Marmot and Constance Passes

Karen and I had been to Marmot Pass in the Olympic Mountains multiple times, and had great memories. And Brian, freshly returned from his Mexico adventure, joined us. The views from the pass are pretty spectacular, and we celebrated Karen's 55th birthday with a bottle of wine. We extended the trip into new territory by day hiking to Constance Pass, which, not surprisingly, sits just below Mt Constance ... the most prominent peak of the Olympics seen from Seattle. The hike has some seriously nice ridge walking! Big mountains, big views. And wildflowers, to boot.

Random Scenes

Just before the final climb to Constance Pass, we paused for a break at Home Lake. Brian decided he wanted to get to the pass via an off-trail route (probably to have some time away from his parents). So Karen and I headed up via the trail, hung out and soaked up the views, and waited for Brian. No Brian. We returned to the lake, thinking perhaps he had turned around. Still no Brian. As the time ticked by, I grew more and more anxious ... visualizing him possibly being lost, and the time for us to reach camp before dark growing short. After seemingly forever, he finally appeared coming down the trail ... much to our relief. Very stressful. I'm not a huge fan of splitting up with no backup plan.
Brian pulled out his harmonica near our camp in the basin below Marmot Pass, and drew quizzical looks from marmots, who no doubt had never heard such a thing. I'm guessing that it piqued their interest since they use high-pitched whistles as a means to warn each other of danger.
Catching sunrise along the ridge on our last day, I bumped into a small herd of mountain goats. Or more likely, they bumped into me. They weren't aggressive, but didn't seem very concerned that I was there.

"Oh Wow!" Moments