A Hike to Lake Minotaur

Lake Minotaur

Lake Theseus
The other day I took a little hike up to Lake Minotaur up in the North Cascades with my friend Ron. It's a grueling hike and the first mile climbs 1500 feet pretty much straight up. It's six miles round-trip, with a total gain of 2,000 feet. As you can see, it's a spectacular place of beauty in the Henry M. Jackson wilderness area. Labyrinth Mountain rises above Lake Minotaur at 6,376 feet. Taking a short walk from Lake Minotaur, you'll see another great view of Lake Theseus 600 feet below. A big reason for this hike was for the abundance of huckleberries which we picked on our way down. I thought the hike back down would be relatively simple, letting gravity help out, but it was still a grind.

Chrysocolla & Silver Pendant

I've just finished this pendant made from reticulated silver and a chrysocolla cabochon, which I cut. This piece started out as just a simple dome shaped reticulated silver pendant, but after what I call a "pleasant mistake" it totally changed and evolved into this. I had so many problems in the process of making this, it took me an extra eight hours to finish it. There is a hinge between the stone and the lower silver part.

I am going to submit this piece into the Seattle Metals Guild Biennial Exhibition. This is the Twentieth Anniversary of the SMG, and they are putting together a catalog of the members jewelry and then will also be an exhibit of their work in November of 2009.