear lake, and the weather was beautiful, clear with a bit of a breeze.  It took us about 3 hours to hike in, a distance of about 6 miles with a rise in elevation of just over 2600 feet.  We sat by the marge of the lake and ate lunch, then while Nathan did some exploring around, I found a comfortable root for a pillow and enjoyed the obligatory nap.

 It only took us about 2 hours to get back out, but my lower legs paid for it for days.  Views like this, and the delightful companionship of Nathan, were all worth it.

 At the lake.

 Back at the waterfall - with a rainbow this time.

I can't wait until the next time we get to go out.

UDub

Prior to our visit to the Space Needle we took a tour of the UW campus, personally guided by Nathan.  What a beautiful campus!  As we have become quite the shutterbugs, here are some of the sights we saw:

This is the building housing Nathan's offices and classes.

Another building on campus. If you blow this one up you will notice that the "gargoyles" located around the top are in the likeness of certain professors of days gone by.

Our tour group.

One of my panorama shots that actually worked.  This is what is known as "red square", as I recall, due to the red bricks that pave it.  The building in the center that looks like a church is actually an administration building.  The two buildings on either side of this photo are libraries.

The front entrance to the older of the two libraries.  The three figures over the doors represent lofty principles such as knowledge, wisdom, and justice.  There are also statues representing great scholars of the ages along the front.

Apparently UW is one of the universities in the USA most appearing like a place called Hogwarts.  With good cause as you have seen.  This reading room in the older library certainly reminds me of a certain common dining hall.

This is a beautiful shot of a nice fountain with Mt. Ranier rising majestically in the background.  Later in the day the clouds cleared off so that you could actually see the mountain (see prior post with photos from the Space Needle).  If I had photoshop I suppose I could fix this one . . . . .

Obviously a university named for the father of our country would need a statue of him.  Here I am with him.  And in the background is the "By George Cafe" - - by George.

Some of the more modern buildings near campus.

Perhaps the most recent addition to the campus - the new Law Building.