Heartbreak at Raptor Ridge

Steve and I had such a great weekend. After a morning temple session, I wanted to take a hike and Steve wanted to see the ocean. We compromised and did a hike up along Chuckanut Drive, just south of Bellingham. [Editors Note: It is important for Seattleites to go to Chuckanut after a long rainy winter to remind themselves why we live here. When you see that view, you realize that it is worth a lot of short days and a lot of rain puddles to live in the most amazing place on earth.]

By the time we'd run errands, (because everybody knows that you need Trader Joe's trail mix before you can hike), it was 3 pm before we arrived at the trailhead. We'd never done any hiking in the area, so it was all unchartered territory. We decided that we'd do a nice short hike up to a place called Huckleberry Point. We arrived in good time and while the view from there was very pretty, we decided there was more to see, and headed on to Raptor Ridge.

There is one other tidbit that is essential to understand to appreciate the Rowley hiking experience: Steve is a total athlete who can wipe me out in just about any sport known to man. BUT there is one place where I have him. I can out-hike him. While I am by no means a backpacking savant, I can certainly out-hike Steve. I love day hikes and nothing makes me happier, so I usually hike up ahead and then stop and wait for him, then we visit for a while as we walk together before I can't stand it and then head up again and go on ahead... This works fine for Steve who has never been in a hurry to get anywhere (except the ski slopes or a baseball game).

We both were having a great time visiting and just enjoying the sites and mostly the peace and quiet. Once we left the main trail, we saw only three other hikers the rest of the trip. It was great!

This leads me to the heartbreak: After this wonderful hike together, where I patiently waited for Steve throughout, all of the sudden I see him sprinting toward me. I'm so happy to see him, and thrilled to see him moving so quickly! I said, "you're here! awesome!" Well, I don't know how that snake did it, but somehow he sensed when we were literally 40 feet from the summit. He flies past me and rushes ahead of me so he can beat me to the summit at Raptor Ridge. He rushed up so quickly he disturbed some huge bird from its perch that could have been a beautiful sight, but no, Steve must conquer!

Well, I'm sure those who know me would agree how mature I am. So I am relatively unbothered by this infantile display of machismo. . . Until my dear sweet husband spends the next fifteen minutes telling me things like, "you mustn't feel badly honey, because you've done your best." And, "coming in second is nothing to be ashamed of." If I hadn't been laughing so hard I would have thrown the man off the cliff!

Since I decided not to kill him, it ended up being a great day together! He is so much fun and really makes me laugh. After taking some time to enjoy the gorgeous view, we headed back down. We returned to the car by about 6:30, having hiked about 8 1/2 miles. It was a wonderful way to spend a spring afternoon. We spent the drive back planning our retirement on Chuckanut Drive. No one should take this retirement plan too seriously, as we also have plans to retire on Maui, in Idaho, and the Virgin Islands. We're going to be some really busy old folks.

Here is evidence that I was ahead of Steve....

You'll note that this photo was taken from up above him!!!!

This is BEFORE he made his move!

Views from the Summit

Sunset fromChuckanut Drive