Lake Annette 7-30-11

I'm finally caught up with my blogs.  It’s a normal weekend with Cedar and I- out for hiking adventures!  Today we did the Annette Lake trail, which I had not done before.  It was really popular, so we met a lot of people on the trail.  The day was lovely and sunny, and the trail was a moderate one at 7.5 mi round trip and only 1400 ft of elevation gain.  I say “only” but I was definitely puffing and sweating up the hill.  I just kept going without taking breaks though, since this is my last full weekend of training for Mt Rainier.  I had filled my platypus with water, another quart, shoved a bunch of stuff I usually take in my pack and then threw a 5 lb weight in there on top of it all.  Not on top of the lunch though.  I could definitely feel it.

This pleasant trail is almost entirely under the canopy of big shady fir and cedar, which made it particularly nice on a warm day.  It does cross a few avalanche chutes, which is why I avoided this trail while they were snow-covered.  I could see that they would be hazards when snowy.  The trail was muddy, but not unmanageably so, and in places where it might have been boggier there are some really nice boardwalks/bridges.  Quite a few small streams cross the trail as well, so Adventure Dog was able to get some sips in between when I stopped to offer him water.

The lake itself was a beautiful teal color, with just a couple patches of snow clinging to her shadier sides.  I had a yummy smoked salmon and brie sandwich with my feet in the water, and just soaked up the beauty.  It feels good to be back in the Northwest.

Cedar and I waded around and saw a lot of small trout playing in the water.  It was a great day!