Hooray! Our first visitors, Matt and Justin!
There's a lot to see and do in the greater Seattle area, and with Washington recently opening up to 25% indoor dinning and with limited outdoor spaces I am sure we've only scratched the surface to what we've identified as our favorite spots. Hitting up breweries, neighborhood restaurants, hikes and view points like Kerry Park and Alki beach will most likely be on everyone's itineraries!
The Mountains received 16 inches of snow this last week, which, with the combination of road closures through the pass(es), rain, snow, and sporadic temperature swings in higher elevations it meant high avalanche danger and limited safe hiking options. We had hoped to visit Paradise at Mt. Rainier with our guests, but the road has been closed for two weeks. I guess it means that they will have to come back again! Thankfully, there is no shortage of things to do and together we completed 4 hikes and 20+ miles!
Lake 22
Even though Lake 22 was overcast and provided limited visibility at the summit, it was a fun hike filled with snow packed trails, babbling brooks, mini avalanches around the lake that sounded like distant thunder, man made sledding and snowball bowling.
Guest Blog Spotlight - Justin's Reflection of Lake 22
My first thought when I found out that we would be doing this hike was “where are Lakes 1-21?” I mean, it felt a bit presumptuous to skip the others and proceed directly to Lake 22, but Ted and Erin are experienced hikers and know what they are doing, so I just went with it. My second thought was, “this must be Taylor Swift’s favorite lake,” so naturally I was singing TSwi songs in my head as we started the hike (I conveniently kept this to myself). I actually liked that the hike was foggy as it added a bit of mystery to the experience. It also seemed very fitting to enjoy a Johnny Utah Pale Ale when we reached the majestic, snow-covered lake at the top. “Vaya con dios, brah.” On to Lake 23…
Failed and successful snow bowling!
Hex Mountain take 2
When friends are in town and they are up for an 8 mile hike, Hex Mountain is where we will be. The views are stunning along the way and once you reach the summit it's one that cannot be beat. Though our phone's didn't pick up Mt. Rainier, we were able to catch it for a few minutes before the clouds rolled in. The hike was warmer than our first trip which led to a challenging ascent, snow post-holing a good portion of the way (the term is exactly what you might imagine: the vertical plunge of a fence post into the earth—a narrow, straight, and deep insertion). I let the boys lead when we reached this portion of the trail... I am no dummy....I simply had to step where they had stepped and I wouldn't plunge knee deep into the snow with every step.
Guest Blog Spotlight - Justin's Reflection of Hex Mountain
This was certainly one very attractive hike. Those 360 degree views at the top?! I mean, come on now. Amazing stuff. We really lucked out with the weather too, so we clearly must have earned some karma points with Mother Nature somewhere along the way (perhaps it was while we were driving out there and, in a moment of pure brilliance, started singing our new song, “Snoqualmie, Maybe.”). So I also noticed that Erin conveniently left out the fact that I did shirtless pushups at the summit. I guess she is trying to keep this blog G-rated and isn’t interested in expanding her readership. Ok fine, whatever! But seriously, this hike was the highlight of the trip (even though my socks and shoes were completely drenched with melted snow, oh well).
Erin's edit to this guest post... since you may want to see these push ups...maybe..and I don’t want to be accused of editorial censorship..... here is the video...
Clayton Beach & Fragrance Lake
Looking to escape the rain, snow, and avalanche risk, we decided to head north towards Bellingham to hike and check out recent whale sightings locations. Though we had no luck spotting Orca or Grey whales at Edmonds or Mukilteo, we had an enjoyable and posthole free day!
Check out these Facebook groups if you want to follow resident an transit pods: Puget Sound Whale Sightings or Orca Network
Guest Blog Spotlight - Justin's Reflection of Clayton Beach and Fragrance Lake
I had two initial thoughts/questions when we arrived: 1) is Clayton Beach named after Clara Clayton from Back to the Future III and 2) what does Fragrance Lake smell like (its name must be derived from its odor, right?)? Turns out, the answers are 1) “no” and 2) “like a normal lake.” But anyway, these hikes were noteworthy because of their lack of snow and proximity to the water. It felt like we were in a totally different climate and/or part of the world compared to the first two (sort of reminded me of Devil’s Lake in WI). I was impressed with Ted’s willingness to walk out onto that fallen tree in Fragrance Lake. He clearly emerged as the clubhouse leader in bravery and manliness after that display. While we didn’t see any whales, Matt did spot a number of birds and made sure to call out “bird” every time, so I felt like I learned a lot.
Once we reached Fragrance Lake (a little lake luster) Ted decided adventure out on to the fallen tree... I decided to capture it on video just incase!
Guest Blog Spotlight - Justin's Visit
This was the perfect trip at the perfect time. I hadn’t seen the Starck’s since they moved out to Seattle and I hadn’t seen Matt since November 2019. I really needed the getaway as I’ve been going a little stir crazy working from home for nearly a year, but more importantly, I really needed the quality time with great friends (the visits to eight different breweries didn’t hurt either). Thanks, Ted and Erin for a great visit! We joked that I need to come out there every quarter, so I’ll start looking at flight prices for Q2 and Q3.
Here's to the many visits of family and friends in 2021 and beyond!
To view videos from these hikes, check out the Washington playlist on our YouTube channel or click HERE.
Comments