Tag Archives: Garth Heuchert

Albuquerque Balloon Festival, October 2014

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I have always wanted to attend the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival and this year I made it happen. My wife Linna and my good friend Mike Curry joined me for a four day weekend of relaxation and fun. The world’s largest hot air balloon festival usually takes place the first weekend of October with over 700 balloons and considered to be the most photographed event in the world. I don’t think I saw one person without a camera, Linna must have taken over 400 pictures herself.

Mike and I flew in earlier than Linna on Thursday so we headed to the Marble Brewery www.marblebrewery (off of Marble Avenue) in the warehouse district in Albuquerque. This is a hip pub that brews an variety of seasonal beers on draft, they also had a live band playing that night…bonus!

Friday morning was our lift off in a hot air balloon for the first time in our lives…exciting! The three of us decided on a more personal flight so we paid extra for a basket only for us and of course our pilot; some of these baskets will hold up to twelve people. We hooked up with Rainbow Ryders www.rainbowryders which I would totally recommend. They are experienced, organized, entertaining and safe. The flight lasted only for an hour, but it was so peaceful and serene I could have floated all day; your flight time is limited to the fuel you have aboard.

With plenty of day left after our first ever balloon ride we were off to Santa Fe for some leisure sight-seeing. We met up with Garth Heuchert and his wife Patricia Chou for dinner at MÁS – Tapas y Vino back in Albuquerque. I have to give Patricia credit on finding this wonderful restaurant that specializes in tapas located in the historic Hotel Andaluz. Garth and Patricia are friends of ours from Seattle and now live in the cool city of Austin, Texas.

Mt. Washington Hike, October 2012

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Mt. Washington
Date: October 21, 2012
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 9 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Exit 38 near North Bend, I-90
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Damp to lightly packed snow on top.
Hiking With: Ben Baker, Linna Freeman, Patricia Chou, Garth Heuchert & my dog Macho

After coming back from a business trip on Friday from the Midwest my body was in need of a basic Northwest hike. The forecast was calling for snow in the Cascade Mountains and I didn’t really want to hike near Snoqualmie Pass because of the first snow of the year could cause a few headaches. Mt. Washington was the chosen one…a not too hard and not too easy type of hike. If you are looking for a secluded hike and close to Seattle, Mt. Washington will accomplish the task.

Trail started of wet and eventually we were tromping in snow; it was about a foot deep by the time we reached the summit. Linna cooked up some homemade tomato soup that I warmed up with my MSR stove for everyone at the top. After the hike the group had dinner at one of our favorite Korean restaurants.

Mt. Dickerman Hike, September 2012

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Mount Dickerman
Date: September 22, 2012
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 8.6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,875 Feet
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near Verlot, Washington (Mountain Loop Highway)
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Discovery Pass
Trail Conditions: Dry all the way to the summit.
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Garth Heuchert, Patricia Chow, Ben Baker & Macho the dog wonder.

Linna (my beautiful wife) wanted to hike Mt. Dickerman for a while now so she coordinated this excursion with a few friends. Linna gets bored of my I-90 hikes and has been starting to enjoy the Mountain Loop Highway trails located north of Highway 2 in Washington.

The Mountain Loop Highway connects the towns of Granite Falls, Verlot and Darrington, Washington. It is paved for 34 miles from Granite Falls to Barlow Pass (2349′) where the highway becomes unpaved for 13 miles and then paved again for the remaining 9 miles to Darrington. Portions of the unpaved section were closed for several years due to flood damage, the Mountain Loop officially reopened on June 25, 2008.

The 360 view on top of Dickerman is to die for and the forecast called for party sunny skies which was good enough for us. As you can tell from the pictures the forecast was wrong, the weather was like soup on top and there was no view to be had. Linna threw out a proclamation that we must come back to capture the beautiful views that Dickerman has to offer. For more details on the Mt. Dickerman hike click here bit.ly/OSSuyI.

Seattle, Live Painting, August 2011

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My wife Linna and I had the distinct pleasure of hosting a live painting in our back garden area by artist Sayoko Hirano from Kyoto, Japan. She was visiting Seattle and New York with other artists, Bosshiko, Gan-Ghan and Chiaki. I met Sayoko through an Japanese Art Auction on Facebook.

