Heavy snow in the Cascade Mountains closed Snoqualmie Pass for a day. Then it rained.

Today Karen and I hiked 7.5 miles with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain above Squilchuck State Park. As usual, we needed micro-spikes with ice at first. Snow got deeper as we gained elevation. We were post-holing in heavy snow up to our knees. Then we needed snowshoes. Typical of early winter hiking. Neither of us carried heavy snowshoes.

During lunch, we both got chilled because our inflatable sit-upons went flat. After one year of use, both of our REI sit-upons stopped working. It's cold sitting on snow! When I got home, I ordered a new sit-upon from a different company. Think I'll sit on a heating pad.

With high exertion, my clothes get soaked with sweat which then freezes. I didn't change at the top as planned. It's excruciating to strip and bare wet skin to freezing winds. Yes, I'm a weenie.

Descending, my feet were slopping around in my boots. I quickly stopped to tighten the laces. Because I was wearing knee-high gaiters under micro-spikes (and didn't want to take all of that off and on), I just tightened the laces savagely around my ankles, hoping the lace tension would even out. Oops.

My ankles hurt like the dickens because I cut off the circulation. We had another mile to steeply descend. These hiking boots are like lacing ice skates. You have to get it just right.

Karen is so fast on the descent, I decided to keep going. "Keep up!" I ordered myself. By the time I got to downtown Wenatchee to buy pears, I was limping in pain. I stopped, tore off the gaiters and loosened the darn laces. In public. Aaaaah...

While hiking, I do a lot on the fly. Take a picture. Lengthen poles. Adjust boot laces. Pee. Unzip my jacket. Adjust pack straps. Don't trip. Then there's the pressure to keep up with Karen.

I feel delighted when Karen stops because I can get something done.

"Gro takes off like a locomotive and doesn't stop for anything," Karen said. Hiking with Gro is like hiking alone. We're all different.