Rattlesnake Ledge
Back at the hiking...FINALLY!
It's been much too long since I've gone hiking. The last time was probably all the way back in September. Actually it was that one time in the Philippines where we hiked a volcano.
Recently, in an effort to stay fit and healthy this year, I've been using my Fitbit to track my steps for the day and ultimately my daily activity. I love it! The Fitbit motivates me to workout more and achieve my daily goal of 15,000 steps which sounds like a lot, but the recommended daily value is about 10,000 steps. Like everything these days, there's also an app to track longterm progress and create challenges with other Fibit users. Lucky for me, a few of my friends have Fibit devices!
Curious about the challenges, we decided to partake in one dubbed the "Workweek Challenge" which tracks how many steps you take Monday through Friday; the winner is the person with the most steps on Friday evening. Competitive nature took over and it became one of the tightest races I've ever been apart of. This was one week where I probably exercised every day solely because I wanted to win. At the end of the challenge, most of us hit the 85,000 to 95,000 range, which is about 17,000 - 19,000 steps a day! And thus began our Fibit group.
My friend Katie is
1) a member of the Fibit group
2) has a car
3) doesn't have much time left in the beautiful PNW (she's a grad student and finishing up in the spring)
and has wanted to go hiking for quite some time. We settled upon Rattlesnake Ledge, one of the most popular hikes in Washington with awesome views. Katie picked us up in her little VW beetle and we listened to Kayne West's new album the whole way down.
We rolled into the parking lot (Katie and I in matching leggings) and hit the trail. The way up wasn't too scenic, mostly dense forest with glimpses of the valley below. I was focused on all the stupid switchbacks.
We're getting in shape, but other hikers were actually running up, for fun. WHY?? Props to them, but I'm not about that. There were however, lots of cute dogs, which we took time to pet.
When we neared the top, we emerged onto jagged rocks teeming with people.
Like I said before, it's a popular hike, but I can see why...it's because of this view.
Rattlesnake ledge offers beautiful sweeping views of North Bend and the valley below with snowcapped peaks, frosted forests, and fog rolling off the mountain in the distance.
We took a break to snack and enjoy the view, while people watching.
Caught Katie drinking some water and almost made her spit out her water.
We passed the rest of our time with a mini photoshoot turned entertainment spectacle when we happened to be completely dysfunctional as we took photos to the humor of a couple near us.
A bunch of fellow hikers saw us and we ended up taking photos of a few other groups.
We headed down the trail and beelined straight to downtown North Bend to eat at Twedes Cafe. Swedes has some of the best pie I've ever had and was featured in the cult classic Twin Peaks!
We devoured everything and went back to Seattle. Awesome day getting some exercise with two of my favorite people.
