[polarbear]

When my alarm went off at 5:45, I really didn't want to get up. Who is it that chooses these obnoxious times to start a hike? Not me. I groggily slapped together a sandwich, grabbed my stuff, and headed for our meeting spot in Kirkland. I got there at 7:00 on the nose and the five of us, Bob, Brad, Eric, Steve, and myself, headed up to the Melakwa trailhead. There were a few cars in the parking lot when we arrived, and the air was cool. There wasn't alot of water at the otter slides, but Keekwulee Falls looked nice and was a good place to pause with the refreshing sound of falling water from across the canyon. We arrived at the lake, and noticed a couple of tents on the other side. The bugs weren't bad, and remembering that Melakwa is a Chinook word meaning mosquito, I felt grateful. From the lake we looked for the trail that would take us up to Kaleetan Peak. We took the ridge trail which took us up along the ridge west of the lake. It's steep in places and eventually we crossed the over to the other side, dipped below some boulder and scree fields and then back up with Kaleetan Peak looming large ahead. It's an interesting perspective and you wonder how you will get to the top. Soon we met a couple guys coming down from the top. They had taken the Melakwa Pass route but were considering our way for the return. One of them was having trouble with his knees and asked if we had any aspirin. Fortunately, I had won this nifty first aid kit at the WTA trailfest a few years ago which had some aspirin in it. It was the first time I had used the kit, and I was glad I had brought it along. The final bit of trail climbs up a steep rock gully to the top. The views from the top are incredible. The blue puddle of Melakwa Lake, Snow (someone floating in their raft in the middle of it), Gem, the mostly frozen Chair Pk Lake, Kaleetan Lake and several others, Mt. Rainier, Adams, Glacier Pk, and the other prominent wonders in our state, and of course a few skyscrapers way in the distance and a glimpse of Puget Sound. I was surprised that the top of Kaleetan was strewn with boulders as I expected it to be just a smooth rock surface. We took some pictures and signed the summit register and I glanced through it for familiar names. The only one I saw was Tom's whose trip report I read on my return. I slathered more sunscreen on me as the sun was beating down on us and the tops of my ears were feeling crispy. I was really waiting for Steve to pull some exotic food out of his pack that would help supplement my peanut butter sandwich but alas, this was not to happen. Bob and Eric had the best lunches, but no pumpkin pie this time. Brad, who used to be a chef, talked alot about great food, but seemed to have brought the standard gruel. On the way back down, I developed a patented slide technique that was the envy of a few in our party. After having drunk warm poly bottle water for the last few hours, I was really looking forward to some cold filtered water from the lake. We filled our water bottles at the lake and a few of us went for a swim. We headed back down the trail, the warmth of the evening still lingering, and stopped to rest at the otter slides. I spotted an interesting brown bird with white streaks on its tail. When we reached the car we discussed where to go for a burger, and whether it should be a burger and beer or a burger and rootbeer. I had no appetite for looking like someone caught ordering an MGD, so we headed to Triple-X in Issaquah. We ate burgers and quaffed large mugs of rootbeer, a good finish for a beautiful day.