Nada Lake

May 26 - 27, 2012

This was an overnight backpacking trip to Nada Lake. I remember only switchbacks in the beginning of the hike and after what felt like an hour I could still see my car in the parking lot, just a lot farther down! Okay maybe I'm exaggerating about the whole one hour thing, but it was challenging right from the get go.
The lake was so beautiful. We attempted a day hike to Snow Lake, but too much snow in May and we were not prepared.

Trailhead

Nice view

Nada Lake

Campsite

Morning time. Andy's preparing breakfast.

Flowers

Greenwater Lakes

May 12 - 13, 2012

Elevation Gain: 426'
Highest Point: 3026'
Length: 5.5 miles
Difficulty: Very Easy

Forest-y. That's all I really remember. Greenwater Lake was nothing really special. It was certainly green and shallow. We found a nice campsite early, which is always good. There were three other groups that came by after we had set up. Couldn't make it up to Echo Lake this time of year. Too much snow and we were not prepared. There was one group who made it up there after we ran into them again in the parking lot.

Old growth forest

Lots of "fallen tree" type bridging for crossings.

Greenwater Lake

Attempted to hike up to Echo Lake, but couldn't continue because of the snow.

Campsite in the shade. It was windy here, too.

On the hike out, found a better campsite than ours! Next time.

Hoh River Trail to Five Mile Island

April 7 - 8, 2012

Elevation Gain: 300'
Highest Point: 800'
Length: 10.6 miles roundtrip
Difficulty: Very Easy

Decided to take it easy for our first hike of the year. According to the WTA, the Hoh is one of the busiest places in the Olympic National Park. Most people go during the summer, though, so we were able to find a nice spot right above the churning river. Our springtime allergies got the best of us. Might need to redo this hike so we can actually enjoy it instead of sneezing every two steps and tending our constant runny noses.

Hiking along the Hoh River

There were some blowdowns.

Our campsite

Beautiful view of the High Divide. We would be able to see the Hoh from up there on one of our later hikes.

Campfire for s'mores and warmth. It was a very cold night.

2012 At a Glance

11/4/2012
Andy and I really got into hiking this year. Decided to start a blog with all our camping and backpacking adventures and eventually some gear reviews and DIY stuff. I can't wait for this blog to be full of hikes we've done. I think we're off to a good start - we've gone on 9 hikes this year, 8 of which were overnights or longer.

2012
Hoh River Trail to 5 Mile Island
Greenwater Lakes
Nada Lake
Toleak Point
Rachel Lake
High Divide - Sol Duc Park, Lunch Lake, Deer Lake
Stuart Lake
Rampart Lakes
Goat Lake
Surprise Lake

Looks like I have a lot of writing ahead of me. Enjoy!