Rampart Lakes

After our grueling hike up to Rachel Lake (4650 ft. elevation), and a poor night of 'sleep' thanks to the wind. We got up and went for a day hike to Rampart Lakes.

The trail to Rampart Lakes is no small feat. You gain over 500 feet in elevation in a half mile and search for the trail in snow covered mountain top meadows. The views were by far worth it and as breathtaking as they come.

Looking down on Rachel Lake, on our way up.
Can you find our tent?

There it is!

Hibox Mountain (6547 ft elevation at the top)

Still can't believe the snow! Look how deep it is!

Good thing Jason had GPS, or we'd have been
wandering around looking for a trail.

Yikes! A cougar track!

One of the smaller of Rampart Lakes

Photo op.

Whitney, resting while the photographers do their thing.

What an experience to add to our friendship!

The main Rampart Lake.

It's hard to tell, but this water was as clear-green
as it comes! Amazing!

Looking down on Rachel lake from
5100 ft. elevation.

Hibox Mountain - again, but from a higher point.

For some perspective, this is Hibox Mt.
taken from our hike to Rachel Lake.
I think it's the other side of it.

Just absolutely gorgeous!
Now try to find our tent ;)

What an experience! We were so glad to spend it with Jason and Whitney. Great friends and very patient hikers (I'm by far the slowest hiker out there). As we are hiking we wonder why we challenge ourselves so.. but by the time we're back in town (gorging ourselves on chili dogs and root beer floats at Triple XXX in Issaquah) we're already discussing our next adventure.

Rachel Lake

Last weekend we braved the trek to Rachel Lake in the Wenatchee National Forest, crossing into parts of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. If I had to sum it up in one word: I couldn't. Me one word!? Please. But I will try to be short(er).

It was brutal. In total you gain 1800 feet of elevation in 4 miles. The first 1.5 miles are gradual but noticeable incline, then you get a beautiful mile of easy walking through 'the jungle' and tree covered pathways following Box Canyon Creek, after that it's a cruel mile of incline, followed by another half mile of noticeable but tolerable incline. Back to the cruel mile - not only do you gain approx 1300 feet in elevation in one mile, but you are climbing up tree roots, climbing over rocks, and the trail is also a stream most of the time. I almost cried,  barely made it,  could have camped halfway up the trail and been fine with never seeing the top,  swore this was my last hike because I'm getting too old really enjoyed the challenge.

Oh what a challenge it was! After making it down alive, muscles barely still connected and moving myself one year closer to knee replacements (down is harder than up on the joints) I am glad that we did it. The views were amazing and having the story to tell and the pictures to share make it worth it. At least it will be worth it once I can walk normally again. Currently, I am still hobbling from sore shins and calves - thanks to the cruel mile going down.

I came away from Rachel Lake with mixed feelings. It was gorgeous (as you'll see in a minute), but it was overrun with people. We passed over thirty day hiking parties on our way up and a few more on our way out. There were at least ten other backpacking groups up there when we made it up, and more came after us. It was hard to find a camping spot. Not exactly what you expect to be rewarded with when you brutalize yourself to get there. In addition, it was unbelievably windy (something that was not mentioned in any of the trail reviews - so I'm not sure if it is always this windy). The wind was so strong and loud that we could barely sleep through the noise our tent made. We couldn't have a fire, which is smart with all that wind, but it left us no option but to huddle inside the tent instead of outside enjoying the splendor of God's creation - which we hiked four intense miles up to see!

All in all, I'm glad we did it. I would do it over, but I won't likely do it again. Mostly because of the overuse of the trail. I feel like it would be abusing the wilderness to let my boots trample that path twice, since so many other boots will be going up and down it. I've had my turn.

Here are the pictures to tell the rest of the story. There are many of them, but if you could feel the pain in my legs, you'd agree that I earned them ;)

The traditional trail head picture.
Yes, I'm blocking the sign.

Stopping along the way.
Taking a picture is a good excuse to stop.

Usually, I am taking pictures of everyone as we hike along.
I wanted one shot of 'hiking' with me in it.
We joked that we should look like we're actively hiking.
Jason took it seriously. He's our REI manikin.

Me and Whitney, windblown but happy to be sitting.

Such gentlemen, let us ladies have the log for our break.

Entering the jungle.

We hiked through 'meadows' like this
which made it hard to see the trail
at times... and our party!

Snacks are also a good reason to take a break.
This is just before we started the climb!

See how high up he is! Ugh!

This is what they call a 'trail'.

A beautiful, surprising and welcomed sight.
I hadn't read about this waterfall in the reviews.
You have no idea how great the mist felt!

This waterfall marked the halfway point
of the cruel mile (or about halfway).

So much incline! And snow! In August! Not too
surprising though, since snow was the reason
for our short lived hike to Bird Creek Meadows

We have arrived!

Rachel Lake - 4650 ft. elevation

First things first, food!

Our camping spot

Phew! Made it!

All snuggled in the tent, out of the wind.

Our view from inside the tent.

Experimenting with the exposure settings on my camera.

Packing up camp!

Here are a couple of my favorite flower pictures (there were millions of them - flowers and pictures):

And here are a few highlight collages:

All the flowers <3

Amazing views

and because I couldn't get it to insert chronologically above
...the food reel. dinner, breakfast and coffee.
Yes, those are real mountain berries that Jason picked!

