Two Lakes

Yakima Valley is in the molten grip of a heat wave this week. The five day forecast is all in triple digits. Mountains to the rescue! I love being able to escape our smoldering valley to the cooler mountains! We were not in the mood to camp (too much work, not enough sleep), so we decided on a day trip. After performing my signature intensive research, I selected the Bench and Snow Lake trail in Mt. Rainier National Park for a family hike. On Tuesday, (July 28th), we made the 2 hour 20 minute drive, with somewhere around 20 minutes of added time for two sections of stop-and-wait road work. We listened to music together and watched the trees flash by. 

Once we entered the official park, the road got steeper and curvier. Predictably, Rose got car sick and threw up on the side of the road. Cue the slamming of brakes and hasty opening of door for the green child to upchuck! Once Rose was all cleaned up, we forged onward. The drive was gorgeous, in spite of the sinuous road, and since Rose was all emptied out, she didn't puke again. 

We arrived at the trailhead a little before 11am and layered on the sunscreen, bug spray, and masks before embarking. Every time we passed someone on the trail, we pulled our masks on. The trail was well trafficked but not crowded, so the mask situation was manageable. All but a few people we passed also put their masks on. It was a responsible crowd. The trail was just over a mile to Snow Lake, but it had several long stretches of knee-high trail stair steps that made Jeff's injured ankle and tendinitis-knee ache. My legs got more sore from all of those big steps up and down than from the ten mile trail run I had done four days previously! 

Amber was in heaven. The mountains are her natural playground. She ran most of the flat sections of the trail, at least half of the downhill sections, and powered up the steep sections. Jeff and Rose stuck with Amber while I walked in the back with the much more sedate Jay. Jay and I had a pleasant calm scenic walk together. He is a still soul and easy to be around. 

We met the front runners at a fork in the trail and all hiked over to a decidedly unfancy open air backwoods toilet that was positioned near the handful of campsites at Snow Lake. A kind family gave us their spare toilet paper and we all took turns using the toilet. It is not my favorite to sit on a nasty throne in broad daylight with nothing sheltering my business! But there were no toilets at the trailhead and we all had full bladders after the long drive.

Once we finished with the toilet, we admired the glittering deep blue clearness of Snow Lake from as many angles as possible. There really weren't very many water access points. We finally found a rock that sloped down into the water, where we all took off our shoes to cool our feet in the icy lake. I am not one for freezing water, but the sun was quite hot and the hike just hard enough to get me all sweaty, so the water felt divinely refreshing. The bugs were everywhere, but our high power chemical bug spray held up. Jay's two bug bites were the only two in our whole family. 

After exploring a bit more around Snow Lake, we turned back. Bench Lake was off a small branch of the trail close to halfway back to the car. By that point, Jeff's various injuries were hurting and Jay and Rose were hot and tired, so they three opted to hike straight back to the car while Amber and I went to Bench Lake. We slid-hopped down a short steep brushy trail and came out at the smooth water. Mount Rainier (aka Tahoma--I like the original native name way better) dominated the horizon, admiring its reflection in the calm waters of Bench Lake. Amber and I waded and splashed. We ate our snacks and admired the view. Amber got her shorts soaked, so I helped her remove them. Her shirt was almost tunic length, so it worked. 

Eventually we hiked back to the car. Amber was reluctant to leave the peaceful lake, but she ran most of the way back down the trail anyways. It was so much fun adventuring with my intrepid young explorer-daughter! I always fee a natural high when I'm in the woods, and Amber seemed to feel the same way. We fed off of each other's energy and it was hard to say goodbye to the gorgeous trail, lake, and scenery. Say goodbye we did, though, and made the long drive back to the furnace of our valley. We stopped at Safeway to get our traditional post-hike ice cream and got home at 4pm, making it a nine hour day. 

The entrance! So exciting!

Masked up at the trailhead, with the mountain behind us.

Baby versions of the large steps further down the trail.

The wildflowers were blooming!

It may not have been 104 degrees, but it was plenty warm as we hiked under the sun.

I kept pausing to look back at the mountain. 

Admiring the view.

Look at all of those different flowers! The red paintbrushes always make me extra happy.

Jay, with his father and sisters tiny specks in the distance.

Snow Lake! I love that deep deep clear blue.

Crossing a stream on a log and watching a frog swim.

That pointy mountain is called Unicorn Peak.

The outdoor throne. Bleh, this is a toilet tub. Not even a vault. Everything got collected in that plastic basin. 

My star picture of Snow Lake. This Snow Lake (in Mt. Rainier National Park) is not to be confused with the Snow Lakes Trail (a group of lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness), where I did a trail run a few weeks ago. Can we accept that mountain lakes often have snow near them year round and think up some cleverer names?

Crystal clear water.

Amby-adventurer, in her big brother's old cargo shorts and her big sister's old shirt, with her very own trusty pink boots.

Amb-on-the-run. THAT BLUE WATER through the trees practically made me swoon, but I had to dash after Amber, so I pulled it together.

Watching a chipmunk.

There were two options: climb the big rock or walk on the flat trail to the right. 

Cooling off in Snow Lake. It felt like pure melted snow.

Rose worked through the ordeal of putting wet feet into socks. The girl has very picky feet, and tends to freak out if her foot is wet or dirty when she has to put her shoes back on. She followed Amber's example and wore her rubber Crocs boots on this hike. Those boots don't breathe at all!

This marshy area explained the bug situation.

Gorgeous pink flowers! They were so tiny, pictures didn't do this happy floral stretch of trail justice.

Feeling powerful!

The girls were all for climbing this large boulder field until they asked if snakes lived there. Jeff said yes, most likely, and they both immediately rejoined us at the bottom. So much for extreme adventurers! Although I feel the same. Snakes = no thank you.

I experienced extreme hat hair all day.

Back through the pretty pinkness.

I paused to take an up-close picture of these perfect little bell shaped pink mountain heather flowers. 

Unicorn Peak, pointing skyward.

Blue lupine is always a pleasure.

Goodbye, Snow Lake!

We had large views of Mt. Rainier for much of the hike back to the car.

Jay says thumbs up!

BENCH LAKE WITH AMBER:

Amber Kay White, interrupting reflections full time since 2014.

It looks like she's touching the tip of the mountain's reflection.

While Amber was eating her snack, I snagged a picture of the reflection in the calm water.

Amber insisted on wearing our daypack. She carried it almost all the way back to the car, and only relinquished it to me because I offered to help repeatedly.

Adorably dirty and wet, with a massive backpack and curly braids. Amber is awesome.

Those little bare legs and boots! Amb in her element. I thought it would be harder to get a picture of her standing still, but she is really into pictures right now, and she took several on our small camera during the hike.

Amber took this picture of me.

Running towards a mountain and hugging the world. That's my girl.