I asked Zoltan to give us a taste of outdoor life in the Pacific Northwest. He suggested a hike to Snow Lake, about an hour's drive from where Thom and I were staying in Tacoma. We met in the parking lot.
Evidence of spring flowered closer to the trail head.
Thom wasn't familiar with the impact of "snow melt" on hiking but it meant that we'd be fording a number of small streams as we climbed nearly 2,000 feet during the next 90 minutes to the summit of Mt. Baker in the Snoqualmie National Forest.
I put on an extra pair of gloves Zoltan brought here, not just because the temperature remained in the low- to mid-fifties when the sun ducked behind the clouds but because they offered a better grip. The climb was more challenging than I expected.
Not for Thom, who consistently led the way while Zoltan made sure Uncle Jeff didn't fall on his butt. He referred to Thom as an "ibek." Trust me, that's the first time anyone ever called him that!
Here we are at our destination, elevation 4,400 feet. Now you know why it's called Snow Lake. A ranger discouraged anyone without crampons from hiking to frozen surface, but that's a story best told F2F.
If this is June, imagine what February must look like.
Zoltan, who served as our sherpa for more than seven miles, also made us a picnic lunch, including chips, peanut butter & chocolate granola, crisp apples and sandwiches so enormous that I saved half of mine for the next day.
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