A Stunning Adventure (Part 1)

When we vacation we rarely relax in the traditional lay on the beach and do nothing sense! We tend to pack it in! We have recently returned from a west coast trip of a lifetime! Starting in Seattle, we explored and hiked our way down the coast to our final destination of San Fransisco to experience and run the marathon, well half of it anyway. Along the way, we encountered some of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen! Here are some of the highlights from our adventure!

We started off in Seattle where we did partake in the city atmosphere where we shopped, took a cooking class in the famous Pike’s Fish Market and dined at the top of the Space Needle. After nights of local produce, food and city sights we retired to our hotel to plan out the next day’s adventures! We started out with Mount Rainer. We
decided to hike to Comet Falls; somewhere along the line we saw reviews that raved about its beauty, however, somehow we did not see the correct length and elevation, so we were a bit surprised at how difficult our first hike was!

We hiked for miles, at some points the trail seemed to go straight up!We saw wildlife and an animal I have never seen before - a Pika, which to me looked like a mix of rabbit and large field mouse! Very cute and very fast! We had a hard time getting a good picture of the rascal! The rocks, the woods and the wild flowers were gorgeous and once we reached the falls - every moment of the strenuous climb was worth it!

Our next stop on the list - Mount St. Helens, what a sight to see! We took the long road up to the summit and hit the visitor’s center where we could learn and see photos of the changes and eruptions to this historic site. We grabbed a trail map and decided we would head out and explore some of the surrounding areas and hike our way around. We pulled off the side of the road on our way from the visitor’s center and parked in a small parking area. We loaded up our backpack and headed for the trail. It was a shorter trail, only a couple miles but beautiful. There was Foxglove everywhere and the mountain sides were littered with wildflowers which were exquisite. There were rocks, and remnants of the past eruptions among the wild flowers and as we hiked, there was a sense of calm that is truly indescribable.

We kept heading south and stopped by Multnomah Falls - talk about a stunning waterfall. We spent time at the main waterfall, but then we proceeded farther into the woods on the path that was less populated. We hiked up the switchbacks for what seemed like an eternity, there were eleven of them and they were steep and apparently the switchbacks are supposed to help make that climb easier - my jury is out on that! Back and forth we went until it finally gave us some reprieve. There were a lot less people around now and boy was this extra effort worth the hike. We ended up in a secluded area where the water fall seemed to be one endless stream of beauty. We spent time there just taking in the serenity of our surroundings, then head out for a much easier trip down those long and steep switchbacks - much easier going down!

We had to be in San Fransisco by a certain date, so we were hiking and sight seeing at a pretty good pace. We continued south and the Huntsman, who is quite the planner even though he’d like everyone to believe he isn’t, suggested we make one more small hike before heading to San Fransisco, he pulled off the side of the road and there it was - the trail head for Mirror Lake!!

 I was instantly excited - hiking to Mirror Lake has been on my ‘someday I will’ list for a very long time. Andy had planned it out so we could stop and have this experience and I could see the magnificent view I’d dreamt of for so long. We parked and headed to the trail head. This hike was the easiest we had hiked so far and as we got closer, I got more anxious! I was concerned - I have dreamt of this for years and now here it is - what if I had built it up too much in my head?! But no - we rounded the corner and could see the lake.
We took the long way around the lake and as we walked Mount Hood became the focal point in this perfectly framed picture -my dreaming about this view didn’t do it justice - it was magnificent. I was in awe, it was more than I had ever hoped for. As we looked at the mountain framed by the lake, I felt like the luckiest Huntress.