Hamilton Mountain

Mom and Dad were in town for a myeloma conference so we got them for tiny bits of time on Friday and Saturday night.

Mai and Grammy showing off their big muscles for the camera.

After all the rain we had this week and especially yesterday, I thought for sure the gym would call off the Hamilton Mountain Hike planned for today, but I got no such call, so I pulled on my new (and wonderful) North Face hiking skirt

 
and headed out to the Gorge around 9am and met up with 18 other hikers who don't mind getting a little wet.

...and wet did we get!! We reached Little Hamilton Mountain in such short order that we were patting ourselves on the back for our awesome stride, but then were realized we were at "Little" Hamilton Mountain and we really had about a mile more to go to summit the actual Hamilton Mtn. I was bummed I didn't bring Kiara because there were two other dogs, but when we reached the ridge,

I was glad I was not attached to her. No pictures were taken at the scary part as I was sure I would fall over. Rocky, narrow and the hail coming down sideways, I felt rather worried at a point or two at how little trail width there was right next to a 200 foot drop. It took two hours to summit and we spent very little time at the top since we were completely fogged/clouded in. A little lunch and then headed back down. Unfortunately, it also took us 2 hours to reach the trailhead as our little group of four got to talking and headed out ahead of everyone else and ended up lost. Whoops! We actually made it back to the trailhead about the same time as the others, but our hike ended with about a mile or more on road instead of trail. We did walk on the highway right by Beacon Rock, though, so I snapped a picture.

It was a good day, despite the poor weather. I flip flop between wanting to be home cuddled up in a blanket watching a movie on days like this, or out in the elements working up a sweat. I think I made the right choice today!!