Henna made a friend

Hike #9: Downtown Seattle, Washington

Alright. Back to the hikes. I know Noel already talked a bit about our walk through Seattle, so I will make it short. Walking around Seattle reminded me that although I love to get away and be “one” with nature over the summer months, deep down under all this dirt inflicted by camping, I am a city girl. Walking through a city, is so much different than hiking on a trail, but I still love it. There is always an excitement upon turning a corner and not knowing what adventure awaits you. In this case it was glimpses of the space needle. City walking in Seattle also has its up’s and down’s. Literally. Up hill and down hill. So as we factored how far from Pikes Market to the space needle, we had to consider that we would be walking up hill most of the way, which left us tired as if we were hiking in Mt. Rainier. Not only did we have to factor the hard city walking, concrete and maneuvering through crowds of people, we had to consider the mental acuity required to remember where we left our car, how many hours left on our meter before we were hit with a $80 ticket, along with the information we digested along our way. Whew, city hiking is both mentally and physically stimulating. So, in the end I’ve decided I am a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

Hike # 10: Kayak Trail in Cascade Lake, Moran State Park (on Orcas Island, San Juan Islands)

After swimming around in Cascade Lake, Henna was eager to explore it further. I must point out that this was our first family Kayak jaunt that featured each of us in our very own sailing vessel. It felt more than a little weird. Usually family water excursions have lots of yelling and direction dictating to cut through the natural calm of our surroundings. Henna proved a natural at kayaking, and took to moving effortlessly through the water. We had planned for only a one hour tour, but located a small path under a bridge, in which folks were jumping into the water and boys shouted “Hijack the Kayak!” at us. But once safely under the bridge we were treated to calmer water, more beautiful scenery, and water lilies to play in while we simply floated and looked. We were gone for two hours, lost in this place we found. Henna won the family award that night (a tradition formed years ago, when one of us proves to have pushed us into something we all love), for getting us out of our comfortable zone on the beach in order to explore an area that would have been lost to us. Thank you Henna, I will continue to follow you on adventures forever.

Hike #11: Cascade Canyon Falls, Moran State Park Trail 5 miles.

So, finally after relaxing (although that kayaking worked on my arms bit), we donned our hiking boots, grabbed an isolated half filled water bottle and set off on a trail once again. Henna was not too happy, and was dragged up for quite a while. We originally had planned to hike only to the falls (less than a mile away). But after talking to a few people, we were persuaded to hike up to Mountain Lake (the source of the water falls). As a rule, we always have to see what’s up the path, even if it means believing folks when they say it’s just a bit more up the road. We’ve learned that most often when people give directions or information, they are wrong. So up the path a bit, became 1.9 miles UP the path. It’s important to mention here, that the hiking was lovely. We were nestled in a virgin forest, filled with hemlock trees that went on forever, with the sun shining through the trees. It was nice. But we were hot and in need of water. We learned that once you don’t have water, you become more and more thirsty. Boy, Henna was not happy. And an unhappy Henna on the trail makes pain for us all. So right at the end of our rope, we came across the lovely mountain lake. Two nice hikers then informed us that drinking water was just another half mile away. So we had a choice. Either continue half mile to replenish (or one whole extra mile) or head back with no water at all. We chose to continue on even after running into a very weird and intoxicated man who stumbled his way in front of us. Later after filling up our water bottle we saw the two nice hikers again and swapped hiking tales. Going back was easy partly due to us being hydrated and also because we knew what was ahead of us. A big note for future hikes, BRING MORE WATER! It all worked in the end though, and the stories it cultivated will last forever. Corey July 17, 2013