Hit the Anchors and Grab Your Bathers Ya Yank Shark Biscuit

What are these Aussies saying!?
 (Translation: Hit the brakes and grab your swimsuit you American beginner surfer.)

As I prepare for our trip down under, I am attempting to learn the language, or in this case the lingo. I usually try to learn some amount of the language when we travel, which has always proven useful for at least one situation. In Italy, most people could tell from my accent that I was American and just responded in English right away - kind of disappointing. But there were occasions where we had to rely on my minimal Italian, which was fun.

One simple Google search later and I was overwhelmed! I had no idea there were so many Australian words! Not only are there a million words, but they change constantly. For example: Australians generally shorten long words, and lengthen short ones. So chocolate becomes chokkie, and Jim McDonald becomes Mac, but then down the road Mac become Maccer (source). Yikes!

I came across this Aussie slang pop quiz and thought I'd post it to see how well you can interpret the strine (Australian English slang).

1) What is the Alice?
a) Alice Springs, a town in the Northern Territory of Australia
b) Alice in Wonderland
c) Alice Cooper
d) Alice ML is a functional programming language based on Standard ML
e) Health Promotion Program

2) What is the Aussie Salute?
a) A salute used by the Australian Army
b) Thumbs Up
c) A Secret Hand Shake
d) Double Thumbs Up!
e) Using your hand to brush away the flies

3) What is ... Bail?
a) Something you pay to get out of Goal or Jail!
b) It's How Hay is Packed [in a bail]
c) To leave, depart, shot through, disappear, GO!
d) Bail Bondsman
e) Much confusion exists between Bail out and Bale out

4) What is a Billy?
a) A tin or container used to boil water in for tea, in the bush when camping
b) A Boy's Name
c) Billy Goat, an animal
d) Puffing Billy - Australia's Favourite Steam Train
e) A billy cart

5) Cactus?
a) Is it a Desert Plant
b) Something with lots of spikes
c) Cactus Beach the world famous surfing site located on the Great Australian Bight
d) Finished - dead - not working or functioning properly ... stuffed
e) A modular manageable high-performance 3D tool for Numerical Relativity.

6) Coat Hanger?
a) Something to Hang Clothes On
b) A clothes hanger or coat hanger, a device in the shape of human shoulders
c) The Coathanger is a tiny asterism – pattern of stars that is not a constellation
d) A Digital TV - Coat Hanger Antenna
e) Is a Reference to the Sydney Harbour Bridge

7) What is a Five Finger Discount?
a) The Name of a Chinese Gang!
b) The Title of a Song
c) A Book For Sale on Amazon
d) To Steal, shoplifting, store theft, knock off
e) A Video on YouTube

8) Furphy?
a) A furphy, also furfie, is Australian slang for a false or unreliable rumour [BS]
b) The Famous Furphy Water and Rubbish Cart - used in World War 1
c) Poems of Joseph Furphy
d) Ken Furphy (born 28 May 1931 in Stockton-on-Tees) an English former football player/manager
e) Joseph Furphy (Australian author) Britannica Online Encyclopedia

9) What is a Garbo?
a) Greta Garbo [Actress] Ninotchka. Greta Lovisa Gustafsson born in Stockholm, Sweden
b) Garbo - that's where all your computers deleted files go!
c) Garbo Swag is an unsigned rock band from Chicago, IL.
d) World at War: Operation Garbo [GAME]
e) Garbageman [garbologist] refuse collector, bin-man - rubbish collector.

10) What is a Jackaroo?
a) Male Kangaroo
b) A Male station hand (a station - farm or grazing property)
c) The name of an Australian Film
d) The name of a popular Poker Club
e) Holden Jackaroo 4WD Car

Two Years... and Counting

As I was driving home late last night, struggling to stay awake, my mind drifted back to the same night two years ago. I had no trouble staying awake that night. I can remember the millions of things running through my mind - the list of things to do, the prayers that things would go well and the thoughts of the future.

I didn't sleep much the night before our wedding. I don't remember what time I drifted off to sleep, but I do remember being awake well before dawn and forcing myself to try to sleep until six. After that I got up and typed up last minute changes to the schedule, labeled dishes, boxes and decorations with sticky note instructions and enjoyed those early solitary and productive moments before anyone else was awake. Before I knew it, it was time to go get our hair done and the day was off and running.

Time did slow down for a few moments. As a young girl I had dreamed of coming down our stairs with my gown swooshing behind me and having my groom waiting for me at the bottom. This is what we did, and how we arranged the 'our first sight' pictures. After that it was a glorious two and a half hours of taking pictures.

Oddly enough, it is the part of the day that sticks out in my mind the best. It was just the two of us, two friends to help and to drive and the photographer. Time moved slowly, like a fairy tale should. It was such a sweet time of excitement and anticipation for us to enjoy and share. It was my favorite part of the day, swooshing around in that dress, seeing my groom in his tuxedo, and spending the time *nearly* alone before all of the people came and the scheduled events started.

From there it went so fast I can scarcely remember it. Thank goodness for pictures!

What a busy, romantic, fantastic and special day it was. 

Out taking pictures

Just got back from taking pictures,
checking in on the set-up
I love these candid shots ;) 

And I thought I could pick just one!

Married!

I love him so much!