Tag Archives: Rick Freeman

Little Saint Helen’s Snowshoe, January 2014

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Little Saint Helen’s
Date: January 5, 2014
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 7 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,200 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Packed Snow
Hiking With: Mike Curry, Dr. Robert McElroy, Rick Massie & Macho my dog wonder.

A good friend of mine, Robert McElroy asked me to hike Little Saint Helen’s off of exit 47 on 1-90 near Snoqualmie Pass in Washington with a few of his friends. I have never done this hike….actually I have never heard of it either. Maybe because it doesn’t have a lot of elevation and during the summer there are horses and mountain bikes on the trail. I would never hike this trail during the busy summer, but with snow on it, it keeps all the bikers and horses off.

I asked Mike Curry and Rick Massie to come along too; this was my 5th hike in 2 weeks with Rick Massie. We didn’t quite make it to the trailhead due to snow, so we had to hike an extra mile to where we wanted to start. Due to the numerous logging roads and the snow we were never sure if we were actually on Little Saint Helen trail, it really didn’t matter what road or trail we were on, it was a gorgeous sunny day for a snow hike.

Granite Mountain Hike, November 2013

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Granite Mountain
Date: November 22, 2013
Difficulty: 7 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles / 13 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,158 meters
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 47, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Wet to Frozen to Packed Snow.
Hiking With: Rick Massie and Macho the dog wonder.

It has been unusually cold and sunny here in the Northwest, but to see the sun in November is a treat and one should take advantage of that. Rick Massie and I decided to hike Granite Mountain about one hour west from Seattle knowing we would have beautiful skies and abundant views from the summit.

We got an early start with only one car at the trailhead. The trail became snow packed about half way up where we stopped and put on our traction devices. It was damn windy as we came out of the trees into the open, we stopped and added layers. The wind was blowing a constant 30 mph plus on top, the last time I had so many layers on was maybe when summited Mt. Rainier in 2005.

After the hike, I warmed my mind, body and soul with a bowl of jambalaya soup at the North Bend Bar & Grill.

Beijing Trip, October 2013

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It’s not every day you get a clean, clear blue sky in Beijing, in fact…we had two beautiful smog free days back to back. But, we were not that lucky on the third day and beyond…it was back to its normal filthy pullulated self. I was visiting Beijing for a few days with a couple of other friends, Rick Massie and Brendan Jackson both from Seattle too.

Besides visiting the usual Forbidden Palace and Tiananmen Square, you must visit the 798 Art District, www.798district.com this place has some cool funky ass shit and you will need three hours or more to see it all.

Of course when dining, one must experience Beijing Duck….which I did three nights in a row!

Oklahoma Trip, October 2013

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The last time I was in Oklahoma was the same reason I flew back this time…a Trujillo wedding. Four years ago it was Miranda Trujillo marrying John Williams, this time it was Miranda’s younger brother Chaz marrying Jessica Cornell. I have known both Miranda and Chaz from birth and had the privileged to see them develop into wonderful young adults.

As soon as I landed in Tulsa I headed toward Jay, Oklahoma to visit my longtime friend Randy Trujillo and his wife Merikki. After a few beers and some bullshitting, we took off to see Jessica and Chaz…the soon to be newlyweds. Chaz was in the process of making a wooden bench for people to sign at the wedding.

Next day I met up with Chaz and his good friend Matt Rush at the J-Cafe for a hearty breakfast…the biscuits and gravy type. After filling the belly up with sunny-side up eggs and hash-browns Chaz took me to the quarry pit to shoot my 1911 style Kimber and Zig-M handguns; both are .45 calibers.

I wasn’t in the wedding, but I was invited to the wedding rehearsal and to the cabin at the Sycamore Springs Ranch goo.gl/YCceuG where the wedding and reception was held. After the dinner rehearsal the men of the wedding party and of course little ole me spent the night at the cabin. But before we passed out and woke-up to a few scorpions on the walls, Chaz and I did what any grown testosterone filled man would do…wrestled in the dirt. It was all good…bloody ear and a few bruises.

The wedding day was picture-perfect with comfortable temperatures; it rained earlier in the day…enough to settle the dust and cleanse the air. I found myself on the mechanical bull later in the night at the reception, not sure how long I rode but I think did pretty well for a city slicker. Next day my inner legs were bruised and arm aching from hanging on for dear life.

Before I flew back to Seattle the next day, I met up with my sister Dawn and her husband Ben Hosterman for lunch at the Atlas Grill goo.gl/QBfu5S. Located in downtown Tulsa in the Atlas Life Building, they serve up delicious breakfast and lunch…a must hit. They brought their handsome son Hayden along…an intelligent active young boy!

Winthrop, WA Trip, September 2013

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The last time I visited Winthrop goo.gl/7yrYi6 was January, 2012 for some bad ass cross country skiing with the same group on this trip; Jim and Ione Darmiento, Rick Massie and my wife Linna. My friend and co-worker Jim Darmiento rented the same cabin goo.gl/BJtMK6 this year as he did for the January trip and again…it was perfect. All four of us drove up on Thursday and met at the cabin and then headed off to town for some warm Mexican food.

