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UWFA Blog

2016-02-23 Hike and past hikes

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P10803232016-02-23 hike

Good Morning Trekkers –

Last week’s hikes were terrific! The Gold group went to the Skagit Wildlife Preserve and saw lots of wildlife, indeed. According to Luci, the showstopper was sighting two horned owls in their nest, with a close second being thousands of snow geese feeding in a field. They also spotted herons and two eagles in their nest, as well as many

other birds and evidence of beavers recently at work.   Two photos

attached or check out Donna’s photos at her Dropbox site:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ruj0cec5i6e6g32/AADbgGcgcKX75VO0GP70YUGQa?dl=0

The Silver group explored the Chuckanut Mountain area from the East side, hiking first to Pine Lake where they enjoyed lunch, then Cedar Lake. After circling Cedar Lake they hiked up to overlook areas with views to the Northeast and to the West. Then they dropped back to the main trail junction and made their way up to Raptor Ridge, another lovely viewpoint that sits above an area of enormous rock formations.

43 Snow globeThis area is very dramatic with its lush forests, deep valleys, lovely lakes and interesting rocks. We didn’t spot as much wildlife as the Gold group, but check out the bear in a cave that we encountered!

 

GOLD HIKE – Luci says: “We are now going to undertake some elevation gain ready or not. W will be going back to West Tiger Mountain to hike up to the Talus Caves, 3 miles RT with 700 ft. gain. After descending from the caves to the Tradition Plateau, we will meander about on the various trail options to get in some more miles, shooting for 6 miles.”  Meet at NE 50th & 35th NE at 8:15 for an 8:30 departure. We will take the Highpoint Exit 21 on I-90 to get to the trailhead, about

2 miles beyond Issaquah. Discover Pass required. Weather looks good, but bring rain gear, binoculars and poles. E-mail both luciboyle@yahoo.com and suechristian26@gmail.com if you wish to come and let them know f you can drive.

 

SILVER HIKE – Looks like a great day for a view hike, so let’s head up to Dirty Harry’s Balcony off on I-90. This is a moderate 6 mile RT hike with an elevation gain of 1300 ft. to a rocky ledge with marvelous views across the mountains to the south and east, including McClellan Butte, Bandera Mountain and Mount Washington.  Info. and trail reports at http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/dirty-harrys-balcony  . Meet at 35th NE & NE 50th at 8:45 am for a 9am departure. Please let Barbara know by 5pm Monday if you plan to go and whether you can drive.

 

Book discussion reading list

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Here’s what the UW Faculty Auxiliary book discussion group has been reading over the years:

1997 – 1998

The Samurai’s Garden – Gail Tsukiyama

A Lesson Before Dying – Ernest J. Gaines

Of Love and Shadows – Isabel Allende

Paula – Isabel Allende

Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt

A Virtuous Woman – Kaye Gibbons

Ellen Foster – Kaye Gibbons

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother – James McBride

Turkish Reflections: A Biography of Place – Mary Lee Settle

 

1998 – 1999

Personal History – Katharine Graham

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

Smilla’s Sense of Snow – Peter Hoeg

Walking Across Egypt – Clyde Edgerton

Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela

Stones from the River – Ursula Hegi

Independence Day – Richard Ford

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt

Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres

 

1999 – 2000

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

The Hours – Michael Cunningham

Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Wolfe

Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! – Fannie Flagg

Lindbergh – A. Scott Berg

Hanna’s Daughters – Marianne Fredricksson

Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family – Thomas Mann

 

2000 – 2001

Look Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe

Dorothy Stimson Bullitt: An Uncommon Life – Delphine Haley

Into the Blue – Robert Goddard

In Pale Battalions – Robert Goddard

The Road from Coorain – Jill Ker Conway

True North: A Memoir – Jill Ker Conway

Fanny Stevenson: Muse, Adventuress and Romantic Enigma – Alexandra Lapierre

Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love – Dava Sobel

Wild Kat (Kat Colorado #5) – Karen Kijewski

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies – Jared Diamond

Tuesday Trekker plans for January 5, 2016

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Good Morning Trekkers –

Last week we enjoyed a nice change of pace with a lovely beach hike at Double Point on Whidbey Island. Although a crispy day, the sun was out and we had some company on the beach – a few other folks, two eagles, an islet full of sunbathing seals, and lots of waterfowl. I just wish we’d had a geologist with us, as the enormous bluffs along this stretch of beach are an ever-changing mystery with a wide variety of the forces of nature present!

