Another hike from a couple of days ago was up to the Adams Canyon Waterfall. Most of the canyon and area around the waterfall was shaded and nice and cool.

A fairly steep but short (3.5 mile roundtrip) hike – not one for questionable knees, especially on the way down!

Once my charges are all taken care of in the mornings, if I am not volunteering at WRC, I have been exploring a lot of the trails around Layton. They crisscross and climb the foothills are are usually full of joggers, hikers and dog walkers.

One week to go …

After being here almost a week, two of the three “Fraidy” Cats will walk through the same room I am in. One more cat to tame.

Only have one other critter that seems to be camera shy … the chicken!

In a moment of weakness I volunteered to help out a gal I met through the hiking group. She and her boyfriend had scheduled a 2 week trip to Tahiti to celebrate her 50th birthday. Her petsitter bailed at the last minute so I said I could house/pet sit for her. Joel came with me for the orientation and just shook his head.

One night in and am not loving it. Got no sleep with all 4 dogs in the bedroom snoring, farting, and barking during an apparent “doggie nightmare.”

Here are some photos of the 4 dogs, 5 cats, 7 goats, 4 cows, 1 chicken, 5 ducks, 4 geese and 1 turkey.

I took a “scouting” trail run up Coldwater Canyon from our house – Joel wanted to know if it was worth dragging his camera gear up to take fall color shots. Looked good to me!

Last weekend the Women’s Wine Hiking Society had a hike in Logan Canyon. We met at the Wind Cave Trailhead bright and early and were only the second group up the trail. Good thing because the trail was packed when we came back down and there was no parking except along the side of the highway which was not a good idea! This is obviously a popular hike to view at the Wind Caves and also the fall colors. It was short (about 4 miles roundtrip but fairly steep.

Today we started out with a gradual, gentle four mile grade through the forest up towards Ipsut Pass. This was probably the longest section of gentle uphill with very few obstacles. There was a steep ascent of about one mile to the top of the pass. There were a lot of switchbacks that helped but it was still slow going. Once we reached the top, we then had a gradual descent to the Mowich Lake campground where our shuttle was to pick us up and take us back to West Seattle.

All in all a great time – I seriously underestimated the downhill aspect of the trip and, although my knees were fine, my feet were protesting! If anyone has chronic knee or foot issues, this trail might be a non-recommend other than picking off the loop in day hikes with a small pack.

All my gear was great. Aside from the soggy tent, which we knew was going to happen, I think I packed as lightly as possible – maybe a few options to shed a couple pounds for the western half and will make sure to carry extra TP! New one-person tent? Big Agnes? On Sale at REI? Use my Dividend?

Many of us are excited about getting back together to finish the western side next year and vowed to keep in touch. (Post Trip: Mountain Madness just emailed me and said because there was so much interest in this particular trip itinerary, they would repeat it for 2025 and work on permits for the western half for 2026 … HMMM will probably pursue through personal permit submission – don’t want to wait 2 years!)