How do you say mosquito in Chinook language?

(the answer is... MELAKWA)
We hiked up to Melakwa Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness which lies at 4600 ft elevation.  We can't get enough of this area and there is so much to see.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. All fun hikes start with a happy dog and a happy family.

We really wanted to be first on the trail at 6am, but we ran behind schedule and started at 7:45.  Friday night had been rough due to Troy's tooth ache and Roxy's barking. 

Getting started in the dark forest, we were a bit cold, but we knew it was a matter of minutes before we would be sweltering.

Here was our map, start at Denny Creek Trailhead, exit 47 off I-90 and hike 4.5 miles up to Melakwa Lake.  It is a 2300 ft climb from the trail head. Double click on photo for a closeup. 

I had always wanted to experience walking under I-90 here in this valley and was excited to finally be able to take this photo. 

No hike is complete without an injury. 

I know I took photos of leaves last week, but they just continue to amaze me. 

Throughout the hike, I just enjoy tiny glimpses of color.

Remember I love bridges and other unique aspects to a trail.

Who can pass up a photo of flowing or falling water?  Why does it have to be so beautiful, even after all these years and all these hikes?  It just puts me at peace, AHHHHHHHHHHH.  Nothing better in that moment than blue sky, lush green leaves and peaceful water.  This is Denny Creek.

The ever so popular Denny Creek slab with barely a trickle going across it.  I would love to see this in the winter to compare.  Troy and Alyssa had it all to themselves on this quiet early morning.  Double click here for the closeup. 

The beautiful morning model resting by the pool.

Keekwulee Falls at 9am, about 1.5 miles up the trail.

Here we head up Hemlock Pass through the narrow valley.

Looking back out through the valley, south toward I-90

Almost here, finally a sign after 4.5 miles.

We arrived at Lower Melakwa Lake. 

Always the brave one to dive in the COLD water. 

Roxy and Alyssa out on this rock playing in the middle of the lake. Double click on this photo for a closeup.

We hike over to Upper Melakwa Lake too. 

Here is the creek that connects the two lakes.  This view is standing at Upper looking down at the Lower.

Had to capture this.. who hikes in wooden flip flop shoes from the 70's and white jeans that had stains on the bum? Clearly, this lady's companion was properly dressed.

And we close this story, with a love <3 from Roxy's bum. The end.

This morning, she flew out of bed and much to her surprise....

Yesterday, Alyssa's 70 lbs of school supplies arrived from WAVA.  Troy was more excited than Alyssa.  He raced to open all the boxes and began reviewing material. I think Alyssa was disappointed that Troy opened all her boxes.  We teased her that school was going to start the next day.   

I think he was meant to be a Math Teacher, look at that face!

This morning she flew out of bed to get started. She began looking over the science kit first.  Later, when I realized that she really was ready to start school today.  I had to break the bad news much to her surprise, we just aren't ready to begin today on Friday the 13th.  Hopefully, we can get started next week on 6th grade. 

I feel so blessed that Troy and Alyssa have such enthusiasm for home school.  It is really good for our family and brings us closer together.  Troy and I learn a lot while coaching Alyssa on the content.  WAVA is a great organization and there are 7000 kids in WA state using this home based Internet curriculum.   

Annette Lake Hike

This day was amazing. I felt like I experienced so much in 12 hours.

Alarm went off at 5:15 and it was dark, made me a little sad to lose our summer light. BUT the temperature was perfect at 58 degrees.
Met Rachael at 6 for a 1.5 mile run at 8:35 pace.

Left for Annette Lake Hike at 7:25am

The forest drapes the lower trail, keeping hikers cool on the hottest August afternoons. At trail's end, a deep lake waits to kill off the last of the summer heat--for those brave enough to dive into its icy waters. Between the thick second-growth forest stands and the high alpine lake, the trail rolls along Humpback Creek, offering tantalizing views now and again of pretty waterfalls along the tumbling creek.

At about 1 mile out, you'll pass under a high-tension powerline and 0.25 mile later will cross the wide track of the Iron Horse Trail (the old railroad right-of-way). From this point, the trail gets serious. Serious about scenery, and serious about climbing. The path switchbacks up the Humpback Creek valley for more than 1.5 miles until the last steep pitch puts you at about 3600 feet elevation. For the next mile, you'll traverse the slope above Humpback Creek, with occasional views across the valley to Humpback Mountain. The trail ends at the shores of Annette Lake, which lies in the cirque between Humpback Mountain, Abiel Peak, and Silver Peak.


