Category Archives: friends

Diablo Lake Camping

September 16, 2014

diablo lake 1 diablo lake 2 ohsoantsy.com
diable lake jessica and walker ohsoantsy.com diablo lake jessica and walker 2 ohsoantsy.com diablo lake jessica and walker 3 ohsoantsy.com diablo lake jessica ohsoantsyy.com diablo lake trees diablo lake walker ohsoantsy.com

Last month we went camping near Diablo Lake in the north Cascades. Some friends of ours had planned the trip and invited us along. It was perfect because we weren’t able to leave until after Walker was out of work but they arrived early and reserved a couple of spots for the group.

I really like remote camping but I think over the years I’ve also come to really like staying at camp grounds. Have a bathroom is nice but I also like the smell of all the fires and food cooking and the low conversations you hear as you walk around the loops. I think we also stayed at a pretty low key camp ground because everyone was pretty quiet-it’s not always that way and in that way it can be frustrating.

We got there pretty late Friday so we set up our tents and joined the group for dinner. The next morning we ate breakfast around a fire and caught up with everyone’s lives. Once it started to heat up for the day we all got dressed and headed to Diablo Lake. As you can tell from the above photos it was beautiful! I wanted to swim so badly and I was the first to get in but let me tell you that water was cold! And that’s coming from a Michigan girl who likes cold water. I got in up to my neck and decided that was good enough. I got in a second time with Walker and it actually felt warmer (that or I was numb). After a little while by the lake we headed back to camp to explore and have dinner. We got to enjoy one last fire before packing our things up the next morning and heading back home.

Snapshots of summer

September 15, 2014

Just a few iphone photos from the summer I wanted to share.

summer 2014 beach
^A day at the beach watching an airshow and the boats go by.summer 2014 bike ride
^A bike ride to Mercer Island and a dip in Lake Washington.summer 2014 picnic
^A Picnic at the beach.summer 2014 pretzels
^Soft pretzels I made for an outdoor movie.summer 2014 strawberries
^Strawberry picking! summer 2014
^A day hike with friends.
summer 2014 backyard dinner
^An outdoor dinner in our backyard.

 

Goldmyer hotsprings

August 12, 2014

goldmyer hotsprings sign
Earlier this summer we finally made it some hot springs! This was back in June when getting in hot water sounded really nice on a cool evening. This was also right after I got back from ALT summit and stayed up way to too and got way too little sleep. About an hour after I got back to Seattle we headed off with our friends to the trail head. I napped on the way and was mostly refreshed for the hike-although I was really glad it was a flat and easy 4 miles.
goldmyer hot springs ladies goldmyer hotsprings bridge goldmyer hotsprings jessica and walker goldmyer hotsprings jessica
We stopped at a few places along the way to take a breather and look at beautiful things like the river we crossed and a waterfall near the beginning of the hike.
goldmyer hotsprings
Once we set up camp we hiked the remaining 1/4 mile to the hot springs and got in! There were 3 areas you could sit in. The one above was my favorite. It was warm but not hot and it was exposed to the air so it was refreshing too. Up above was a smaller pool that was a little warmer and just outside of the cave area that was the third spot. In the cave it was pretty hot and pretty dark. If you could brave the low ceiling and not seeing that well in the far back was a wooden bench that allowed you so sit out of the water. It was like a wonderful sauna. I’m glad I finally braved it and tried it out.
goldmyer hotpsprings walker 2
goldmyer hotsprings jessica 2

We spent 1 night and visited the pools 3 times, once upon arrival, once after dark (that was pretty fun), and once in the morning before we packed up to head out. On the way back home we stopped for some food and a beer-I look forward to that after each hiking/camping trip we go on. Oh the sweet rewards!