Carri, Helana and I were visiting my parents in Issaquah, and I felt is was a good day for my old man and I to go for a hike. It had been I think ten years since I had hiked with my parents. We hiked Cougar mountain from SR 900 to the nike missle base and decended the wrong side of the mountain. Some guy was nice enough to drive us back to my Dad's car! Dusk was falling on us when he dropped us off at my fathers car. I think I was 13 at the time. Anyway, back to Tiger. Not only was it going to be fun go hiking with my Dad, I also was thrilled to take Helana on her first hike! I had our new kelty pack so she could go up on my back. Twenty extra pounds plus extra diapers wipes and garbage won't make a big difference.
20+ extra pounds made a HUGE difference on this trail. I really realized how out of shape I was. I needed 5 minute rests multiple times on the way to the top. With the added cloudy, muggy weather I perspired like a banshee all the way up. I enjoyed hiking with my family, but this hike was a killer. Didn't get any photos until the top. On the top we were greated by ravinous birds expecting handouts, so we obliged. This was the highlight of my 19 month old daughter.. None of the pictures I took of the birds turned out >:(. Ate lunch, fed the birds and then back down to the car. Helana was saying "hi" to everyone we passed on the way down, but she didn't quite have the timing down. She would say it 5 seconds after they passed. It was still priceless.
