We were up for a bit of a challenge so we headed toward Whatum Lake/ Chinadere Mountain. It was a bright sunny day.
We passed the trailhead thinking it was a campsite, but got back to it and headed down the many stairs to the lake.
The lake and the woods were magical, with an abundance of moss, old growth, and mushrooms.
The baby got to play in the dirt a little. Amy enjoyed picking huckleberries, salmon berries, and thimble berries. YUM!
We spent some time on the PCT and were glad to see some trail magic of big beautiful avocados for those hungry through hikers.
After awhile we came to the trail up Chinadere Mountain, and I mean UP! Fortunately, the climb is short, but Amy was not sure she was going to make it.
When we got to the top we had a beautiful panarama of five snow covered mountains- Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier. What a view!
We all took a much needed break at the top to take in the view and enjoy our accomplishment.
We were able to look down on to Whatum Lake where we had started.
After enjoying our mountain top, we reluctantly headed down to rejoin the trail around the lake.
The way down was steep and we played our alphabet game to pass the time.
We crossed a log jam over the end of the lake and enjoyed seeing many campers, swimmers, and dogs on the way back to the car.
"Dog" is one of the few words baby Analise says so she pointed them all out to us.
What a wonderful day for this amazing hike.
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