another kamiak adventure (words)

on sunday, LD and i decided to introduce john to kamiak butte. i've never been to the butte during the summer before, having never stayed in pullman this late into the year before. it was incredibly green...in some places so green that it was hard to believe that it was natural (maybe it wasn't). we went up the short, switchbacky route, and i decided to cut across the last few switchbacks and climb straight up the side of the butte along a run of sharp rocks and mud. LD gamely followed me, and we eventually picked out way to the top and met back up with john, who immediately decided that he wanted to run back down to the bottom of the butte and back to the top. sadly (for me), he caught back up with us before we reached the summit. the three of us wheedled around on the summit for a bit, watching as a storm blew in, me (of course) arguing that we should sit in the middle of it and risk getting electrocuted while eating, and the others wanting to do something less exciting and less deadly. so we hiked back down the butte a bit and unpacked lunch. john had (of course) packed beer with the food, so when it eventually started raining, we ended up sprinting down the butte while drinking our beers in ultimate redneck fashion. fortunately, i remembered a) the ranger station was at the foot of the butte and 2) drinking in real life is illegal. amusingly, the descent on the path we ran down usually takes about 45 minutes (at a walk). we reached the bottom in 11 minutes. and now my shins hurt. but it was awesome.