Seattle - July 15, 2010 Part II: Underground Tour

While in Pioneer Square, we went on the famous Bill Speidel's Underground Tour. Seattle had a rough start in the mid and late 1800's, to say the least. For many reasons that are too extensive to go into without a complete dissertation of Seattle history, part of the city ended up below the new curbs that were built after the many tidal floods and a fire. What now remains of that area is full of rubble and abandoned bits of old Seattle. It was a very informative and interesting tour and I highly recommend it to anyone who visits. I learned more about the Seattle sewer system than I ever needed to know. Our tour guide, Shane, was absolutely hysterical and entertaining.

Part III will be Seattle Center.

Seattle - July 15, 2010 Part I: Oot and Aboot

Sorry if I haven't visited everyone's blogs in the last couple of days, but one of my oldest and dearest friends from high school was in town! He has to be in Portland next week for a conference and came up to Seattle so that we could hang out and explore the city.

I've been here for 11 years and had only been to Seattle a handful of times: Seattle Art Museum once, 1 Mariners game, twice to leave my car overnight to take the ferry to Canada, once to pick up and drop off Michelle at her hotel when she was in town briefly, and once to register with a temp agency. I'd been meaning to go up there and do the touristy stuff, but just never got motivated to do it, and it's only 37 miles away. I'm eternally grateful to Joe for not only coming out here to visit me, but for also letting me drag him around doing kitschy touristy stuff.

I got up there early on Thursday morning and we hit Pike Place Market and the surrounding area first:

Part II will be devoted to The Underground Tour!!!

Sunrise at Mt. Rainier

I got up bright and early today, and was out of the house by about 7:15 a.m., headed east towards Sunrise at Mt. Rainier National Park.

I had my road map, with route highlighted from Bonney Lake to the end of the road. Dig those crazy-ass switchbacks once you get into the park! It looks worse on the map than it was to drive.

I had my topo/trail map too.
And my guide book.

And of course my supplies: Sunblock, hat, frozen water, snack, whistle, knife, lip balm, inhaler, etc. You never ever EVER venture into remote parts of Washington without proper preparation. There is a first aid kit in my car, as well as an auto emergency kit. I also took a jacket with me just in case, didn't need it though.

It was a pleasant and uneventful early morning drive, once I got east of Enumclaw, which is the last major town before wilderness. I stopped at one view point area along the river on the way up there. I probably could have stopped at all of the view points, but I was anxious about the Sunrise Road and if it was going to be a white-knuckle drive or not. Not too far past the tiny community of Greenwater, was the entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park, and then shooting off to the right, Sunrise Road. I knew it was only 14 miles from the turn off to the parking lot at the top. However, I've lived on the west coast long enough to also know that 14 miles can mean an hour or more of 20 mph switchbacks. I was completely prepared to be hitting the brakes the entire way. I was so wrong. The only time I had to stop was due to road construction. There was a pilot car that had to escort traffic to and from a small stretch of road about halfway up. It was only about a 10 minute wait and I was lucky enough to be the first car in line both going up and coming down.

My first stop was at Sunrise Point, which scenery was actually far more dramatic than at the visitor center. I could see from Mt. Adams in the south all the way to Mt. Baker in the north, on the Canadian border. And oh my god there was so much snow!!

The final mile or so was a little hairy. I kept up an audible chant the entire way, "just don't look just don't look". I had my hand up blocking my peripheral vision because I could tell I was up high. Very, very high. With NO guardrails and a sheer drop off on the side.

Sunrise Visitor Center is at 6,400 feet, which is the highest point to which you can drive in Mt. Rainier National Park. To put this in perspective, the highest point in New England is the summit of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, at 6,288 feet. The parking lot at Sunrise is at 6,400 and there is still a giant volcano towering above you. Rainier tops out at 14,410 feet.

It was so deliciously quiet at the top, except for the roar of the river way down below. I walked a couple of the trails and was surprised how winded I got and realized it was the altitude. I know we aren't supposed to approach the wildlife but this little guy hopped into my backpack and wouldn't come out, so I took him home.

Enjoy the slideshow!