With Mum in Nicaragua, what better way to spend the first day of Autumn than a little hike to Talapus Lake ?
The lake is in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness ...
...so you need one of these.
Aside: We also needed to renew our
NorthWest Forest Pass
— turns out Talapus was the first hike that the ranger in North Bend did when he was a kid...
On the way up there are some good rest spots alongside Talapus creek.
There's also muddy spots to avoid.
H is looking pleased with himself because he did a Matrix-style triple stumble around this particular patch, avoiding getting his knees, face and bum covered in the sticky stuff.
Not forgetting the skunk cabbage to pose by.
We found a quiet spot at the edge of the lake for our lunch: but dad forgot the swimmers so we stayed dry (just as well really)
On the way down F decided to do route finding by "taste" rather than by "sight"
wile H did impressions of Dad's ears.
Sign of a good walk? Muddy legs :-)