But I can definitely appreciate a new place. And a new place that's pretty much right next to my old places? That's just comfy.

This trip took us up past Lake Lillian and across the meadows on the way to the Ramparts. But rather than following the route down to the lakes we went off trail.

When I go off the beaten path I get to see new things. They're not always good things, but they're new. This time we had a quick descent hopping across rocks to avoid treading upon grass. There were a couple of dry tarns and rock ledges. A gully led up between two cliff faces to the ridge. Then it was an easy walk to the "summit." (It gets quotes because it hardly qualified as more than a hill.)

The views from here were familiar, but slightly off. I could see the western edge of the lake below. Usually I can only see a peek of the east shore. From this angle it was easy to see the Rampart Lakes sat on a rocky ridge rather than in a valley. And looking back at at the high meadows they were compressed hiding the tarns that Tink loves so much.

On the way back, I swung a little north to a tarn we'd never visited. Tink got a good swim and I found a monster pile of bear poop. Not surprisingly, it was on the edge of a patch of berry bushes laden with fruit. (And they were the good blueberries that have just a touch of banana flavor!)

We climbed through brush back up to the trail, across the meadows, down the gully, past the lake, and down to the car. When we were off the trail we saw no one. Back on the trail, there were a bunch of hikers making their way to the normal destinations. Yet another reason to go off trail.

The only downside was when I told the boy about this adventure we were both a bit bummed. He missed out on a new adventure and the berries. I missed out on him. Don't worry. I'll get past this stage. Eventually. Bear with me.

📍On the lands of the Snoqualmie people.