Saddlerock Revisited

Do any of you remember last year when I tried to hike Wenatchee's best known hike aka Saddlerock? Do you remember me telling you how I was going to get into much better shape so as to conquer the "mountain" the next time? After the last time I posted (August 19th, in case you want to go back and refresh yourselves) I talked with all these women and they all mentioned an easier trail. "Oh," they said, "it was steep, you must have gone the wrong way. There is a MUCH easier trail." "Ah great," I thought, "maybe you're not as LAME as you thought." I never knew where this "easier" trail started, but I kept hearing rumors about it.

Yesterday I was at play group where some of the mothers were talking about going up it later that day with the Achievement Day girls (Kevin, that's the girls' equivalent of cub scouts). They asked me if I would come along to help out with the group. I accepted but felt some very real trepidation. What if this easier trail was the evil trail and I really am that LAME?

It turns out my fear was justified. We got to the trail head and all the time I kept expecting them to veer off in some other direction but they kept following the path I had traversed once before. Thankfully though, while it was still steep (we had to take baby side steps to keep ourselves from slipping all the way down) I did much better this time. Why, I'm not quite sure; though I am telling people it's because I am more used to the altitude now. Either way, I have conquered Saddlerock and the the 11 mile bike loop (that was Monday and my tokus is still sore) so I can now officially call myself a Wenatchen.