Chain Lakes Loop

Leonard and I went to Mount Baker to hike the Chain Lakes Loop, which was listed as "easy" on the hiking website. The day didn't start off very well - we were stuck in traffic on the highway due to an accident, and we had to wait awhile at the border crossing. By the time we got to the trailhead, it was 2pm, and we were wondering if this hike would be worth the 4 hour drive we had just done.

The hike turned out to be amazing! There were views during the whole hike. No boring switchbacks in the forest, just wide open views of Mount Shuksan/Mount Baker/Table Mountain/many lakes/alpine meadows. The view changed constantly as we walked through the trail.

We underestimated the distance and time it would take for us, so when 6pm came and we realized we still had at least another hour to go, we sped it up, since we didn't want to be driving down the mountain and countryside in the dark. We even managed to hitch a ride from someone from one parking lot to the other.

Bagley Lakes - the very beginning of the hike:

Can you spot me?

 Mount Shuksan in the background:

 Table Mountain:

Our lunch break at Herman's Saddle. To the right we had Mount Baker.

To the left was a view of Mount Shuksan.

Berry picking:

Iceberg Lake, Table Mountain, and Mount Baker:

Hayes Lake:

Leonard's favourite spot, because of its zen-like natural beauty.

We couldn't find the trail from one parking lot to the other so we walked down the road instead.

View of Bagley Lake from the road.

Hanging around Hope

Who knew that the area around Hope was so full of dramatic scenery?

View from the side of the highway:

Hell's Gate, about 30km north of Hope, the narrowest part of the Fraser Canyon:

Alexandra Bridge:

Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park contains the Othello tunnels, which were old railway tunnels built in granite cliffs:

Long Beach and the Oregon Coast

Our hotel was at Long Beach, Washington, which is at the very southern end of Washington. Our hotel had free bike rentals so we took advantage of that and went on a ten mile bike ride in the morning along the beach. That was great fun.

We then headed down to Oregon to the town of Astoria, which is pretty hipster. It's like a mini-Portland. Someone had sheep in their backyard, and even the beer is served in mason jars in this town.

Further south on the Oregon Coast, Ecola State Park has beautiful views of Cannon Beach.

As we were looking at this, Leonard asked if I wanted to go down to the secluded beach, which involved a trail for "experienced hikers only", and I said no since I wasn't even wearing proper shoes. I thought he was upset because he became quiet and didn't take any photos of this gorgeous view, but little did I know what he was actually thinking...

He then led me to this picnic table off to the side of the viewpoint, got down on his knee, and proposed! I'm now an engaged woman!  And what a wonderful place for him to pick.

We then headed off to explore Indian Beach and Cannon Beach.

What a great day!

The Olympic Peninsula

Day one of our three day road trip involved twelve hours on the road along the Washington coast, with no map and only a 2001 Michelin travel guide from 2001. We were incredibly lucky with the weather on our trip. It felt like summer!

Our first stop was Port Townsend. We got there by driving through Whidbey Island and taking the ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend. It's a pretty town with amazing architecture from the Victorian era.

Fort Worden's lighthouse:

Port Townsend:

We then headed west towards the Olympic National Park. We didn't get to go inside the park, but drove around it instead and stopped at the sights along the highway.

Lake Crescent:

Ruby Beach

Driving through the rainforest and Lake Quinault

I'm definitely going back one day. These weren't even the three star attractions in the park!