We had a blue sky day early in the month so I headed out with Tink to tag a couple of peaks on the edge of the Cedar River Watershed. Done, but I don't think I'd go back. Way too much road walking. Plus the darn sun turned me a lovely shade of red.

The weather turned the very next day and with legs still quaking from the off-trail shenanigans we headed east to wander around on a frickin huge slab of rock that has no business being where it is.

A couple of days later I found the mythical passage between my dead-end street and the next one over. Good thing I went the way I did or I'd have turned back where the sign said, "Go away!" Also, I got drenched in a surprise storm.

We tried to go up a tried-and-true local peak, but lousy snow conditions had me punching through the sharp ice layer, sweating up a storm, and then freezing because a real storm was blowing through. We did the smart thing and bailed.

Never one to learn a lesson, we tried for a peak up the North Fork and found the will just wasn't there. Nice blue skies, though.

We went east again to dodge some rain and found a snowy ridge that made my heart warm even while my fingers went numb.

At the end of the month we finally got a good day and tackled a long-standing target with a car-to-car trip that included massive amounts of calories, multiple creek crossings, and one big river crossing. It was definitely too early to cross that river, but we made it out unharmed so it was a good way to learn a lesson.

I'd like to say May will be full of blue skies and big adventures, but summer doesn't start until July 5 around here so we prepare for all the weather conditions. Stay tuned.

📍 On the lands of the Snoqualmie, Wenatchi, and Yakama peoples.