Melakwa Lake - 9 miles

Thunderstorms last Monday kept us out of the mountains, but not so yesterday. It did, however, remain overcast and even cold at times.

Zuzu didn't have a problem with it. Of course, she wears fur and makes no apologies for it.

Whooshy.

I-90. It doesn't exactly promote the getting-away-from-it-all feeling, but imagining the work that went into building this in that environment was kind of cool. Imagining having driven that stretch of road and never realizing how high up it is was less cool.

Preparing to cross Denny Creek.

Keekwulee Falls.

We had no idea this would be quite so spectacular.

Gaining some of the 2300'. The sun's absence was welcome here!

Snowshoe Falls.

 My head was covered with spiderwebs. Fortunately, NOT spiders!

Melakwa Lake 4600'. Lunchtime!

Also time to bundle up. It was c-c-cold. 

Merry Christmas!

Teneriffe Falls - 6 miles

The common saying around these parts is that summer begins on July 5, and so did our official hiking season. With the chance that certain community members would still be lighting fireworks post-holiday, we wanted to stay close-in and not leave poor fraidy pup Otter by himself for too long. This hike was not only pretty close, but one we hadn't done previously.Yay!

The first mile is a very gradual uphill along a forest road.

The second mile is smooth for .5 miles, then gets a bit more steep and rocky.

 There are some nice viewpoints along the way.

Zuzu shows the way, one more mile to go!

 The last mile has about 20 switchbacks, lots of rocks, and most of the elevation. This is where the boots do their work and the calves do their burnin'.

Reward! 

The mist was refreshing. 

Enjoying the view on the way back down.

Thanks, summer!

Hikes Gone By: Nelson-Kennedy Ledges & The West Woods

Four years ago (!) while visiting family in Ohio, we got them off the couches and into the woods. I did some exploring growing up in northeastern Ohio, but I wasn't the hiker I am now, so it was exciting to find some new places to investigate. Our first outing was to Nelson Kennedy Ledges State Park. It was pretty cool!

There were many accessible nooks and crannies.

And, of course, plenty of ledges!

 There were many caves.

And here we are spelunking in one. I think Pop is watching for bats while I check for trolls.

The boardwalks were nice and allowed access to pretty sights like this waterfall. 

Our second outing was to The West Woods a county park. It was also a really fun place!

It had interesting features, too, like these rocks that could've been the inspiration for Jabba the Hut.

There were places to relax and enjoy the views.

And there were some kids who ignored the signs and explored beyond the boundaries. Bad kids! Who does this one belong to, anyhow?

There were tree "cages." Here we've caught a rare and elusive adult male Leonard and his female offspring.

And a quaint little "covered" bridge. I love hiking bridges. They're just so darn charming.

And, naturally, we spotted a lot of critters!