Here in the Pacific Northwest, it always amazes me how quickly our mood shifts according to the weather – one day it was rainy and gloomy, the other sunny and uplifted. Fortunately later was the case on Saturday. And it just so happened to be the day of the Chinese Double Ninth Festival, also known as the climbing festival.
So there we are, setting out to a mountain.
We arrived at the trail head around 10:40 AM. The outside temperature was damp and chilly. We wasted no time and began the ascent.
The forest consists primarily of cedars, hemlocks and Douglas firs. The trail is well-maintained with wooden bridges.
Watch for the intertwining roots, they could be slippery when damp.
There were running streams and countless waterfalls
And no lack of fall colors.
With all the stops and picture-taking, it took us nearly 2 hours to reach the alpine lake.
The color of the water was incredible.
reflecting the surrounding towering peaks.
Everybody was out enjoying the warmth of the sunbeam
including this little dog
who was the only one brave enough to dip into the icy water.
Back to the trail head, we decided to extend our day hike with the half-mile Asahel Curtis Nature Trail
over the downstream of Humpback Creek
featuring a well crafted wooden bridge
wooden walkways
many more trees
and fallen leaves
Of course no hiking day is complete without delicious food afterwards. My friend Xin is a profession chef and she effortlessly cooked up a meal fit for a Chinese emperor 🙂
After dinner, we sat around and enjoyed a cup of chrysanthemum tea – which happens to be, yet another tradition of the aforementioned festival.
Note:
Annette Lake is 7.5 miles trail in the Snoqualmie Pass area – an hour drive from Seattle. The elevation gain is stated at 1800 ft. This hike is known for wild flowers in the spring. The 0.5 mile relatively flat Asahel Curtis Nature Trail shares the same trail head and parking lot with Annette Lake and is worth checking out while in the area.
Wow this is amazing. Hiking in such a beautiful place.
– Amor
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Thanks Amor!
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Gorgeous waterfall shot-looks like foam
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Thank you!
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The color of the after-feast is pretty amazing, too.
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Love!! 😁
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Thank you Paula!
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Heheh… did not know the 9-9 was climbing day…
But yeah, autumn’s here and the colors have changed in the mountains!
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So Gorgeous!!!
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Thanks Haley!
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Your welcome!!
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Wow! Great shots!
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Thanks Jake! BTW, I love the layout of your website.
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Beautiful pictures and hiking is so wonderful.
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Yes it is. Thanks Boundlessblessings 🙂
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Welcome friend
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Great pictures!
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Thanks Jen!
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Now this must have been a glorious hike! And the food as well. Love your photos and being a tree lover, all those roots are gorgeous. Thank you for taking us!
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Thanks so much Leya. My friend keeps telling me to stop taking pictures of the roots, he said it’s all the same. But I love those roots!
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Refer to me – I’m with you😀
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This is a gorgeous place. Lucky you! 🙂
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Thanks Dancing with Shadows. It was a lovely day and I like that we didn’t have to drive far to get to this trail.
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I love so much those landscape… Thanks
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Thank you!
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I’m not sure what looks more appealing, the hike or dinner!
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Both 🙂
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When it is not raining the Pacific Northwest is hard to beat. So beautiful! (btw I grew up in Vancouver BC so I know about the rain. And the beauty!)
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Very true!
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Amazing hiking trails and to arrive at the lake looks well-worth it. The water is gorgeous! Beautiful series!
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Thank you Donna!
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stunning place there is such much to see in Canada – maybe next spring I can visit that beautiful country
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Hi Ana, This is in the Pacific Northwest of the the United States. If you come to Seattle, ping me. We can go on a hike 🙂
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Love the pictures! The colors of the trees are very pretty. That is a really cute doggie. Looks like an amazing trail! Would love to walk it one day. The bridges and roots look like fun to walk.
We are thinking of going to Banff this winter to play in the snow. We are hooked on the west coast. We feel like we need to spend more time in nature and we have been craving mountains. We didn’t get enough snow last year so I wasn’t able to roll in it so we decided to go away to do it 🙂
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Sounds great! I love anywhere with snow. Will look for your posts about Banff 🙂
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Your comment made me feel good. My friend was talking about how she can’t stand snow and loved it only as a kid so I kinda felt weird. I have a childlike glee with snow.
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Love those autumn colours! I’m not sure what happened to them over here – it seemed as though one day the leaves were green and the next they were all on the pavement!
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It’s pretty much the same over here 😦
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My son and I have hiked up here a few times, just beautiful! We didn’t get the great dinner afterward though-looks like we missed out on that one! Hope all is well with you 🙂
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Haha, you need to hang out with the right crowd ;). All is well. Thank you so much Invisible No More. Have a wonderful week.
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so much beauty close by…and well captured. Lucky
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Looks like an awesome hike!
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I get up in Northern California and miss nature like this. Moat of my adult life has been spent in the Midwest where I’ve developed a special place in my heart for rolling wheat fields. Thanks for the great pictures and description.
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Grew up*
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You are welcome. Thank you for stopping by themessymom84!
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