Rattlesnake Ledge

As my friends were winding down their visit (I know I've made it last for months in blog world, but they were really only here for a week), we opted for one morning of real hiking to get the complete Pacific Northwest experience.  Rattlesnake Ledge is one hike that is very popular and comes highly recommended.  We opted for a morning hike to try and beat the heat and the outdoorsy crowd (good option, although outdoorsy people also tend to be morning people... I don't fit in here).  

So as a quick visual, this is what we hiked.  Not the tip top, but close. 

About four miles round trip.  Since this is a lake and hiking destination, there's a good size parking lot below.  We weren't totally roughing it here.  The best part about this hike is the view once you get up high.  I really don't subscribe to any kind of hiking that doesn't involve a destination.  I feel no need to walk around and look at nature without some kind of nature reward.

 This hike definitely has a reward!  Once you get to the ledge, it really is a ledge.  Not child friendly.  You can really just fall off the side or into this crevice (although I did kind of want to climb down in there).

As if the ledge wasn't enough, you also get to overlook the lake!  You can see the parking lot below, and as afternoon approached, more people were out enjoying the rocky "beach".

I love, love, loved this view.  I could have probably sat there for awhile just enjoying.  I was also pretty proud of myself for making it up there.  There was a bit of huffing and puffing on my part.

Don't mind my dirty armpits.  Actually, I had dirt everywhere!  When I got to the top, I realized just how dirty I was!  Eek!

Yeah, I have a tiny hiking backpack and official hiking shoes.  I'm legit.

It's really dangerous, guys.

Ok, so I might have over-modeled here, but it was so pretty!  And I had just hiked it up and was proud of myself!  Here's more pictures of me in the mountains!

How cool is that??  This midwest lady loves the mountains!  I don't want to go crazy and go camping or anything, but these hikes are worth it!

So then we had to walk back down.  The hike back down always goes so much faster!

At the bottom, I took a little break and checked out the lake.  It has been so dry that the lake has shrunk and you could see tree trunks and the rocky lake bottom.

 This is a "go back and do it again" kind of hike.