Skagit River Float Trip

A couple of months ago, Kristina was becoming familiar with Groupon; she had been aware of it in the past, but it seemed like everyone she was talking to/with as of late had gotten a "rock star" deal using Groupon.  That being said, she decided to check it out again.  She was on the website actually making a donation to a "dog cause" when this offer for Skagit River Float Trip was listed as well.  The float trip sounded like a perfect gift for Jared, so she decided to take a chance and go for it.  So at the end of August, she bought the deal -- and we were able to use it today.

The float trip is a 4-hour raft float down the Skagit River.  She signed up for the 9:45am float, so that meant we had to get up and out of the house by 7:15am.  When we woke up, it was clear, dry, and sunny, but chilly; the thermometer outside our house was reading 38 degrees.  We did know though that it was supposed to be close to 70 degrees, so it was a "layers day".

We arrived at Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport, WA and met up with the group.  We weren't sure what to expect, but it turned out that in our group there was 5 rafts of 8 people and a guide.  They loaded us on a bus to the start point of the float and then we float down the river and end up back where our vehicles are all parked.  It is funny; Jared and I had sized up the guides independently and  in the end we had chosen the same guide without even discussing it.  Well, Jared and Kristina have always been a perfect match for each other.  :)  That being said, we piled into our orange raft and headed out onto the river.

Here's a shot of our raft, we were assigned to this one and it proved to be a nice float down the river.

Here's a shot of our guide Dave.  He has lived in the area for 30 years and has been floating down the river for that long.  He was an invaluable fishing resource.  As we stopped throughout the float Jared was able to ask him lots of questions and "pick his brain" about the area.  Let's just say, we have some more areas to check out for fishing!

For having such a big group of people floating, all of the guides did a great job of spacing out the rafts along the river.  We definitely didn't feel like we were out there with 40+ people.  It was quite serene and very relaxing.

One of the main attractions of the float was salmon spawning and did we see salmon!!  Most of the salmon appeared to be Kings (based on their size), some of the smaller ones could have been Silvers.  Dave said that he had seen a school a Silvers the day before our float.  The Kings were all really good size -- most of them appeared to be in the 30-40 lbs range, but we saw a couple that were at least 60 lbs.  A 60-lbs fish is a BIG fish, especially when they are THAT close.  It was impossible to get a shot of the fish in the water, but here's a shot of how clear the water was.  The salmon seemed to like the more shallow water, and as we floated through, the fish could be seen darting off in different directions.  Dave was normally the first one down the river, so we got to see the most fish.  Dave indicated that there are also Steelhead and plenty of trout (Rainbow and Cutthroat) in the river as well.

Another attraction of the float is seeing fall colors.  Since we have been dry and still fairly warm for the area, a lot of the trees had not changed color drastically yet.  However, there were a few glimpses of things to come.

A nice shot of a snowy mountain that was behind us as we floated down the river.  We believe that this is El Dorado Peak in the North Cascade Mountain Range.  

This section of the river reminded us of the Main Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho.  It was odd that instead of there being a bunch of boulders to avoid as we floated down the river (like in Idaho), the Skagit River has bunches of old tree stumps that need to be avoided as we went down the river. 

We saw many fisherman on the river as we floated down -- most of them in drift boats.  However, this fly fisherman was doing his thing with a little pontoon boat.

Another attraction on the trip was Bald Eagle Spotting -- and we were pleasantly surprised with how many bald eagles we saw (young and old).  They seemed to be on every part of the river.

Here's a couple of shots of an adult bald eagle perched up in the tree.  It is amazing that Jared was able to capture these shots.  In our opinion these are the typical bald eagle shots of him/her looking regal.

Here's some great shots of one of the younger eagles.  This eagle was probably just born earlier this year.

Here's one last parting shot of the river...

We couldn't have asked for a better day to float and experience the river!

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.