Last Saturday I had one of those days where everything just fell into place. It started with our morning run at Capitol Forest. Dave and I went up to Falls Creek for an easy 2hr run. Shortly after starting up the hill, we entered a temperature inversion and suddenly it was sunny and 60 degrees! The trail was in great shape, and we ran at an easy pace for a most enjoyable run. To top it off, when we got back to Top Foods, they were having a free breakfast in the parking lot with eggs, sausage, pancakes, juice, and starbucks coffee. We were in heaven! After cleaning up and doing some yard work, it was off to my next adventure, razor clam digging! I haven't gone clamming for 20 years so I was really excited that Kathy and Dan invited me along. Low tide was at 8pm, so we arrived at Aberdeen around 5:30. Not really knowing where to go, we decided on Grayland. It was dark when we turned down the main access to the beach. We didn't want to park on the sand, so we parked in the lot and hoofed out to the beach. There was a steady stream of cars, but we were shocked when we looked up and down the beach in the darkness, there were hundreds of lantern lights as far as the eye could see in both directions. Though it seemed really crowded, we just walked straight down to the water and started digging. We got our limits of 15 clams apiece within an hour, then took pause and noticed that it was just an incredible night. Warm, no wind, clear with almost a full moon, and that surreal scene of glittering lanterns. We were so amazed, we didn't want to leave. I'm now hooked on clamming, but I don't know if it can get any better then that.

Today, Kris and I ran up to Capitol Peak and back. It felt great! It was the first time either one of us had been up there since August which is pretty bad since it's in our backyard!
After Cascade Crest, I decided to take a couple of months off. I did get a couple of long runs in, and a couple of great hikes, one to High Rock(see photo) and also up to Tolmie Peak. Both hikes were in beautiful weather with outstanding views of Mt Rainier. I also finally went Tuna fishing and brought home 8 Albacore! But now comes November and it's time to start training for next year and a Christmas ski trip at Whistler. Of course, last Sunday I managed to strain something in my right foot as I was trail blazing a new trail from the Waddell Creek loop to the Capitol Forest wilderness. This is a new trail area that James introduced to us a few weeks ago. The only access was through private property so we needed to bushwack a new route. Anyway, now my foot is hurt so I won't start November up with a bang, more of a limp. My goals for next year are a sub 3:30 Capitol City Marathon, run some awesome 100 miler that I haven't picked yet, and run Waldo again.