Evergreen Mountain Lookout...

Evergreen Mountain Lookout, WA

Ridges, Meadows and Wildflowers all together

Sunset from the mountain top. Should buy a better camera

Views from the lookout

View from the inside

Another view from inside

One more view from inside

Mountain leaping at you

Best window in the world

The little white thing on the top right is the lookout

Wow! Wildflower

Will be here million years from now. Lets keep it clean

I stood witness to this sight. I am now on my way out..

Ohanapecosh Camping... Tent, Hammock, Books and Hikes

Here we are... ready for our first camping trip tomorrow that we planned way back last year. Destination - Ohanapecosh - Mt Rainier. I heard it is one of the best camping destinations. A river runs through the campground, a hanging bridge on the river, a short trail leading to waterfalls and giant thousand year old trees. Super exciting!

With so much at Ohanapecosh, I will face a conflict tomorrow. My idea of an ideal camping is to relax and do nothing, except honing my skills in making campfires. This trip may turn out to be a pretty hectic one.

We got a hammock too this time, and I am worried about if we will find trees to support it and whether I will be able to tie the knots needed. I do poorly with ropes and knots.

I made a list of things this morning just for the sake of it and when I jotted down firewood in the list, that was a moment to stop and picture the campsite in mind. We'll be off for shopping soon and my plan is to pack up everything tonight itself, marinate the chicken... be done with everything by tonight. If I had my way, I would pack up my wife and kids also in the car tonight, all I want to do tomorrow is to start the car and leave sharp at 9 AM. I know there will be delays but I look at these delays differently. These delays keep the surprise a little longer.

So I picture myself lying in our new hammock next to the tent, reading a book and almost sleepy. We'll go on a trail nearby when we want, eat what we like and just be lazy. I'll write later about how the trip actually was... I am blessed to have Mt Rainier nearby and a lovely family to go camping with. My family at least pretends liking all of it... May GOD bless everyone the sense of serenity and peace that I may get to experience at Ohanapecosh.

Just one more thing, my daughter is a certified junior ranger of Mt Rainier National Park and I am so proud of her.

Thank you all who wrote about the Ohanapecosh campsite, posted videos on Youtube, provided maps and shared experiences. Following are two I really liked -

Notes from a campground host  Thank you Mr Phill Vanderschaegen for writing so beautifully.

YouTube Ohanapecosh - Pictures of campsites

Favorite sayings... which I experienced to be true

"Man shows his real character in a crisis situation"

"Leadership is about keeping calm under extreme pressure. Leadership is keeping the smile on in the middle of the crisis."

"My daughter will be independent in 10 years. She will need less of me or my time. I should spend good times with her now. These moments are valuable, will not come back and will be gone forever."

"Sometimes getting hit by a big and out of control problem is a good thing. It can help you realize who you really love, it makes you feel humble and grateful to have loved ones. When things are all going great, sometimes loved ones are taken for granted."

Few moments and things -

• The smell of burning wood in a campfire. The heat of fire falling on the soles
• Car packed with camping gear and closing of the trunk... Ready to roll
• Reaching the end of trail
• The last 30 seconds of a 30 minutes run
• The shavasana @ the end of a Yoga session
• The moment when a woodworking project is considered complete
• The smell of a new book
• Completion of reading a book
• Successful landing of a plane; I guess I would not be writing here if any of those landings were unsuccessful
• Hugs from my kids
• Completion of a TV serial. "Lost" and "Everybody Loves Raymonds" the favorite ones
• The sweating during exercise
• Coffee @ home

What are your favorites?

Why we hike...

I was told "Hiking is an escape." I asked "Escape from what?"

"A trail or climbing a mountain gives us chance to experience the life in its entirety... Trials, failures, disappointments, successes, joy... we get to experience all of this in one event." 

We see faces. Sometimes we see faces and see pain and imprisonment, thoughts that are denied expressions. Thoughts that are suppressed by surrounding, society, past and shyness. That quite suppression of thoughts is sadness.

We see people, expressing themselves freely. People with the ability to laugh and do not want to be anywhere else but here. These are the rich folks. The past does not hold them back.

To me, hiking gives me that chance to be thoughtless except for the humility I feel standing in front of a 500 years old tree, except for the sense of awe looking at that big mountain top, or the sense of amazement looking down into the valley.

Hiking gives me a chance to just think about my own reality. I am part of this world, have a lovely family and friends. Why do I need to run behind anything? What do I really need and what will take to truly express myself without fear, just laugh and be in the moment, feeling rich.

I am thoughtless for a second when I am hiking and that is worth the sweat.

I always come back a changed person after a hike. I do always get pulled into the "race for wants" doer's world and loose all the sense of "being". I go back to hike to fix my imbalance.

Hiking and travel is "me" time.

Leptons and Hadrons... What else?

It's amazing to think about it  - "If we are all made of Leptons and Hadrons, what else is out there? Where does a thought come from?"