Lake Serene

Wow, two posts about hiking in a row! I'll have to find some other things to blog about. A nurse at work lent me a book about hiking around Seattle and I couldn't resist checking this hike out. It was a pretty intense hike with a hours worth of steps (both man-made and granite) at the end but the view was supposed to be totally worth. Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy.

I got this picture from google- this is what the view was supposed to be:

Here is how it looked for me:

It was still a lovely way to spend the day. While I was hiking, I finally listened to "The Last Lecture" which was very inspiring.

A little side story. Due to the weather, there weren't very many people on the trail. But when I got to the top, there was a group of hiking grannies (and thus ends my complaints about how hard the trail was). The first thing they said when they saw me, was "You hiked all the way up here in those?!"

The "those" they were referring to were these:

My hiking Chaco sandals which I bought at the Seattle REI at one of my pre-move visits with the help of my REI expert cousin Leslie. Honestly, these have been the best shoe investment of my life. They are so great for hiking. I've broken them in so they are very comfortable and I find them superior to shoes and socks especially when you have to cross creeks (wet socks= miserable).

But I guess I'll have to hang up my hiking sandals until things clear up a little more.

Wallace and Gromit Falls

Yesterday, I went on the most beautiful hike. It is actually just called Wallace Falls but I have a hard time separating those two names. Here is a picture of the falls. Just lovely!

My only complain was about a half an hour into the two and a half hour hike, I stumbled on a rock (clumsy, clumsy) and rolled my ankle. It hurt pretty bad and I was bummed because I really wanted to finish the hike. So I said a prayer and sat down on a rock for a few minutes. When I got back up, my ankle was still tender but I was able to make it to the top without any more problems. In fact the longer I hiked, the better it felt. By the time I came back down, it actually felt pretty good and I was convinced that I wouldn't have anymore trouble with it.

The awkward self-taken picture to prove that I was really there:

Wallace Falls is about an hour northeast of Seattle. When I got back to my apartment, I stepped out of the car and immediately winced in pain. My ankle must have stiffened up on the way back because it was hurting again pretty bad. Luckily, after a little ice and elevation, it seems to be fine. The few moments of pain were a small price to pay for such a gorgeous view!