On Saturday, February 6 Brian and I made the trek to Lake Serene, located about 8 miles east of Gold Bar, WA on Hwy 2. I read about the hike to Lake Serene on the Washington Trails Association Web site, www.wta.org. It features tons of hikes with great directions and descriptions. The particular article that caught my eye was titled "Seasonal Hikes." Since February can be unpredictable in terms of trail conditions, I was curious to see which hikes are considered to be the best in the winter, and Lake Serene was perfect.
We took some great photos on the way up...
Our first glimpse of Lake Serene.
Mt. Index towers over the lake.
As we were enjoying the view and eating some trail mix, we heard a loud crack which sounded like multiple gun shots in the distance. At that moment, we had experienced our very first avalanche, albeit a small one. It was pretty incredible.
On the way down, Brian and I talked about how we'll probably get hiking poles soon. The poles will be helpful going up, but even more so on the way down to decrease the pressure on our knees. Since we'll be using poles for most of the trip up Mt. Rainier, it will be good practice while we train as well. For me, hiking down is mentally harder than hiking up because the reward at the top is over. On Mt. Rainier we will spend the majority of the third day hiking from the summit to Paradise. But I digress! I can't think about the way down yet!
That reminds me that I need to share the expedition itinerary in our next post. Until then...
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