#6 - Backpacking Trip

I love hiking, and there are so many beautiful destinations in the Pacific Northwest! Two of my friends had never been overnight backpacking before, so I took them on an easy 3-mile round trip hike last summer. It took a bit of preparation and planning, but we had a blast. This year, we decided to continue the tradition!

Pratt lake is located in the central Cascades, slightly west of Eastern Washington. It has an elevation gain of 1530 feet and is a whopping 11 miles round trip. There are tons of streams and bridges to cross over on the way to the lake, and a few amazing views. Once we got about eight miles in, the trail started a steep decline into switchbacks. The entire time down the mountain, I was thinking, "Crap, I'm going to have to climb back up this tomorrow..." Luckily, it soon evened out as we started walking along a huge rocky mountainside. By this time, we could see the lake, but it was only a teaser seeing as we still had another couple miles to go.

Finally, we reached the lake, and it was beautiful! We set up camp, explored the area, and then started making dinner. Little did we know, our box of noodles needed milk and butter, but water made a decent substitute. And let's face it, I would've ate anything after six miles of hiking! After devouring some s'mores and hanging all our food up in a tree, my warm sleeping bag was like heaven on earth.

Although the hike back up those switchbacks was grueling, it's worth it for the sense of accomplishment you feel when you reach the trail head once more. Time to start planning for next year!

Video coming soon! It's all edited, but I'm just hashing out some technical difficulties in the exporting process. Stay tuned!

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Lake 22

If you ever find yourself in the Pacific Northwest, be sure to take advantage of the numberless hikes in the area. I can't believe that I've lived here for ninteen years and can probably count on both of my hands the number of hikes I've been on. There are hundreds of hikes in Washington and Oregon, and I was able to go on one of them yesterday!

I met up with my best friend, who recently got home from Oregon State University, and her younger sister, and headed off to Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade mountains. Lake 22, according to the Washington Trails Association, is 5.4 miles roundtrip and has a 1350 ft elevation gain. It was the perfect difficulty for not being in the best shape physically. Once we got to the lake, we hiked around it, which added another mile onto the trip. We also hiked up one of the rocky slopes to get a better view of the lake. Although this was not the smartest or safest idea, it was definitely challenging, and the view was worth it!

As soon as I got home, I began looking up other hikes in the Cascades that are slighly more difficult than Lake 22. It's all about challenging yourself! Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to scale Mount Raineer - all 14,409 feet of it! But I'll have to work up to that seeing as I am still sore from the 5.4 mile trek to Lake 22... And for your viewing pleasure, here are a few more shots from the hike!

 

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