Reintroduction into the Olympics

My extremely fit hiking buddies Todd and Valorie invited me to hike with them on the Silver Lakes trail in the Olympic National Forest. I eagerly accepted, knowing that this would probably be one of my last higher elevation hikes for sometime (the snow's a-comin'). The hike itself wasn't really that bad, maybe 6 miles roundtrip, and with a beautiful alpine lake which we lunched at. We dined on a huge rock and dried our wet socks and shoes - we'd had to walk through 1-2inches of snow! Valorie brought yummy smoked salmon with crackers and cheese, Todd brought delicious peanut butter pretzels and me, just lame trailmix. Then they dragged me to the "ridge" which involved hiking up a 30 degree-ish incline in snow that was sometimes a foot deep. I was feeling a little grouchy but kept on and we had some nice views at the top, however, my feet were numb and I was feeling ready to head back. The trip back ended up taking a bit longer since we missed the trail split and went on the wrong one for 10min or so, and the way down was nearly as challenging as some of the snow had melted and made tree roots and rocks pretty slick. It was almost like an obstacle course. The day ended up being quite beautiful, despite forecasts, and I was thankful to have

spent it outdoors with two fabulous friends.

My feet were still dry and warm at this point - this is as good as it gets for fall foilage on the peninsula.

The glacier beauty - Silver Lake

Coming down from "the ridge"

Todd and Val eating huckleberries