Hello! Welcome to my first ever roundup of stuff I did this week. It was not super hot here like it has been the past couple of weeks, so I took advantage of the cooler summer weather and went out on some weekday hikes to do some sketching and painting.
The first hike I did was on Tuesday, to Talapus Lake off of I-90. I’ve done this hike a few times, and chose it because it’s not far from home, and has a wider, more spacious trail where I wouldn’t be bumping into other humans all day. Plus it’s short enough (4ish miles) that could be home by lunch.
Though the lot was full when I arrived, I only passed maybe two or three groups on the way up to Talapus Lake, and had the whole lake to myself once I made it. What a serene morning! I made my way out to the center of the logjam at the lake outlet, sat on a log, and painted for about an hour before. I saw lots of birds, fish, and chipmunks all flying/swimming/scampering about. The trail was immaculate the whole way up. Everybody I encountered was wearing masks and gave each other lots of space. Good job, hikers!
I had so much fun that I decided to go out again on Wednesday, this time to Barclay Lake off of Hwy 2 near Index.
It’s been a few years since I last did this hike, and I forgot how much I loved this trail before. I arrived at the trailhead right at 10am and the lot was full, but I was able to snag a spot on the road easily enough. It’s a pretty flat trail (400 ft elevation gain over 2 miles), so I made it to the lake in about 45 minutes, and saw a few ripe huckleberries on the way (yay!). There were tons of campers, which kind of surprised me on a Wednesday, but I’ve never been able to do much weekday hiking before this summer, and it’s 2020, so I don’t really know what to expect ever anymore haha. I sat on the shore at the end of the lake and painted for a good hour or two and enjoyed the sunshine. I worked on three quick paintings.
And finally, on Saturday, Spenser and I drove up along Highway 20 through the North Cascades to celebrate our 5th (!!!) wedding anniversary. We drove up through Darrington and Marblemount to Diablo Lake and out to Washington Pass. We stopped at a few different overlooks and enjoyed the ultra-freaking-majestic scenery of the American Alps.
Bonus Daphne! See y’all next week!
