It was warmer in May

I went hiking on Sunday. Oyster Dome. Third time I've been there. Different route this time. All but the last quarter mile was new trail for me. I've posted a bunch of photos again...

I didn't lead the hike, which means that we started hiking at 11:20 instead of 9:something. (-: The days are short these days. It felt like the sun was setting for about half the trip. Dark underneath the trees. Difficult to see the trail in places. And no, I wasn't wearing sunglasses!



Part of the route was on the Pacific Northwest Trail, which goes from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Plains. Over 1000 miles. We didn't go quite that far.



This route came from the coast, as opposed to halfway up the east side of the hill like I've done before. Twice as much elevation gain, but less mileage. Plus, we got to see the bat caves! Well, no bats. And not really caves. Just gaps between boulders that fell off the cliff. Spooky drippy wet darkness, though.



When we got to the Oyster Dome lookout, the sun was below the horizon. Well, at least that's how it looked, since the clouds blocked the sun, but the ocean reflected it up at us.




It was cold and windy atop the cliff. We hid in the trees for lunch, putting on extra layers. Then hurry up back down the trail.


And here's a picture of me, halfway back down the hill, once the sun got below the cloud layer. I *do* let other people use my camera!


Kim found something interesting. . .
It's just a rotting piece of wood, actually.


See? It's sunny! It never rains in Seattle.