Seattle Story II

Welcome one and all to the exciting second edition to my trip to Seattle. It’s been quite a while since the first one, so let’s get straight to into our first venture in “The Seattle Expedition”.

Disclaimer: All names, places, accounts and events mentioned in the narration can be partially or entirely false. Reading this narrative can cause extreme nausea, simultaneuos boredom and excitement and induce sharp cofee craving. Other Side effects include loss of time, increased knowledge, read rage and erectile dysfunction.

THE SEATTLE EXPEDITION

 August 30: Raiders of the Lost Ark

  First day of the trip is always interesting. I usually don’t know what we were going to do that day, any day for that matter, and then learn about it as and when required from my plan-ahead friends. Seattle’s winter is known for its coldness and that warm shower in out hotel room before heading out preps up the body well for the outdoor venture. First in order for that day was climbing up an active strato volcano, Mt.Rainier. Obviously I did not know that it belonged to the ‘strato’ family of volcanoes until I looked up wikipedia for the purposes of this blog, but more importantly it is an ACTIVE volcano. Always fearless, and too often careless, we headed out to the foot steps of Rainier on our Dodge Nitro, but between our hotel room and the car, we learned that it was much colder outside than we thought. A friend of mine warned us that it would be much cooler once we start the hike so we stopped by a Old Navy store to pick up some warm clothing. Ofcourse I didn’t buy myself one. Reason – Fearless(and often too careless). Then the driving began.

Seattle has been blessed with a scintilating weather that stays true to its nature all year. With the onset of fall season, chill winds blew from all directions covering the sky with crowded white clouds. Sunshine is mostly blocked away as the whole city gets painted with a serene shade. Throughout our ride to the mountain, the roads were lined with tall green pine trees stacked on either side, so dense that one couldn’t see any trace of light beyond a couple of feet from the edges of the road. The road itself seems endless stretching into the horizon which looked like a painting by the divine hand. Snow clad montians circled the view with the cold air brustling through the trees making them sway in unision as if they were cheering for the four Indian guys driving amidst them. Nature is such a cliché when spoken or written, but when experienced in reality, it is nothing but ordinary.

Then came the winding roads. All the above said elements were there except the road is only a few feet straight and then bends into a moderately fast corner and then straightens back only to curve again. Driving is lot of fun in these roads. Ever since I started riding my motorcycle in the US of A I have come to like roads, along with other things, with curves. It had rained recently and the pools and small lakes that border the roads were aplenty with water. Some of the spots were just too good for us to not stop and take some pictures. We drove along taking lunch, which we ordered to go before entering the park jurisdiction, inside the car stopping by some really picturesque spots to enjoy the scenery before hopping back in. The natural elements and the intensity of their beauty kept increasing as we drove towards the information center at the foot steps of what was to be our hike. By the time we reached it I was so satisfied with the ride and everything that came with it that I suggested that we just stand there, look around and finish the day.

Now obviously, that was not the real reason for me wanting to just stay there. You see the ‘hike’ that everybody kept telling me about was not some walk around the park sort of thing but apparently It was a 2.5 mile round trip across the rigid rocks and frigid snow which would put us at 6560 feet above sea level. Yes, the mountian was exceptional in all of its splendor but its just that I did not want to walk all the way up and down for 2 hours. Anyway, since none of my friends obliged to my humble request, so I had to walk up (You know, being fearless and all that). Playing the sound track of the movie Rocky in my mind, I took the first step in what was to be a never ending hike on the ‘Pinnacle Trail’. One down, few thousands steps to go.

Approximately 2.5 hrs and few thousands minus one steps later we were back where we started, at the information center. We were extremely tired and our hands were shivering due to the cold. I never cared for chocolate milk before because I like chocolate cake. But after that toilsome ‘walk-about’ it tasted as if the angels themselves had brewed it. Every sip of the warm liquid flowing through my wind pipe sent out critical SOS signals throughout my vital organs as the extremities of my body began to unfreeze. I drank the last few drips of that over priced beverage at the eatery located inside the information center and only when the shivering had ceased and cluttering of the teeth had stopped did I realize that I had experienced one of the best nature trails I have ever been to. These mountains and rocks and trees have been there for so many years and that I have become a part of their history, however insignificant that may be for them. Covered in snow and cloud, inhabited by fresh plants and vibrant animals this was one of those few places where peace and serenity was abundant and perenial. After thinking about it for sometime, I realized I could never do justice to that period of time with just words. You will have to imagine that. 

Or see it here.

After that fulfilling day, it was time get to our bunker. We had booked a hotel in a near by mini-City called Morton. We checked in to our small but comfy hotel room and spoke about general stuff. Like I said in the previous chapter, one of our friends had his birthday the previous day, so we headed out for a nice Mexican dinner, payed by the birthday boy ofcourse. We played cards for sometime and once I crushed them to the ground with my awesome talent, it was time to bed. 

Coming up: The second day of our Seattle expedition when we try to see conquer another volcano. Was it as entertaining as this one? Did it erupt engulfing all of us molten hot lava? How many months will the author wait to write this one? Check back for the next installment of “The Seatlle Expedition”