Heather Lake

 I awoke on Saturday to another cloudy overcast day in Seattle washington. I say this, because it is Jul 18, and as the rest of the US is dealing with Record Heat waves, Washington, is faced with a very mild summer. For me this is pure heaven, i love the overcast and rainy days. Espicially when deciding to go out and go hiking, which of course today was that day. It again means, that whatever trail i pick, will have thinner crowds than normal, as a lot of people hesitate from going out when it is this kind of weather. Which always boggles my mind, because Seattle rains all the time, if i really waited to go out for a nice day, i would seldom go out. But i understand with this mentality why so many people are depressed in seattle. As even i will admit that from time to time, to many cloudy days does dappen my spirits a little. But today was not that day.

When i started my day on saturday i was a little apprehensive, and i couldnt tell why that was. I wanted to go hiking, but i wasnt sure where i wanted to go. I was only planning on doing a short hike, but i wanted to go somewhere i had not been before. I chose MT. index because it seemed like a popular trail, that i new would be less popular today. As i headed out, i still had this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like maybe some kind of advenutre was callilng me. Or simply the unknown, whatever it was, it kept me on my toes. On my way into granite falls, i thought i new where i was, so i decided to check out a side road, that i thought would take me to a trail. And i did, but it was a trail that i had already done, so i turned around, and continued on to my designated trail. I did this like two times, making small side trips trying to find some unexplored or less popular area. I find i do this alot in my life when i get this feeling. I just get the urge to go out and do something spontaneously, i get the feeling to just go somewhere and to figure it out on my own, and today was one of those days. It basically means that keeping on my desired path is really hard, the littlest feeling of adventure one way or another leads me down a different trail. A part of me longs for crazy advenutre, that maybe that feeling would take me on some wild crazy adventure. Unfortunatly most times in my life, this is not the case, and a few times, it only ever got me into trouble. Today though, the big adventure was finding a different trail to hike then the one i had planned on, which was heather lake.

I had never been to Heather lake, or read anything about it, and i had forgotten my GPS at home, so i guess that little bit of excitement was all that i could get for that day. Needless to say it was a great choice, and a great hike. Heather lake, is on the way to Mt. Index, and the trail and woods surrounding it, is full of new growth forest. I say this, because you could see the old tree's that had been cut down(above), tree stumps like fossils of long dead giants. And as the mist hung over the tree's and the giant tree stumps once strong powerful trees, that had been there for thousands of years, now only a small portion of the giant that it used to be loomed before me, i was taken aback.
 The great thing is the small trees that have sprouted out of its trunk, new life starting to form after we destroyed it once. Will this all be for nothing, will this once proud forest grow tall once again, just to have man cut it down. These are the things i thought as i wondered up the trail.
 I was not very suprised to still see snow once i hit the lake, there was patches of snow around the lake, and up on Mt. Index in the background, and again for a second, i could hardly believe it was mid-july. Beaker lover of all nature was having a blast, running around in the snow, jumping in the water, and generally running around like crazy. My dog likes to attack water, he bites at it, and i wonder if its the water, or his reflection that he is really trying to get, needless to say it is amuzing to watch him jump into and out of the water, barking at it. I have found having a dog has really helped me smile more, its those little actions, him just being a puppy that makes me smile, that help me stop and appreciate all the little things in the world. The little things that bring a smile to our face, the extreme beauty that nature presents us, and those little adventures that make life all the more better. i look for these everyday, ways to smile, small adventures, beauty, these things are what make each day unique. Taking the time to admire the sunset, or the clouds, or the joy of watching a puppy all smiles and wagging tale excited over something as simple as water. I wish at times, we all could be as simple as that. That we can smile, and run around like kids over those simple things that make us happy. I think as we get older we look down on those things, when we should really be embracing those traits. Never forget how to have fun, never forget how to be a kid.