We first hiked an hour in to a cutoff where you could either go up to the waterfall or directly to Lake Serene. We chose to do the waterfall first and it was SO beautiful, there's a reason they call it Bridal Veil Falls. It was over a hundred foot drop (I think) and we stared up at it from the bottom. The spray was just enough to cool us down. We hiked back down to that same cutoff and made our way up to Lake Serene. It was 2+ miles and about 1800 feet in elevation from that point and wow, were we feeling it! I may actually looked around for either a nearby helicopter or zipline to take us down, I was that tired! It took us a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to the lake where we had lunch, threw the balls for the dogs and just relaxed.
We started to make our way down shortly after lunch and Carol and I switched boots. Mine felt too loose and hers felt too tight. It worked out perfectly until my lace broke and there was no salvaging it. Thankfully, my well prepared Aunt had thrown in a roll of duct tape as her "11th essential" and thank god she did. I don't know what I would've done! Although it was tight, it did the trick!
6 hours after we had set out, we finished our hike And, despite the extremely sore calves and feet that ached for days we'd do it again in a heartbeat! It was great to get outdoors and explore the beautiful PNW and also spend time wiht my aunt who I don't see too often. Next time, I'm going to come more prepared and have some icy hot awaiting my arrival for the car ride home!
Tucker and me, ready to hike!
Tuck, not lovin' his pack...
At Bridal Veil Falls
Carol and me
Trekkin' along!
Mt. Index
At Lake Serene
Beautiful!
My friend, duct tape!!
