After a week in the Pacific Northwest in the land of Burgerville, I needed a little hike to combat some of that deep fried goodness.

This was an interesting hike for me - I was trying to go for time, so I couldn't take any pictures on the way up. This took incredible discipline for someone like me on a trail like this.

Perhaps if I had been taking pictures, I would've thought to get a picture of whatever it was that bit me. Yep, just below Josephine saddle I felt what seemed like a large needle stab my left chin and I screamed. I instinctively wiped whatever it was off my leg and then shrugged it off and kept on going, but with a little stabbing pain with every step. Whatever it was bit through my sock and caused a nasty infection. The bite is almost all better at five days later, BTW.

Anyway, I did get distracted, with the pain and the beauty, and so I took a little extra time and ended up with 3:30 up, a nice little nap and a beer at the top, and 2:45 down. So much for doing it for time. Maybe next time...