christopher575

My goal for today was to climb 700 feet, and I figured in order to do that, I'd have to not only start from or go down to the beach, but also climb the gulch twice. I decided to start at the beach today because I noticed the last couple of days, I wasted some distance on the roads getting from the normal parking spot to the beach. When I got there, I was shocked to find the gates open. They've never been open if I've tried to drive directly there, but by the time I got back, they would be. Pretty frustrating. Nice that it worked out today.

It was still a little bit dark when I got to the beach. The first part of the walk was creepier looking than it actually is if you really know the area. The little service road leads right to the train station and there are tons of morning commuters there, plus dock workers at either end. And downtown Mukilteo is about as scary as Mayberry. I didn't put my earbuds in until I got to the train station, just to be cautious, but really, if I were to run into anyone, it'd be someone running, or maybe someone who likes to sit on the rocks and fish.

The climb up into the neighborhoods was pretty typical, though today I met THIS KITTY.

I was really trying to climb back down into the gulch the same way I got out yesterday, but I didn't get on the right path. The way I took down wasn't too hard, but it's very weird. The path is deeper than the ground on either side of it, almost like a bowling alley gutter. I like that path down, except for the spot where it crosses the creek.

It's hard to tell in that picture, but there aren't quite enough rocks. I managed to get across without getting my feet wet, but just barely. Three or four more really big rocks right there would be so great.

On the hike back up, I saw what I thought might be a shortcut to the next trail over, and thought someone even marked it with a little flag. Nope, it was dirty panties.

And it wasn't even a shortcut, I had to turn back. It's funny, there's the whole stereotype about gay men having sex out in the woods, but it's panties I see first. Yes, I'm aware men can wear panties, but, um, I could tell a woman had. D:

At point A on the map, I could have cut almost directly over to the corner on the road where the mile 5 mark ended up being, but I went South instead so I could head toward the ballfields. As far as I know, that's the highest point on that side, and I worried about coming up just short of of the 700 feet like I did yesterday. Of course it also gave me another mile, and I was hoping to cut down on miles while also climbing higher. Oh well. At least the geese at the ballfields didn't attack.

Today's awesome walk, 6.72 miles in 2:21, 14,448 steps, 934ft gain

6.72 miles in 2:21, 14,448 steps, 934ft gain

So, yeah, I beat the 700ft goal, by 234 feet, which is an extra 33%. Oops! That does make me want to try for 1,000 sometime, but not right away. It's been a long week, and I'm now only about a mile and a half away from 30, so I'll do something easy tomorrow.