First view point is this creek/waterfall coming off a hill and we crossed over the bridge. It was about this time, I realized I wore the wrong socks that wouldn't stay up and I forgot my hiking shoe in-soles. DAGNABITI love foot bridges, it makes for an interesting trail/walk. Alyssa's knee was driving her crazy, hurting and she wanted to turn back at 1.5 miles. She cried and was ready to go back alone to the truck. Instead, we went super slow and tried to keep her mind off it. She eventually forgot. This is a carved tree. More foot bridges

And more

and beautiful forestThis is one of our 'breaks' for Alyssa. She would have been mad if I would have taken a photo of her pouty face. This really is a boulder field, one of four and I am looking up at it. It really was this steep. A terrible avalanche hill in the winter, indeed. And we trudge across more boulder fields.

Getting close the lake, there was a toilet.

You know me and potties.. I have to capture the moment.. Troy waits on Alyssa while I snap the photos.

And we arrived!

We played ball with the dog and we read our books. I read over 300 pages today of The Last Song and am going to watch the movie tonight. What a great book. Troy explored the campsites for future backpacking trips.

Troy realized he needs to teach Alyssa how to throw better.

Doggy always loves to swim

Finally, a family photo.

The leaves were bigger than Alyssa's head.

As we were leaving, it began to rain and we were thrilled. We loved the sound and knew our lawn/garden needed it. AHHHHHHHHHH.

Alyssa asked us to kiss so she could document it! A masterpiece indeed.

We recommend this beautiful hike. The internet says 3.75 miles EACH WAY with 2300 gain. It took us over 2 hours to get there due to Alyssa's very very slow pace today. We can definately tell she is not in the same shape as she was in June.

Troy made us an amazing meal tonight that I will blog later. Now, off to watch our movie.

My kinda meatloaf (vegan)

Tonight, we used a recipe from "1000 Vegan Recipes" cook book. Apparently, 6 people are trying all the recipes and blogging their way through it too. See their blog here.
http://1000veganrecipes.blogspot.com/

We tried tofu meatloaf and boy it was good. We also used up all our swiss chard and had never cooked it before. Here is our beautiful kale. I have had it before, but with Troy's prep cook style, it really turned out nice to eat/fork into our mouths.

The finished meal. YUMMY.

We used ketchup without HFCS and we used sour cream substitute on our mashed potatoes. Seriously, who knew vegans could eat so much!

Lessons learned from first backpacking trip

We are so pleased that we graduated from car camping to backpacking into the wilderness. I have been car camping for over 30 years. It has been wonderful to pack so many of the kitchen essentials and eat crab and ice cream in the forest. BUT we are able to see so much more if we pack just a little and head out where cars can't drive.

Troy's parents made the trek with us and little did I know that his 60 yr old step-mom had never slept in a tent, yet she trekked 10 miles with us in wet feet and was not afraid of the unknown.

A big thanks to the Kropelniki's and the Krist's for coaching us on how to begin planning for our first trip and for loaning us gear. Thank you to Nancy Malm for introducing us to this area.

Here is all our gear that has to be hauled up the mountain. First stop, 2.2 miles at Lake Talapus for a view.

Here it is, Lake Talapus. AHHHHH, peace!!!Lake Ollalie where we camped. Here is Lake Ollalie from a trail above. After we dropped off our gear at our campsite, we hiked to these lakes. They would be great to backpack to, but we weren't ready for that lengthy of a hike. Rainbow LakeIsland Lake

Troy did a great job researching our JET BOIL. We decided to only boil water and eat freeze dried meals.

Troy also fell in love with this tent due to the two 10-foot vestibules. One for doggy and one for shoes and packs. This tent we got for only $169 because it was last year's color. It rained on us at night and we didn't get wet inside. Also, it did great not building up condensation inside.

doggy in her vestibule

Mike and Cindy's rental tent broke, but a stick held it together for them. We wish would have packed duct tape. Seems to be an essential next time for our packing list.


getting there is never easy

but the reward is worth it

We brought a good rope and tied up our food to keep bears/raccoons away.

I thought these ferns were especially pretty and dainty. We didn't sleep well that night, but we did get nearly 11 hours of rest and we felt refreshed.

1) Mike/Cindy didn't have good sleeping pads

2) Mike couldn't get his sleeping bag zipper up in the middle of the night after a restroom break 3) airplanes seemed very low and made lots of noise at night

4) I couldn't find my earplugs so had to use TP

5) sharing a tent with restless legs Alyssa is not fun - we need to get her a two man tent and have her bring a friend

6) We still have lots of gear to buy and we will do it slowly and with as much discount as possible.

What a great new chapter we are beginning in our life. I am so glad Alyssa gets to learn to be outdoorsy and get away from the hustle and bustle of life. We are grateful for healthy parents who have 10 mile stamina and are willing to try new adventures. They are gearing up their supply so we can do an Iowa camping trip next summer and a Washington trip too. We plan to do a few more this year!