We started with an old favorite. It's a long hike up to Melakwa Lake and then you get to the good stuff. (That most people never go beyond the lake is a tragedy.) Tink and I kicked steps up to Melakwa Pass so we could look down on Chair Peak Lake. Along the way Tink had a chance to meet three pack goats and got put in her place when she tried to sniff them like they were another dog.

Then it was Father's Day (aka my day) so we headed to Mount Rainier National Park for the traditional Naches Peak loop. Except HOS and I decided not to do the traditional loop. Instead, we headed straight up and gained the ridge to Naches Peak itself. It got a little overly spicy (about four stars) and we declared our summit was about 20 feet below the true summit. Then it got really fun as we traversed under the peak looking for a way over to our usual exit. Turns out... it goes! The runout would have been bad, but the footing was pretty good. And the glissades were even better.

This first part of June ended with another adventure race. Except this one was urban. We stared at the UW Waterfront Activities Center on Lake Washington. HOS and I jumped in a canoe and paddled all around the Arboretum under the freeway collecting check points. Then we transitioned to bikes and pedaled like crazy to avoid being run over by cars and get to the next transition point near Seattle Pacific University. As usual, we (I) were slower than I'd hoped so we had a scant few minutes to race around SPU before jumping back on the bikes for a mad dash back to HQ. We were only three minutes late. A new record for us! (And we didn't finish dead last!)

And that concludes our regularly planned June. Next up... something completely different.

📍 On the lands of the sdukʷalbixʷ (Snoqualmie), Yakama, and dxʷsəq̓ʷəbš (Suquamish) peoples.