miles feet of cumulative elevation gain in exactly three hours.
I was pretty excited to reach the peak and see what was in store. Unfortunately, I still don't know because there is absolutely no view. It's just the highest point on the hill and it's surrounded by trees so you can't see anything. There was a couple up there who had just moved to Seattle from Chicago. We shared a laugh about the anticlimactic summit and then they took off.
Rachel grabbed the notebook out of the tuperware box and proceeded to read through entries from previous hikers. Along with various comments about people who claimed to have peed on the pen, there were some interesting notes. The first was something to the effect of: "Been here for three months. Running out of food and water and the squirrels have stopped talking to me." The longest entry (three pages!) was from a 24 year old girl who was in love with her 57 year old professor. She was on a hike to figure out what it all meant and straighten things out in her head. I feel like she probably failed.
I'm hoping that there will be many more hikes this summer so I have started a hiking photo gallery. Pictures from this hike are available in the gallery.
UPDATE: Thanks to Dad for catching my units error. It's probably not that surprising if you remember that I worked for Lockheed.
This weekend I purchased a device to break my own bones. Tim finally convinced me to get a mountain bike. With those great trails right down the road from our house, it seemed like a good move. 
Chelsea, Tim and I headed for Ocean Shores State Park this weekend for what is likely the last camping trip of the year. We set up late on Friday night and had a quick campfire before bed. Saturday morning we walked on the beach and then spent the afternoon riding mopeds. In Washington, the beach is a highway so there are cars out on the hardpacked sand (and stuck in the not so hard sand.) You can ride mopeds out there as well so we took full advantage of the opportunity. On Saturday night, we were joined by Cheryl, Joe, and Lisa. After a second chilly night, we woke up on Sunday for an hour long horse ride on the beach.
We're back from the big camping trip, and I happily declare it a success. There were some doubts about the weather, but the worst we got were a few sprinkles here and there. Thankfully Tim bought one of those tents that goes over the picnic table and that really saved the day. It kept stuff from falling on the table and gave us a respite from the rain when we needed it. Our days were filled with walks on the beach, a catamaran boat trip, a Flexi-straw challenge, and general laziness around camp fires.
Today a plan hatched in January comes to fruition. Seven month ago, we made reservations for the oh-so-popular 
On Saturday, Tim and I hiked up to the top of Tiger Mountain along the West Tiger #3 trail. I’ve read about it online and it’s often mentioned as one of the most popular hikes in the area. Tiger is the mountain (large hill) that stares you in the face as you get off of I-90 on exits 17 or 18 and when you leave my house and head down Trossachs Blvd. There are over 80 miles of trails on Tiger Mountain, but the trail we hiked was 2.5 miles and 2000 vertical feet one way.
Tim, Chelsea and I headed for Penrose Point State Park on Friday. It rained most of the day but stopped before we arrived at the site. We had just enough light to set up the tents before spending the rest of the night around the campfire. Saturday was full of cornhole, hiking, and sleeping. We packed up on Sunday morning and headed home. The weather was 75-80 and sunny all weekend.
Camping
The first weekend of my summer begins with a camping trip. Tim, Chelsea and I are headed for Penrose Point State Park. The park itself doesn't seem all that remarkable, but there were only a few choices left since this was a last minute decision. Our goal for this trip is simplicity – no pots, no pans, no dishes, no stove. It's just going to be cooking over the fire, relaxing, reading, and playing lots of cornhole. I'll post some pictures when I get back. Have a great weekend!