Though we chose not to travel over the holidays, we ended 2020 with four hikes.
Happy holidays and here's to a fantastic 2021 in the New Year!
Oyster Dome
A lack luster hike, but we felt like we needed to get out there! We were fogged in originally, but after a trail beer and snack the clouds parted for a bit!
Lake Serene - Bridal Veil Falls
This was a really fun hike. A lot of challenges, with logs, rocks, ups, downs, lefts and rights and then snow! We really enjoyed this hike and can see why it would be popular in the summer months. Our friend Bob met us at the trail head and prepared hot chocolate for us once we reached the lake! The spray from the falls was intense! The spray from the falls froze pines, rocks and logs like they were waxed in time! I also discovered that Bob and Ted have an odd fascination with trees that grow on in these conditions, they stopped a handful of times to evaluate trees and tree roots.... Boys...
Glacier Vista, Mt. Rainier National Park
Paradise is the name of an area at approximately 5,400 feet on the south slope of Mount Rainier. The name paradise is well suited, perhaps not a beach serving tropical cocktails experience you would traditionally envision, but definitely a spot that makes you feel on top of the world...almost. This time of the year we were so very luck to have sunshine, no wind and not a cloud in the sky, which allowed for AMAZING views. With this being our first snowshoeing adventure we opted for Glacier View, instead of Panorama Point. Thankful we did, Panorama Point winter trail (there are winter trails and summer trails) looked daunting and icy, but definitely a trail we will revisit and complete in the summer months. You will see the ant trail to Panorama Point in some of our photos and videos. It was fun to watch snowboarders, skiers traverse the down hill after reaching the summit.
This was a great Christmas eve hike! We had a lot of fun exploring a new terrain, snowshoeing, taking in breathtaking views and becoming self made sleds.
Kendall Lakes Peak
The trail head was a hot mess upon arriving at 8:30am, thankfully we found a parking spot when we arrived as someone was already leaving. The Snoqualmie pass is about an hour west of Seattle, making it quite accessible for the masses. We passed several small groups on our snowy ascent, but found we had the second lake all to our self! On our decent, we encountered several families with sleds sledding down the same trail we went up several hours earlier. It was crazy dodging sleds and people on our way down. As we left our parking spot, cars were parked on the off an on ramp!
“I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
– Robert Frost
I enjoyed all of the pictures, the scenery was lovely. No wonder that you enjoy it so much!