Today we made our annual trek up to Silver Peak to celebrate our first meeting — it’s been three years now! This 4th hike of Silver Peak featured much more snow than any of the previous years. We encountered it pretty early in the hike, and there were at least three or for times where we were very happy to have our trekking poles for added balance (especially on the way down!). Ava, of course, had to either roll around or splay herself over every single patch of snow we encountered. The melting snow also meant there were plenty of mosquitos, but with good ol’ DEET (yay toxins!) we weren’t bothered too much. The bee situation was also much better than last year, where we felt like we were constantly swarmed and were left with buzzing in our ears for a few days afterward. We didn’t get any glimpses of Rainier this time, but otherwise it was just as beautiful at the summit as always. We really want to try this one out in the fall, but if not, we’ll be back in ‘08!

View the Silver Peak pictures!

So we finally, finally got out hiking again on the 4th of July. With wedding planning, marathon training (cut short for yours truly, after discovering I have no articular cartilage left in my knee), travel, and out of town guests, it’s been quite a challenge finding a free day to get out and hit the trail. Huzzah for mid-week holidays! Not only did it break up the week nicely (anyone else feel like it was Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Thursday-Friday?), but we finally had a 100% to ourselves, commitment free day.

Tuesday afternoon Lisa and I were trying to figure out where we’d end up going, and we both stumbled across a mention of Surprise Lake on the WTA site. Surprisingly (guffaw), neither of us had heard of it before — this was even more shocking when we saw how many of our hiking guidebooks had it listed (just about all of them). From the descriptions we read it sounded like the perfect choice for a hot day — shade, follows a creek, and ends at a large lake! Yes, please.

The trail didn’t disappoint! The trail follows the creek for the first two or two and a half miles, with plenty of waterfalls to distract you. The moderate uphill grade is consistent but never really too difficult, and the effort was made easier by our first use of trekking poles (ah, knees…). We encountered patches of snow as we neared the lake (with Ava deciding to “stop, drop, and roll” at each, of course), and there were a few short sections of the trail covered by a foot or so of the white stuff, but the lake itself was totally snow-free. We found our way to a nice lunch spot in the sun, enjoyed our PB&Js, and just relaxed for a bit while Ava begged us to let her play in the cold, cold, water.

We checked the clock and decided it was time to head back, so we packed up, let Ava play in the lake one more time (and do NASCAR laps in the snow) and adjusted our poles for the descent, knowing we’d come back some day. A triumphant return to the trail!

View the Surprise Lake pictures.