This week we’ll head in the opposite direction for a very different experience. We’ll strap on our X-C skis and play at the Cabin Creek area on Snoqualmie Pass. This lovely area has varied terrain with something for everybody – 10+ miles of groomed trails for beginner through expert, and no avalanche danger. We’ll depart from 35th Ave. N.E. & N.E. 50th St. at 7:30 a.m. Please let Barbara know by 5 p.m. Monday if you plan to go and whether you can drive. Note that Sno-Park permit is needed for the cars. If you use a daily permit ($20) you don’t need any other pass. If you have a seasonal Sno-Park pass ($40), you’ll need to also have a groomed trails permit (another $40 for the season). You can get a day Sno-Park pass online or at the Snoqualmie Pass Visitor’s Center.

As for drivers, all-wheel drive and a ski rack are helpful.  I just heard that snow is falling at very low Puget Sound locations as I write this, so we may have to alter our location, but plan on a X-C ski trip in the I-90 locale.

An alternative: The Gold Group is planning a 4 to 5 mile walk through the Lake Hills Greenbelt in Bellevue, including the Larson Lake Blueberry Farm. Level terrain, mostly bark lined. Today, Larson Lake hosted buffleheads, gulls, widgeons and mallards. On the trail, we met a Bewick’s wren and a rufous sided towhee. A red tailed hawk hunted overhead. The blueberry fields in winter are glowing red.

Meet at  35th N.E. & N.E. 50th at 9 a.m. DIRECTIONS: Cross the 520 bridge, and take the 148th Ave. exit South. Go South about 2.5 miles (past Main Street) to the Larson Lake Blueberry Farm parking lot on your Left. Sue’s cell phone is 425-417-0087.

Last week’s hike

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Due to the coinciding UWFA Holiday Tea, held at the Waterfront Activities Center, today’s hike was a combined Silver and Gold Group hike.  We, all THREE of us – (really only Gold hikers attended, I was just there to document the fact that only Gold hikers showed up for this hike)  had a lovely hike through the Union Bay Natural Area.  We saw plenty of birds – coots, wood ducks, mallards, buffleheads, shoveler ducks, cormorants and an eagle.

It was pretty rainy and windy but that did not deter those intrepid Gold hikers.  They covered up their Holiday Tea finery with Goretex and headed out.  I brought along my underwater camera which does not have a good telephoto lens (telephoto is not useful underwater) so unfortunately I did not get good close-up shots of the birds we saw.  It was a nice bit of exercise with plenty of fresh air!

There was a very strong turnout at the Holiday Tea by the Trekkers.  Go Trekkers!

Here’s the link to today’s photos:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3b3mafyp0x7d2b8/AACCyzc3ArlTV29M7lRnOyVUa?dl=0

Memorial Walk at Magnuson Park

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2 Katharina leading[3]Well, it was a great time last week what with the walk and big gathering at Magnuson Park culminating in the creation of a cairn in memory of Mary Hjorth. … and then a very festive gathering at Anne Johnson’s with a feast of yummy foods, catching up with friends old and new, and caroling to Amy’s amazing accompaniment ( or were we accompanying her?!). A lovely way to close the year. Ooops! Not quite yet! We need to at least try to shed some of those extra calories we’ve been accumulating over this holiday season. Soooo….

SILVER & GOLD hike: We’ll head over to the west Cougar Mountain area for a 4.2 mile RT hike on the Wildside and De Leo Wall Trails (489 ft. elevation gain). Trail info. at www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/de-leo-wall. It’s likely to rain that day, especially in the afternoon, so be prepared. We’ll depart from 35th NE & NE 50th at 9 AM. Please let Barbara know by 5pm Monday if you plan to go and whether you can drive.

27 Katharina[3]

28 Mary's Cairn[2]

37 Holiday party[2]