Dorothy Lake

We are getting way too spoiled...the weather has been FANTASTIC!  Even though it is now fall, the "summer" weather is still holding on each day in Western Washington.  Friday was cool and overcast, and we thought for sure..."this is it!".  And Saturday morning was a bit drizzly, cloudy, and cool -- but then Saturday evening things started to turn around quickly.  The clouds all left the area and clear blue sky took over, and it held into today.  Additionally the sun was out warming things up nicely.  The high was only the upper 60's, maybe 70 degrees -- but once again picture perfect.  That being said, we decided to try and hike to another mountain lake.  This time, our destination was Dorothy Lake -- a mountain lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, near Skykomish, WA.

The trailhead signs were very informative...

The first deep little pool on our way up...

Kristina and Indy posing for a scenic shot.

A perfect little swimming hole... 

Jared and Indy striking a pose...

Jared and Indy hiking up the trail.  There were lots of steps along the trail; the steps were mostly to avoid swampy areas...not just to go up.  The trail didn't change in altitude as much as expected for a mountain lake, and to get to the lake was just under 2 miles.

Overall, the trail was very well kept and very nice.  Scenery was awesome.  There were many old growth trees all around the trail, water could be heard most of the hike, and there wasn't a lot of congestion on the trail.  It probably didn't hurt that it was a sunny, clear day with no wind. 

After arriving at the lake, if you are done hiking, choose the outlet spur.  It will take you down to the lake right away and there are several nice spots to rest and have a snack or lunch or whatever.  We chose this way today -- not on purpose, we didn't know which way we wanted to go since it was our first time.

It is a bit hazy from all of the wildfires in Eastern Washington, but even with the haze, you can see that the lake is spectacular.  And, if you choose the other path, you can hike for 2 more miles to the other end of the lake.  There are many campgrounds along the way and once again, it is a very scenic trail.

And here's Indy after the swim.  She is so funny; she knows when there is water at the end of the hike and she absolutely goes crazy until she can jump into the lake and submerse. 

It was a great day...

Kristina's 2nd Anniversary at SonoSite

Friday, September 7th, was Kristina's second anniversary at SonoSite.  Who can believe that we have lived here long enough for her to have a two year anniversary -- but it is true.  In celebration, we went to dinner tonight -- Palisade Restaurant.  It is located on the water in Seattle, so the views were spectacular.  Food was just ok in our opinion, but nonetheless, it was a nice evening.  Congrats Kristina!

Hiking to Lake Serene

It was a beautiful September day for the Seattle area; highs were expected to be in the 80's.  That being said, Jared and Kristina decided it was time to hike into a mountain lake.  We love hiking into mountain lakes in Idaho, but we hadn't quite got the swing of things in Washington yet.  It seemed liked the first two summers we were here that by the time the lakes thawed out, it was already cold and wet again.  Which is why we took advantage of the weather.

Lake Serene came highly suggested to us, and we had tried to hike it once right after we moved here, but it was a complete zoo with people.  Based on the fact that we had Logan with us, that isn't always a good combination, so we opted out.  However, today when we arrived there were cars in the trail head parking lot, but it wasn't full by any means.  So we put on our day packs and headed UP.

Here's a shot of the trail head map.

The hike ended up being 7.2 miles round trip, and it had beautiful scenery -- and the scenery varied a bit.  Here is Kristina and Indy at the start of the hike -- we hadn't started going up yet.  :)

Here's a rock face pretty early into the hike.  We would like to come back again when it wetter because we are pretty sure that the water just cascades off of it.

Here's a shot of the Bridal Veil Falls through the trees.  If you wanted a very easy hike and a relatively short hike, you could have just hiked here and called it a day.  But you know us, that's NOT how we roll.

After you pass the falls, this is what you see...stairs going UP and UP and UP.  The trail has a 2000ft elevation gain, but most of that elevation gain is spread out over 2 miles.  So if you do the math, you see that we are serious when we say it goes UP.

Once you get up, the views are spectacular.  It is always so great to have views in every direction. 

And that Indy is one smart dog -- anytime she had an opportunity to "re-charge", she took full advantage of it.  Don't think she EVER gets tired, she literally pulled Jared all of the way to the top and back down again, but we think she can do that because she is very SMART about resting when she can. 

Lake Serene...it just thawed out in the middle of August.

Indy enjoying a dip in the lake.  She was thinking finally...submersion.  Ahhhhhh...  By the way, Kristina was looking towards the "lunch rock" -- it was swarming with people.

Our last shot of the lake before it was overtaken with people.   

It was a fun, but physically draining hike.  You can't go all of the way around the lake without doing some serious scrambling -- and that really isn't possible when you have a dog with you.  Since it is such a popular hike, it fills up quick if it is a nice day -- and it was a nice day.  So, we basically hiked up (it was a good hike up, we didn't see many people along the way, just a few here and there), ate our lunch, and hiked back down.  We should have stayed at the top more and rested up for the trip down, but there were people everywhere.  Once we got back down, we all climbed into the back of the truck and propped our feet up so the lactic acid could drain out before we drove home.  Of course, Indy just hung out in the back of the truck with us.  It was a good day...

Indy's New 'Do!

Well, it was that time of the year again...Indy needed to be groomed!  Indy goes to the doggie spa once every three months to get a bath, haircut, and her nails trimmed.  She had been looking a little shaggy (you can always tell because her elbows get very long) and she had been leaving tufts of black fur EVERYWHERE!  We vacuum every weekend, not because we want to, but because we have to -- thanks to Indy.  That has now been remedied...at least for a little while.  :)

Here she is post doggie spa...

Kristina likes this shot because she looks very regal!  ha!

Happy Labor Day

Labor Day...that glorious time of the year when we get an extra day off from work!  Jared and Kristina have both been fairly busy at work these days, so it was an easy going Labor Day Weekend.  Not a lot was done...just the normal chores and a few extra errands.  However, on Monday the daily walk was exchanged for a trip to our favorite river spot in Carnation, WA for a little bit of walking and some swimming for Indy.  

Indy is getting quite good a fetching sticks out of the river.  She actually has toys, but she still doesn't always bring back the stick, so we don't want to watch a toy float down the river.  Hence the sticks.  Here's a short video of her latest work...

And then of course, here are some still shots of her action...

This one she is intently looking at Jared and wanting her treat.  Look at that concentration.  Too bad we can't get her to concentrate that well when there isn't a treat involved.  :)

Jared and Indy posing on an old tree that was down along the river.  We will be interested to come back during the winter and check this out when the water is high again.

A nice serene shot of the Tolt River...at this point in the river, it is pretty much dumping into the Snoqualmie River.

The is a cool bridge that spans the Snoqualmie River.

After Indy was done swimming, we decided to hit another section of the Tolt River so Jared could try out his favorite thing...fishing.  Indy and Kristina sat patiently on the bank enjoying the day while Jared waded through the cold water...hoping to catch a fish.  He didn't end up catching anything, but he did get a few raises and was just happy to be out there.

Here's another shot down river from where Jared started out fishing...

And, here's Indy patiently waiting on the bank for Jared to finish.