Gone Hikin'

Nate + Kyle, originally uploaded by nateborr.

This is a kindly passer-by's (passer's-by?) snapshot of me and Kyle most of the way up the Dog Mountain trail on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge last weekend. The mound in the background on the right is the 1800-foot Wind Mountain (like Pennsylvania, the Northwest apparently also has "mountains" of extremely modest height, along with the legitimately large Cascades) whose elevation relative to us was an important barometer on the hike back down to the only restroom at the trailhead.

This is not the most flattering picture of me -- here I'm wearing my sunglasses from 1998 and some too-warm, matte gray synthetic clothing layers that I think look like sweaty pajamas would on Star Trek -- but Kyle looks good, and I think something of the awesomeness of the scenery is conveyed.

Tonight we're starting our drive towards Yosemite for a three-night camping trip there. Really looking forward to it -- I haven't been to the park before -- though there's been some last minute packing and trip-coordinating that's been eating up time since this past weekend like a bear scavenging an improperly secured food locker. So, yay, but also, slightly, aaagh.