Contrary to popular belief, not all Chinese know how to ride a bike; this was Linna’s first riding experience and just the little bit we saw in the parking lot….we were having doubts. She successfully rode the trails and only biffed it once after hitting a rock sticking up. After a shower back at the cabin, we headed to our favorite place in Wintrop the School House for some grub and beers. We ended the night back at the cabin sitting around the firepit.

Next day we hiked up Goat Peak to say hi to the famous Lightning Bill; he has manned the forest look-out tower every summer for 19 years. He was actually boarding up the tower for the winter as we summited. After a few pictures and munching down Linna’s legendary sandwich we headed back down for a hot shower to get ready for dinner at the Sun Mountain Lodge.

We packed up and headed toward Seattle Sunday morning stopping in Leavenworth, Washington for lunch.

Goat Peak Hike, September 2013

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Goat Peak
Date: September 21, 2013
Difficulty: 4 out of 10
Distance: 5 miles / 8 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,500 feet / 457 meters
Time: 2 to 3 hours
Location: Near Mazama, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: None Required
Trail Conditions: Damp
Hiking With: Jim Darmiento, Ione Darmiento, Linna Freeman, Rick Massie and Macho.

The hardest part about Goat Peak goo.gl/XUCb1n is the 11 miles of rough gravel road heading up to the trailhead. The trail starts off fairly easily and then gets down to business with over a mile of steepness without traverse. The last half mile lets your heart-rate calm down as you stroll to the look-out.

At the look-out you will encounter the famous Lightning Bill and his two dogs Thunderdog-Shilo and Blaze; he has manned the look-out for 19 years now. Our group arrived on top just in time to snap a picture with him before he closed down the tower for the winter.

After a quick descent we headed back to our rented Cottonwood Cottage in Winthrop, Washington and cleaned up and had a lovely dinner at Sun Mountain Lodge.

Mt. Teneriffe Hike, September 2013

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Mt. Teneriffe
Date: September 13, 2013
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
Distance: 11 miles / 17.7 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,840 feet / 1170 meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Exit 32, I-90 Near North Bend, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: No Permit Required
Trail Conditions: Dry
Hiking With: Rick Massie and my wonder dog Macho.

Last weekend I was telling my hiking group that the clouds would burn off during our Gothic Basin hike…it never did; I found myself telling the same story on our way to Mt. Teneriffe. Again, the clouds never did burn off, but it was a low cloud bank so we were lucky enough to ascend above the clouds to reach blue skies and fabulous views goo.gl/89vmgq.

Rick Massie and I took the waterfall route instead of the long tedious seven mile logging road up. This was the first time I have seen waterfall without water, I guess the dry warm summer took its toll. We didn’t see any mountain goats along the ridge, maybe Macho the dog wonder scared them off.

We stayed on top long enough to enjoy the views, scarf down a sandwich and change into dry socks and shirt. We took the logging road down and ended our day at the North Bend Bar & Grill.

Gothic Basin Hike, September 2013

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Gothic Basin
Date: September 7, 2013
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles / 14.5 Kilometers roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,840 feet / 866 meters
Time: 5 to 6 hours
Location: Mountain Loop Highway
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Wet
Hiking With: Linna Freeman, Rick Massie and my wonder dog Macho.

Wow….Gothic Basin goo.gl/DEj3l1 is a much bigger hike than I thought. Even though this is only 2,840 feet elevation gain, it feels more like 4,000 feet with all the scrambling on steep rocky terrain. The official hike itself is 4.5 miles up, but it takes a mile to get to the trailhead…so your roundtrip is actually 11 miles. You will sweat your ass off on this hike, but it’s totally worth it after you see wants waiting for you on top.

You will want to hike this on a sunny day because the views (I think) are to die for and the basin is filled with beauty. We left the house thinking the day would end up sunny….will it did in Seattle, but the clouds just hung around all day in the mountains. Almost half of the hike we were in light rain. This hike has it all…river, lake, waterfalls, huge mountain views, wild flowers and campsites.

We ended this hike at Sura’s goo.gl/yi9iD8 in Lynnwood, Washington for some delicious Korean BBQ. This place has superb service, great food and a warm environment, it’s our new favorite Korean BBQ North of Seattle.

Salmon Fishing, September 2013

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My co-worker and friend Jim Darmiento was nice enough to invite me and two other co-workers, Jason Hartley and Robert Brocx out for a day of Salmon fishing. We started at the fish hatchery area and then moved on to the Queets river. (more to come).

San Diego Trip, August 2013

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First, let me say this about the perfect weather city…speedy drivers. Maybe it feels that way due to my years of driving in Seattle with some of the nation’s slowest drivers. Of course having numerous highways with several lanes through-out San Diego it made it a breeze to drive all over.

This was my first time in sunny San Diego where I spent the whole weekend in and around the city. My wife Linna and I flew down via Alaska Airlines to visit our niece Chloe Wei. She is spending four months with a host family while attending San Diego State University.

We met up with Chloe on Friday afternoon and ended up at a highly rated family owned Italian restaurant located in Gas Lamp district, same area where our hotel was located. I highly recommend Busalacchi’s, www.busalacchia.com especially on the weekends when the Jazz band is playing.