Washington State: Hiking and Snowshoeing

I had to go to the Seattle area for work last week. We have friends who live south of the city, so I went out early and got some hiking in. We started with Lena Lake in Olympic National Forest on Saturday. The forecast was pretty typical for March in the Pacific Northwest, so I was prepared to hike all afternoon in the rain. Having all of my rain gear with me resulted in a beautiful, mostly sunny afternoon. You can't beat that. I also credit the forecast for keeping the crowds away. We saw very few people on a trail that, according to my friend, is pretty popular.

 A cool, bent tree along the trail.

 An orange slime mold.

 The night before, it had rained pretty hard at my friends' place. It had clearly snowed higher up.

 An impressive bridge on the trail.

 Reaching the snowline

 A waterfall on a small creek.

 A sign pointing us towards the lake.

 Lena Lake.

 On the way home we stopped for dinner. The sunset over Hood Canal was spectacular.

On Sunday, we went snowshoeing at White Pass Ski Area. The nordic center has cross-country ski and snowshoe trails.

 Starting out around a little lake.

 Michael's snowshoes pack flatter than mine in a suitcase, so I took his with me. Now his snowshoes have hiked in Washington.

 The trail took us back to a little waterfall, where we had lunch.

 This Canada Jay tried to convince me to give up my snack bag. Nice try, little guy.

 This is where old trekking and ski poles find a new life. Most of the snowshoeing trail markers were held up by old poles.

 Heading back to the start.

Looking back on the lake near where we started.