Weekend Travels in 2019 Amazing Stories!

Guys, I’m such a happy person when I’m not at work! (And I know its up to me, and only me, to change that, but yeah). At the very beginning of last week, my boss told me and 2 of my coworkers that we aren’t allowed to take PTO for two weeks until a certain project was completed. This rubbed me the wrong way because A) God forbid my boss ever puts in an honest day’s work himself and B ) it’s august! Its the best month weather-wise for Western Washington and now is the time to enjoy it. C ) We all have EXTREMELY high PTO balances because its soo hard for us to take time off without having to work while we’re on vacation. But full disclosure, I didn’t have any vacation time planned last week or this week, but simply being told it wasn’t even an option pissed me off. And then logging into social media and seeing sooooo many vacation photos of people and families on summer vacations....it had me stewing. But stewing can be motivating if that’s the direction you choose.

It was the direction I chose. I was determined to make the most of this amazing-weather weekend, even if it meant very little sleep lol.

Saturday, I went here:

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Its called Blanca Lake! Its a roughly 3 hour drive from my apartment to the trailhead. And the actual trailhead is currently inaccessible by vehicle due to a washout on the forest service road. So, you have to park on another forest service road a little over 2 miles away, and then walk to the trailhead for the already 7.5 mile hike. BUT IT IS SO WORTH IT! I mean LOOK at this lake! There is also camping available up top on a first come/first serve (free) basis. I left my apartment at list 3:30 in the morning and then the drive home SUUUUCKKKED, and made me want to go back. There were accidents on the highway that goes through Seattle, accidents on the highway that parallels Seattle, and even an accident on the highway that is on the peninsula that takes me to my house on the final course of the travel leg. The ferries were also all backed up for waiting time by at least one ferry. It was like the worst travel day ever. But LOOK at the lake!

I spent the evening (once I got home) wondering how I’d spend Sunday. I didn’t want to travel in the same direction or go nearly as far. And I wasn’t sure how my body would feel the next morning (that hike is rated “expert” i guess). I kind of wanted to go to Mount Rainier National Park because I normally go once ever couple years and I hadn’t been yet this year. I’ve also never been in August, when most of the trails (the ones that don’t lead to the summit anyway) are snowfree. But I’ve also never been to that park alone. I’ve only ever been when family visits. So I went to bed Saturday night with that idea in mind, but not completely sold.

My dog woke me up early Sunday morning, my body felt fine, and there WAS a hike I really wanted to try. So i decided to say eff it and go. I did the Skyline Loop via the High Skyline Trail. What made this hike difficult was that the entire hike is in the sun!! And it was hot out! Even 6000+ feet up! I ran out of water and had to refill at a creek.

If you look close enough at this picture, towards the middle left on the actual mountain, there is a waterfall flowing from snow melt. It looks small, but it was pretty loud in person:

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Some trail pics (I took A LOT and had to narrow them down significantly for this entry lol:

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If you look in the distance in this pic, you’ll see Mount Adams on the left and Mount St Helen’s on the right:

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The drive home (and to the park) was waaaaaaayyyy better than Saturday’s experience.

And all of this adventuring happened because I was jealous of everyone’s family vacations on social media.

Last updated August 06, 2019