Wallace Falls State Park

Hiking with my boys! I learned a few things on this hike, mainly the fact that Josh should never choose the hike... 

Josh recently returned from a five week trip to Thailand and wanted to catch up a bit/get out into nature. He chose a hike he and I happened to go to three whole years ago when we first met each other on our Outdoor Adventure before UW orientation. It's crazy to think that we've known each other for three years now and even better that we're still close friends. Hunter also just happened to tag along. 

I should also mention that Josh is in good shape and led the hike at a blazing speed. We started off at the base of the falls and worked our way up to the top, passing every other hiker. Josh told us stories about Thailand which primarily consisted of monkeys and rock climbing. Hunter and I attempted to keep up with the pace; Hunter did fine, I was a little behind but all was good. 

Once we reached the top of the falls, we took a much needed break and ate a snack while looking down at the gorgeous view. We went so fast that I didn't even think to take a picture of Wallace Falls.

Since we had completed this hike in record time, we decided to journey further into the park and check out Wallace Lake and Jay Lake.

I was already over the elevation gain, but luckily it was only a few hundred feet more until the trail completely leveled out for the rest of the hike. After a few minutes we were isolated in the forest which was surreal. 

At Lake Wallace we took another quick break to admire the view. I was wishing that I had broken down at Target and splurged on a floatie to bring with me and relax on the lake. NEXT TIME. Instead we skipped rocks, well I attempted, all of mine went straight into the water...

It was nice to be away from other hikers and have the lakes to ourselves. We had our lunch at Jay Lake where Josh brought out the gummy worms as a surprise and a morale booster seeing as the hike would end up being fourteen miles round trip. Though this sounds grueling, it was probably the easiest fourteen mile hike I'll ever go on. 

I would argue that the way down was longer with loads of switchbacks, but had great views of the valley below. 

We made it down after what seemed like an eternity, but didn't make it out of the parking lot for another 20 minutes because the boys got sidetracked by the blackberries near my car. It quickly turned into berry picking and they attempted to fill up a gallon bag. Plus, I got to mark something off my summer list!

Lots of our conversations consisted about the future and disbelief that we're heading into our senior year. I've known these two since freshman year and I know they'll be life long friends. And who knows where we'll all end up. There is a lot of uncertainty; at the moment, I debate with myself daily on where I want to move after graduation. It eats away at me along with the other major decisions I'll have to make in the next few months. 

What's even more alarming is that we're all starting to go our separate ways and make our own decisions. I don't know what I'll do without these two; we've become much better friends over the past years and they're some of my closest friends. I go to them for advice, a good laugh, or to discuss one of my ideas for a ridiculous adventure (Josh and I had the idea to go to Cuba and Hunter joined me on day trip to Oregon, I'm never short of ideas).  

I anticipate everything will become more sentimental, especially going into senior year. I'm already starting to appreciate quality time with friends more and more becasue it's going to much more difficult to make time for everyone later on. I know that sounds bad, but it's the truth. We all have so much going on and we sometimes neglect the people surrounding us. It's hard to juggle it all, but friends are one of my top priorities because they support me and that's how I've been able to establish myself in Seattle. I came here not knowing a single person, and I'm where I am today because of the people I've met at UW. I'm constantly inspired and motivated by my friends and I want to spend as much time together while we're all here in Seattle. 

Tangents aside, these two are awesome and I'm excited for more adventures!