Since this hike at the end of September, Treen has passed away. I thought about not writing about Treen's last adventures, but the outpouring of support after she died convinced me to share her love of the outdoors.
You know how they say, "Third time's the charm?" They lie. This was the third time we ventured here. And for the third time it wasn't lovely. The first time we got there and there was snow, but it only whet our appetite for a good weather visit. The second time we didn't even get to the lakes because the conditions were terrible. So a third trip was certainly in order.
Unfortunately, this was the wrong day to go back. It was raining down low, but that wasn't too bad up along the trail through the forest. It's a brand new trail and really well built. Where that trail ends it becomes a road walk. A road walk infamous for ankle breaking rocks and creeks running across and down the route. The last section winds through a sparse forest and is very pretty, but much steeper than I remembered. Although we had dreams of climbing all the way to the peak, the slick rocks and time it took to get just to the lakes foiled those plans.
Even Treen wasn't super stoked on this trip. She was only moderately stoked. And that's only because that was the kind of dog she was. Always happy to be in the mountains even if she didn't always show it.
