Helllllo lovelies!

Today I am here to introduce you to my newly discovered hiking essential – wine. Hiking with wine (wiking?) is actually fairly simple and involves the following essential elements:

• a hiking trail
• wine

It all started with an innocent Christmas present which Bryan bestowed unto his Dad – “a fully chauffeured and personally-guided hike with views of Mt. Rainier and  gourmet picnic lunch”. I figured wine would play a part in the lunch, as neither Bryan nor I are strangers to consuming beer, wine and the like whilst climbing up a mountain – and well, it did.

Our Sunday began as so many do, with Starbucks and plenty of excited chatter about the day’s events. We reached the overflowing parking lot at Mowich Lake around 10:30 am and laced up our shoes. Half a can of bug spray later, we were ready to embark. Oh, and I carried Bryan’s smaller Dakine backpack which smelled heavily of boy and made me feel SO core.

Bry and his Dad stayed close and far ahead as Mary and I lagged behind. But whatevs, we totally caught up on our wedding talk so all was well. Per usual, Bry’s description of the hike as “an easy 3.5 miles with only 1,500 feet of elevation gain” seemed ludicrous as I puffed my way up-hill, trudging switch back after switch back. Thanks alot BRYAN.

We then learned that there was a BEAR on the trail. A bear.

This photo is from National Geographic. Not the actual bear on the trail, but you get the idea.

I began to flip out when it dawned on me how everyone else seemed so relaxed about the idea that a behemoth, 250 lb. flesh-ripping beast was in our midst. One guy actually took pictures of it from mere yards away!

If living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming taught me anything it was to drink whiskey fear bears. People carry sprays, wear bells and even blast music to prevent the inevitable nightmare of surprising a bear, or worse, bears in the wilderness. But here in Washington, people were actually hoping to see it and maybe, horror of horrors to PET it.

I realize black bears are not as aggressive or as large as grizzlies (which are native to Jackson Hole) but, come on. They are still wild animals – have we learned nothing from Grizzly Man??

After a few more twists and turns, I was elated at the sight of Bryan setting his backpack down and unloading our lunch. Yay!

We had turkey, pesto and provolone sandwiches on delicious ciabbatta rolls, Tim’s Cascade potato chips and dun-dun-dun-DAAAHH – Wines. 2 bottles 🙂 These are the times where I truly appreciate my crazy mountain climbing fiance who carried our jackets, water bottles, lunch and 2 bottles of wine in his pack.

The weather took a slight turn for the worse, clouding the magnificent view of Mt. Rainer but ’twas no bother. Our glasses of wine kept us warm and happy.

We parked ourselves atop a warm rock (yes, it was warm), happily ate our lunches and each drank 2-3 glasses of wine. And then…things got fun. Not only were we doing my favorite part of any hike (the way down) but I had a nice bod-buzz to stay loose and entertained.

We happened upon this beautiful waterfall and stood, amazed.

The way out was a breeze! Before I knew it, we were back in the car and I was fighting the urge to snooze. Then I discovered that I had about 3 mosquito bites on each shoulder #FAIL so I tried to discreetly scratch them so that Bry wouldn’t scold me.

I alllways itch my bug bites. Can’t help it.

After we bid my soon-to-be in-laws adieu we made the healthy decision to order a large cheese pizza from Frankies and I bought a liter of Diet Coke. Ajsa!hsdb* I know it’s bad.

Another successful adventure in the Pac N-Dub.

Go me.