Not all who wander are lost

The great adventure has begun. So far it has been just that, an adventure. On July 2 I drove up the North Cascades with all my stuff in my car with Brendan dog for company. As I drove away from my home for the last year, I was full of emotions; excitement for the coming adventures, sadness of leaving good people in Seattle, anxiousness for the unknown ahead of me and the realization that my solo journey has really begun.

At the recommendation of a park ranger, I hiked up to Elbow lake in the Mount Baker National Forest. The hike was pretty strenuous especially in the first mile. Brendan and I had to deftly maneuver around, over, under and through five downed trees. Not little wimpy trees either. We're talking huge mature douglas fir trees of the great North West. At times, I had to climb and shimmy up, with my pack on, and then figure out how Bdog could best the obstacle too.

I made camp on the south end of Elbow Lake and just tried to take in the surroundings. I decided to make that a base camp and just go for a day hike the next day. I hiked to Bell pass on July 3rd to find large patches of snow. BDog and I had a snow ball fight! We returned to base camp and just enjoyed a lazy afternoon hanging lake side after a very brisk dip.