My friend Allan Leal was posting the artist website on his Facebook page and I thought it was the least I could do was to purchase a piece of art; all the donations were for the Japanese disaster relief campaign that generated from the tsunami devastation. The piece of art I bought “lovers” is placed above our Buddha in the landing with a beautiful frame around it. I befriended Sayoko on Facebook and found out that she was going to be in Seattle for a few days before she went on to New York for her own art exhibit. So I asked if her group would be up for a barbeque and fire-pit party at my house, her reply was “yes, could we do live a painting?”, and of course I am like “oh hell yes!”

Linna and I invited twenty-five guests over to enjoy the festivities in our backyard garden, we had it catered by Duos Catering www.duoscatering.com, which I highly recommend. Even though we started the fun around 6:00 p.m., the live art didn’t happen until 9:00 p.m. which actually gave the event more drama with the spot light on the live 30 minute drawing.

After the drawing, Gan-Ghan provided a story telling event with prizes; he spoke in Japanese…but with his facial and body expressions you could still follow the story. Chiaki performed a 5 minute dance that incorporated hip-hop and martial arts. This was a perfect evening and to top it off, Sayoko Hirano gave me her live painting!

Source Lake Snowshoe, December 2009

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Source Lake Trail
Date: December 4, 2009
Difficulty: 5 out of 10
Distance: 6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 700 ft
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: I-90 exit 52; Alpental Ski Area
Users Group: Hikers & Leashed Dogs Only
Permits: No Permits Required
Trail Conditions: Hard pack snow
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Patricia Chow & Garth Heuchert

We met up at Starbucks, exit 17 off of I-90 determine our hike for the day.  The bitter cold was still hanging around, but…it was going to be a beautiful sunny day.  Knowing that Garth brought along his new MSR snowshoes, I thought it would only be right to get into some snow.  There wasn’t any fresh snow for the last 4 or 5 days, so…and the only place to get into snow right away from the care would be the pass area; Source Lake was the lucky winner.  We put on our snowshoes as soon as we got off the parking lot; it wasn’t really necessary…but they provided the traction needed on some slick areas.

Winthrop Ski Trip, February 2009

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Winthrop Ski Trip, January 2007

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Eagle Peak, September 2009

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Eagle Peak
Date: September 20, 2009
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 7.2 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 2,955
Time: 4 to 5 hours
Location: Near Longmire, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: $10 per car access fee
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Patricia Chow & Garth Heuchert

After finishing an easy hike yesterday (Comet Falls) and today was going to be sunny warm day, we needed a hike with a colossal view; this is where Eagle Peak comes in.  This hike should only be done on a sunny day, the Mt. Rainier views are to die for.  This hike also deserves a little picnic on top so you spend time resting and absorbing the enormous views.

Comet Falls, September 2009

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Comet Falls
Date: September 19, 2009
Difficulty: 2 out of 10
Distance: 4 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 300 feet
Time: 1.5 to 2.5 hours
Location: Near Longmire, Washington
Users Group: Hikers Only
Permits: $10 per car access fee
Hiking with: Linna Freeman, Patricia Chow & Garth Heuchert.

Since we were staying near Mount Rainier National Park and the weather forecast called for rain all day, we decided to hike Comet Falls.  The trail is under tree canopy for most of the route and has a spectacular view even on a rainy day.  Because the waterfall resembles a tail of a comet, it was named Comet Falls.  This is a fairly easy hike that you could do with the family, kids and beginning hikers.  The trailhead and small parking lot is located on Longmire Road; go early if possible, the parking lot fills up quickly.

There is really not much elevation gain on this hike, but…you do start the hike at 3,600 feet.  Within a 1/2 mile, you cross Van Trump Creek on a small wooden bridge.  You will cross three avalanche slopes after the creek, another good reason to do this in the fall….all the snow is gone.  At two miles you will see the magnificent Comet Falls.  The falls plunges 320 feet with a significant force of mist blasting from the bottom.  Since it was the fall, there wasn’t any snow and the creek level was low enough to walk on the creek bed to get close to the base.  Being this close, it felt as if you were caught in a hurricane with the horrendous sound and gale force winds generated from the 320 foot fall.  After getting soaked from the hurricane like mist and plenty of pictures taken, we headed back down.  For a longer hike, the trail continues another mile to the meadows of Van Trump Park.