Wallace Falls!

Another hiking adventure in the Pacific Northwest! This time it is out to Wallace Falls.  We had passed by it initially on our drive to Bridal Veil Falls and kept it in mind and I'm glad we did because it was a gorgeous hike.  We started off early again on a foggy morning and got to the trail head around 9:30 am.  On the sign-in board at the trai lhead, we were the 3rd people to sign in for the day, cool! This meant that we only saw one pair of hikers on the way up and basically had the entire trail to ourselves the whole ascent to the falls.  The weather was a bit chilly, but as we started hiking we quickly got rid of our jackets.

Here we go!

There are 3 different sections to this hike; lower falls, middle falls, and of course the top of the falls.  Each section was beautiful in its own way.  The water was clear and pristine looking and with the fog in the air, it made for a very mist-like fairy world feel.  As we were hiking, we felt like we were in a Lord of the Rings scene as the greenness of the trees, quietness, and beauty of our surroundings encompassed us.  It smelt like fresh rain and the sound of the rushing water and falls was soothing as it accompanied us along the way.  The hike got steeper and the elevation quickly increased as we moved from middle falls to the top and though we huffed a little, it was definitely worth it when we reached the end.  Who would have though that waterfalls could be in the back of all these trees??  It was a beautiful sight!

Lower and middle falls

Crazy free hanging branch in between trees!

Top of the falls!

Danger, but gorgeous!

Finished! 

The hike took us only a total of a little over 2 hours.  It is best to go early as it is a popular route in the summer.  As we descended, we met more people heading up and we were glad that we had had an early start so that we could enjoy the views and hike without the clamor and noise of others. It is definitely worth the trip to Wallace Falls. It is only a little less than an hours drive from Seattle making it a perfect and easy destination for an out of the world experience! 

Wildlife experience for the day.... slug

Wallace Falls 

14503 Wallace Lake Road
Gold Bar, WA 98251-9384

Rattlesnake and Gelato!

Beautiful day and I don't have to work. Yippee!!! Time for the next hike of the summer, so early this morning I picked up my little sister and we headed off east of Seattle to Issaquah for a hike at Rattlesnake Mountain.  It was a gorgeous morning and as we drove across the I-90, the sun glanced off of the water and sparkled.  We got to the Rattlesnake trail head about 50 minutes after we had started.  The parking lot was relatively empty and we only saw a few hikers at the beginning of the trail.

Ready, set, go! Look at those trees!

It was actually a bit chilly, but as soon as we started walking we built up a sweat.  This hike is moderately easy with a bit of a strenuous climb towards the top, but there is a well paved and well marked path.  There were 3 trials that we could choose from.  Rattlesnake mountain which is the most popular path was 1.9 miles to the end, East Peak 4.3, and Snoqualmie Point 10.2 miles .  Compared to Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene, this hike was cake, but the view at the top was fantastic! Hiking to the top we took note of the foliage and the forestry.  It's amazing to me how Washington has so many different types of trees and each place you go there are different ecosystems and plants, so interesting! Also, as you climb higher in elevation, the types of trees also change.  It was a good 40 minutes of hiking when we finally reached the top.

Top of the peak!

 Awesome views!

I am as high as the mountains!

The view again, was awesome! We did a 360 degree turn and could see something different on each turn from Snoqualmie Valley, to Mount Si,  to Mount Teneriffe, North Bend, and even the parking lot where we parked our car! We took a break at the top and brought out our snacks to munch on.  For some odd reason, there are squirrels that like to hang out at the viewpoint as well and they obviously have been accustomed to humans as they ran straight up to us begging for food.  I know we're not suppose to, but I threw out a bit of a cracker once just because he was so cute looking.... bad idea!! He came back 2 more times and each time got closer and closer to us.  I screamed the last time because it was so sneaky and came up behind me. After that attack I literally grabbed my bags and ran.  If you go hiking up Rattlesnake, beware of the crazy squirrels.  The climb back down was quick and we passed many people heading up.  I was glad we had started off early to miss the traffic that would be up at the top.

Our snacks as we sat and admired the view!

Crazy squirrel, look at him!

We were done by 10 am and feeling satisfied, decided to fill up gas at Costco and grab some smoothies.  What a great idea because turns out that when we got to the food counter at Costco, we discovered they had just launched their new gelato line!! 3 scoops in a waffle cone for get this, $1.50!!!!! What????? Flavors to choose from are pistachio, mixed berry, and stracciatella, YUM! We both liked the mixed berry the best, but the other 2 were good as well.  Refreshed, we happily headed home.

Our first look at the gelato!

No ways!! I'm totally going to be back for more!

I'm absolutely loving summer in the Pacific Northwest! What's better than a good hike and gelato except maybe an ocean to jump into to cool off, but I can do without that for now. Happy playing!

Hiking Adventures in the Pacific Northwest

Today was a beautiful sunny day in Washington state. I had the day off and one of my roomies did as well , soooo what better way to spend the day then to go for a hike!! We had perused the different hiking trails close to the Seattle area and found a trail at Lake Serene- Bridal Veil Falls in the Central Cascades- Stevens Pass West, Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.  The reviews off of the Washington Trails Association were great and we were up for the moderate to hard hike so long as we got to see the beautiful waterfall and lake.

Ready, set, go!

We set off at 8:00 am and after a few wrong turns, finally made it to the trailhead.  The hike started off fairly nice, but soon turned challenging.  We were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the sign that directed us to Bridal Veil Falls.  It was only 0.5 miles, but that half mile felt forever because of the switchbacks and the steepness of the trail.  The end result was well worth it though. We were awed by the spectacular waterfall that roared down the huge granite stones.  It was nice and refreshing to sit by the falls and eat a snacks.  The next part of our hike was the hardest stretch.  We came back down the 0.5 mile and headed up another path to Lake Serene.  It was another 2 miles uphill with multiple switchbacks, rocky paths galore, and cute bridges and pathways before we got to the lake, but oh my Lake Serene was gorgeous! It looked like a scene out of a National Geographic magazine.  The lake was clear and serene with granite slabs that stretched high into the sky with waterfalls in the distance which we could hear clear as day from where we sat.  The sun spread its warmth on us as we sat down for a break and snack and we basked in it for a bit.  God is good!

To Bridal Falls!

Stairs and Bridal Falls!

Gorgeous!

Giant tree that fell & some uphill climbing!

Lake Serene

(check out those granite slabs!

So peaceful

 Ohhhh lunch?

Lunch rock, time to rock out lunch!

Tired feet need a break

Finally we packed up our bags and got ready to head down to the car.  It was an arduous journey and our legs were fatigued already with the uphill climb, but coming down required the use of more calves and quads and boy were we tired! We also had to be more careful because of all the rocks and watch out that we didn't twist an ankle.  An hour and a half later from when we left the lake, we made it back to our car.  It was hot! We saw a bunch of other hikers on our descent and were glad that we had started early to beat most of the heat.  It was a long day, we're exhausted, but happy for the day trip.  Hopefully we'll get more hikes in and you'll see a few more blogs on them!

Until next time!

Lake Serene-Bridal Veil Falls
Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass
WestMount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest