So I celebrated Christmas Eve by kicking my own ass on a 10 mile hike with 1400 feet of elevation change, but with three or four ascents and descents. I am so frigging tired now, but in order to go whale watching, I’m supposed to be driving people at 7:15 AM.

The hike is pretty amazing, and hopefully I’ll be able to post some good pictures, but it was exhausting. I did better than I had any right to, as I haven’t been hiking as much as usual this year. The boiling lake (yes, we hiked into an active volcano) was rather misty, and the bubbling mud I’d seen before in Lassen in California. But still the views and stark sides were pretty phenomenal…we would change 750 feet of elevation in a few tenths of a mile, and we did it over slippery and sulphury rocks.

I did get a photo of a Mountain Whistler, a pretty and cool-sounding bird that inhabits most of the forests in the mountains (it’s a rufous-throated solitare for those playing the home game). I saw a few others, but mainly I sweated and got mud on me. It was an accomplishment–you’ll understand why better once the photos are posted.