Our friends, Jeff and Janelle planned this awesome rafting excursion in Cashmere, WA. We were fortunate enough to be the first raft, as the thunder and lighting storm chased us down the river. We were almost to the end when the skies let loose on us. Oh well, we were wet anyways. Nearby, they were in the process of battling a forest fire, so we were able to watch a helicopter dip its bucket in the river right in front of us.
We all managed to stay in the raft, and Cameron took on most of the water being in the front.
We had not reserved a campsite ahead of time, but took our chances and scored big time. We found a spot high in the mountains, close to two trailheads and right on a river. It was bliss.
The site was large and could have accommodated at least four other tents, but we were the only ones.
A tent with a view. This was what we woke up to early in the morning.
Nature has unparalleled color, beauty and detail. I could never take enough pictures of moss.
We took a risk of hiking a trail whose distance or elevation we had not researched. We were told Lake Stuart was 2.5 miles away, little did they know it was double that. However, we did not mind in the least. The views were remarkable and the mosquitoes were able to drink their weight in my blood.
Stuart Lake
On the hike there was a fork in the road, one way went to Stuart Lake and the other went to Colchuck Lake. Since we were already in the area, we thought it would be a waste to miss Colchuck. It was described by another hiker as "flat out beautiful". I mean who could resist not going there too with a description like that? Colchuck Lake had teal colored water and you approached it from above, whereas Stuart was clear and you approached it head on. In all, we ended up hiking ten miles that day and were either hiking, sunbathing or taking photographs for about eight hours. Our only regrets were we should have brought more food and should have stayed another night.
The most amazing part of our trip was meeting this 88 year old man we encountered while on the trail, that is right 88 years old. He was keeping a pretty good pace and was such an inspiration to me. I envision Cameron and I hitting the trails well into our seventies at least, but I would love to be out here in my eighties like him.