Poo Poo Point Hike

The Seattle area had a pretty terrible Spring and Summer. We had very few clear days and a LOT of rain. This was made up for by our incredible Fall! September and October were clear and beautiful. When we saw  that an October Monday (Oscar's day off) was predicted to be clear and warm, we decided to hike up to Poo Poo Point in Issaquah. I'd failed to find this trail twice on my own already, so I took Oscar with me (who's great at reading topographical maps), and we started the hike from a point where the maps were more clear and the trails better marked.

Oscar and I love the show Futurama (hence the names of our cats Fry, Leela, and Nibbler), and this bunch of mushrooms reminded us of the character "Hypnotoad."

The viewpoint is much prettier than its name would have you believe.

Paragliders commonly hike up here to start their descent. One glider told us there was another trail this direction that only took him an hour to ascend. And that's with all of his heavy gear. Our hike was killer steep and took us 2 hours, so next time I'm looking for the other one.

There was a nice view of Mount Baker.

And gorgeous views of Lake Sammamish.

The glider also told us that if we started down the other trail, we'd find a lovely view of Mt Ranier.

We came back up to the point to see a glider take off.

Paragliding is now on our bucket list. These guys were mostly retired, had their own gear, and did it about once a week. 

It was really captivating to watch him glide down through the valley.

About a week later I decided to hike Mt Si. It's said to be the ultimate Washington hike with a great view and an elevation gain of 3,100 feet over 4 miles. Though the day started off clear, the clouds came in just as I reached the summit, and I didn't have the time to wait for them to clear. I'll have to come back again sometime to see a better view. I was proud of myself, though, for reaching the summit in only 2 hours. Whew! That was exhausting.