Snow/Bench lakes trail: 50th Anniversary trip

 Saturday August 28th our 50th Anniversary day!

Our plan today was to hike Pinnacle saddle since we had done it the day after we were married 50 years ago, but we decided to add another short hike in the morning first.

The Snow/Bench lakes trail is short with a few nice inclines thrown in just to make it fun. There was a faint filter of smoke from wildfires in the air but not too bad.

After our first uphill we came out into this meadow.

A nice uphill section

It always pays to look back when you're hiking.

A faint half moon in the sky

Snow lake

Snow lake from one of the campsites. This angle showed more of the smoke in the air. The lake was so clear we could see the fish swimming by. We stopped at Snow lake for a rest and a snack.

Rainier

My husband knows I love trail foot bridges so he had me stop so he could take a photo of me on one.

The junction trail to Bench lake was short and nearly straight down.

Bench lake

Bench lake with a reflection of Mount Rainier.

Bench lake with a photo of us since it's our Anniversary day!

Heading back with another glorious view of Rainier.

Garmin stats:

total miles - 2.5

total ascent - 713 feet

To be continued......

Hike Lakes loop trail: 50th Anniversary trip

 Friday August 27th after touristing at Box Canyon we decided to drive to Reflection lake and hike the High Lakes loop. It was cloudy and drizzly for this hike.

I was happy to see that there were some wildflowers still in bloom. 

My husband managed to get a couple of photos of me trudging along.

We spied a mama deer and her fawn busy eating with their heads down. There were lots of blueberries along the trail that we enjoyed snacking on.

We got to a great viewpoint where the clouds were just high enough that we could get some views.

This is the view my husband was getting a photo of. Lake Louise.

A small pond along the trail.

The dew left lovely sparkles on the leaves of the plants we walked by.

More wildflowers.

Almost done with our hike. A few years ago we had lunch on this bridge in the photo below on a sunny day as we were going around the Wonderland trail.

Reflection lake.

And back to where we started. Even though it was cloudy and we felt a few misty raindrops it was a wonderful hike.

Garmin stats:

total miles - 3 miles

elevation ascent - 628 feet

To be continued.....