Oktoberfest with Marissa and Gothic Basin Hike

 When you're at Oktoberfest.... in September.... in Kenmore.... Just go with it! Had a fun night catching up with Marissa Bower tonight. She is THE BEST to get into deep chats with. We ran into the LFP Dad crew who'd biked over. I'm keeping tabs on the enormous pumpkin down the street - quite an impressive specimen and it makes me happy every time I see it. And, Reed has decided to play the cello in orchestra as his fifth grade music choice. So fun! Thankful that Shoreline Schools still has fifth grade band & orchestra!

Jessica Katsilometes, Amy Leonardson and I spent a sunny and sparkling fall day doing the 10-mile Gothic Basin / Foggy Lake hike. It was a very challenging hike, packing most of its 3200' of elevation in just a couple miles. There was a trail crew working who had done major improvements: carved foot holds into rocks, moved boulders into stepping stones, and graded the trail. I can't imagine how much harder it would have been without these improvements. But, the payoff at the top was huge. Gothic Basin is a magical meadow with "infinity pool" style views over the edges of steep mountain cliffs with layers and layers of jagged peaks in the distance. A little further up the trail is Foggy Lake (only blue sky today), which sits in a deep valley of really fascinating rock formations and striations. I am so thankful to be able to physically do this hike (Amy said it is the equivalent of 260 flights of stairs), to have perfect weather, to be able to drive to this hike in 90 minutes from my house, and to share the day with strong and beautiful friends. This fills my cup!!!