An Early Voting Trip that ended at Crush & Wolverine for a Sunday Hike

Not much to say about the early voting, except that City Hall was closed.  I had invited people to join us for early voting and then an "after party" at Crush -- we stopped at AFN on the way for the best arts & crafts show in the region and got in just under the closing - everyone was wrapping up and getting ready to go home!  I had my eye on a pair of sealskin and black beaver mittens, and I wish that I had brought them home - I could tell they wanted to come with me!

Crush is always a special trip -- great wine, great bites to eat - I love their cheese trays!  And then home for a quiet dinner, "Doc Martin" and an early night.

Today Brian finished painting our guest bathroom - only the floor remains now when the flooring that we ordered comes in - and then we went to Basher Rd. to hike Wolverine.

We knew that we didn't have time to summit, but we were out 3 hrs. and 10 minutes on what still is a significant hike (at least for us!)  The total distance round trip to the peak is 10 miles with an elevation gain of 3400 ft.  They estimate the hiking time as 6-8 hours, and we were close, but no cigar - meaning we were probably another hour from the summit, so 2 hours anyway to go up and back from where we were! Notice the snow!  We took our Katoolahs (spikes!)  and put them on soon after we started - they make such a difference in the footing, especially coming down.

The high point of Wolverine is 4455 ft., but it has a couple of nice things about it - one is that it's 15 minutes from our house, so when time is a consideration, it's a quick hike to fit in.  Also, the route from Basher Rd. is a nice walk in for the first 45 minutes with some elevation gain before it really climbs at the juncture with the Near Point trail.  There are some pretty steep sections on the way up, and I was glad when we reached the cairn, marking a big open area with a sharp left to go up the saddle and on to the peak.

This is the third time that I've climbed up this far - once a little farther, and never had time to go to the top -- the next time, leaving the day for the summit!  Brian has been up to summit - he and Lance road their bikes in one day to the junction and chained the bikes and climbed from there - saves about an hour or so.  Next time!