On Sunday the hubbers and I decided to continue our adventures in the woods near our new home. Since we've moved back to wa-wa land, we've been determined to become "outdoor people." This is not something that comes naturally (to me at least), having grown up smack dab in the middle of suburbia, and then moving to the big, bad City for college. Nonetheless, serious hiking boots were purchased, various jerkied meats were packed, and in March, we began.
Our first few hikes went surprisingly well, with no recorded injuries and trails properly followed. We saw the beautiful, if hideously overcrowded, Twin Falls and Rattlesnake Ridge (where I seem to have developed an entirely new condition I have since dubbed "trail rage"). We even saw two big, healthy bald eagles near Tiger Mountain (actually viewed from inside the 'unwanted accelerator' on Highway 18, before we even parked at the trail head).
It was with confidence in our new found abilities that we headed east on I-90, and into Snoqualmie National Forest, in search of the Iron Horse Trail. Miles and miles of bumpy, flooded "road" later, we determined that we had no idea where the heck fire we were, and opted instead to back track a couple exits and try the well-marked Olallie State Park instead. It turns out we had hiked very close to this point our first trip out, when we decided to go beyond the waterfalls, to escape some of the crowds.
What followed was a lackadaisical meander through a gorgeous and unpopulated stretch. We periodically ducked in and out of little offshoot paths, stumbling across waterfall, after waterfall, and then into one of the most beautiful little secret spots I've seen. I couldn't help but shoot photo after photo, mindlessly trying to capture this FEELING that I was having. Suffice it to say, I ended up with mentally bookmarking this location to revisit many, many times, and with a dozen or so really pretty shots.
I guess sometimes the very best finds, are the things you were never searching for in the first place.
Oh, and if it looks like it's covered in either sap, tar, or creosote:
{ don't sit on it. }
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oh i love hiking! we live in the city (Vancouver), but always venture out to the wooded areas to enjoy the trails and mountains. ;)
I can't wait till the toe heals and i can get back onto the trails. My main question is always "what were the bugs like?" The last hike we did last summer was full of mosquitos. To the point where i had to have a bandana around my face to keep from accidentally ingesting them. there also seemed to be biting flies that kept landing on me. i must smell/taste super sweet or something!
so, how was the bug population at Iron Horse trail?
c+c - the hubbers and i are dying to come visit Vancouver. we did a cruise to Victoria last year and really enjoyed ourselves. i love it up there, and heartily embrace my Canadian heritage. :)
hmm, they didn't seem TOO bad this time. with all the rain we've been having, you'd think it would be worse. maybe it's not quite the season for them yet? but truthfully they tend to not bother me as much as the hubbers, so i always make sure to stick close to him. mwa hahaha!
hope your toe feels better! (what is with all these foot injuries lately?!?)