Today was the start of my hiking adventures, and what a great start it was! Us “south-Seattelites” – me, Susie, and Trisha – carpooled from the Burien Park & Ride to Carkeek Park, which happens to be just a couple of miles away from where I work. What a beautiful park it is! I think it must be one of Seattle’s hidden wonders because I heard a lot of people comment that they’d never heard of this park before. It’s huge with lots of trails through the hills and spectacular views of Puget Sound and the Olympics.
Our hiking day began with all of us introducing ourselves – and then Tina gave anyone who wanted to the opportunity to say who they were hiking in honor of and why. I was proud to say that I’m hiking for our honored teammate Dylan of course, but also for: my brother-in-law Ken, who passed away from lymphoma back in 2003; my Uncle Jay who is very ill with prostate cancer; Chris, one of Cheryl’s long time and best friends who is defeating breast cancer; and Mariah, the Mom of one of Cheryl’s students from a couple of years ago who is also waging a battle with breast cancer. I was deeply moved by the people who spoke of friends and family who’ve been afflicted with various cancers, and also by the sheer number of people who know someone who has cancer. It’s tragic that so many are afflicted, but there are also so many stories of survival and hope. It makes all of this worth doing.
The hike itself was fairly easy, as a first hike should be! It was fun to actually be hiking and getting to know my fellow hikers and fundraisers. I counted about 40 of us altogether. I’m sure it was a bit of a shock to the runners, dog walkers, and others who were out for a quiet Saturday morning stroll to run into this gaggle of people invading their woods! I guess we hiked about a mile to a mile and a half. I heard that we’ll get statistics a few days after every hike as to how far we traveled, elevation gains. etc.
Carkeek Park has over six miles of trails that meander through hills and ravines of maple, alder, Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, ash, willow, madrona, Douglas Fir, pine and spruce with plenty of huckleberries and ferns thrown in for good measure. I can attest that there is at least one nettle bush in the park too. Yow! That’s what I get for wearing shorts. 
)
We took a break at the top of a hill and Mollie (one of our mentors) broke out a Hike for Discovery banner and took pictures of anyone who wanted to pose with it. So here you go, in case you doubt that I’m really doing this…….
After we returned to our starting point we crossed over the footbridge to the beach and Craig (one of our hike leaders) gave us some pointers on trail ettiquette, how to poop in the woods (really!), clothing, and first aid. We finished up with some snacks then headed back to our lives, raring to go on another adventure next week!
Next hike on the agenda is to Twin Falls on the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River next Saturday. I hiked this trail with Jennie and Jason back when they were in high school! If I remember right, this was a very picturesque hike. I’ll take lots of pictures!
Write me! Tell me you were here, and thanks to ALL who have donated so far. You’re amazing and your gifts are very much appreciated!!!
