Jamin loves to hike. Jamin often picks hikes the rest of us good-naturedly complain about. He and Jared called today to see if the boys would like to go an afternoon hike. Stacia said, "No way." It was supposed to be a 6.5 mile hike (round trip). According to the website I found it is 4.5 mile (one way). π½ I'm quickly learning these hiking websites are subjective. A hiker may rate a 5000 foot elevation climb in .25 mile, as "easy," or a stroll around a paved, flat, lake as moderately hard." π I think we need to find a hiker's guide with objective ratings we can apply to each hike.
The guys set out in good spirits. They took Mako, Maria's husky with them. He loves to run and I thought a hike may be fun for him.
They headed to the Reed Lakes Trailhead in the Hatcher Pass area.
The first part of the hike is very easy (flat, wide trail), then after a couple of miles or so it goes up pretty steeply (there are switchbacks). (From above website).
Keeping a close eye on fireweed |
Jamin - we're going to miss him |
Next you have “the boulder scramble”. It is a filled with healthy sized boulders that you have to navigate. Not too hard, but not recommended for dogs or kids. Then, after a brief period of flatness, it climbs once more and you see Lower Reed Lake for the first time.
Mako decided he had had ENOUGH! He put all four paws around a big boulder, seemed to straddle it, and refused to move. Jared carried him. What a guy!
We waited for them to get home before we had Sunday night ice cream. They reported it was cold enough to see your breath. Fall may be on it's way...but never the w word.