July | 2025 | Blissfulbritt

Monthly Archives: July 2025

Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene

Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on July 15, 2025

While hiking has alway been my go to adventure, I am finding it extra special these days. I am not traveling right now, and I really only like to bite off day trips. Going for full day hiking excursions has been a way for me to still feel like I am getting out in the world, while being able to come home at night and sleep next to my cat.

I tend to start spring with hikes I have done before, and then I will start sprinkling in new to me hikes as I go. My first new to me hike of the season was to Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene, a trail with a two for one. The trail starts at one spot, but eventually bifurcates into two separate trails.

One goes up steep stairs towards Lake Serene, while the other is not nearly as far, and takes you to a beautiful raging waterfall.

My pal Caitlin and I chose to do both trails (duh.) We started with Bridal Veil Falls because it was only two miles into the trail. This is a worthy stop, and even a worthy hike in and of itself if you are close to the area. The falls were spectacular, and we took our time soaking in the views.

I say this literally, as it’s nearly impossible not to get wet from the water hitting the nearby rocks.

The round trip hike to Bridal Veil Falls is 4 miles with around 1000′ of elevation gain making this a very mild trail for most people. We hiked to the falls, and then headed back towards the bifurcated path to continue on towards Lake Serene. Bridal Veil Falls is only half a mile from the split, and we were back on our journey in no time.

I’m glad we did the falls first, because once we started to head towards Lake Serene the trail started to get much more intense.

Admittedly I was on edge for the first half of this hike because there were so.many.slugs on this trail. Normally I can manage when I see them, but this path was narrow and there was one section I had to put my mid body close to one on a tree log. I panicked pretty badly, but Caitlin was patient with me. In case you weren’t aware, I have a phobia of slugs.

I know, it’s just as ridiculous as it sounds.

This phobia makes hiking in the PNW difficult at times, but I refuse to let it stop me. All that to say, when the trail starts off strong with a lot of big slugs all over the path my nervous system takes a long while to calm down. After we left the falls and began to climb the slug sightings lessened. Eventually we made it out of the forest, and I was rewarded for my incredibly bravery. LOL.

The trail from the falls to the opening of the trees has never ending stairs. I hate stairs on trails! I would rather walk up a steep incline than have to walk up stairs. Alas, it was worth it to get to the lake. Once we arrived we took our shoes and socks off, ate our snacks, and savored the view. Sadly it was slightly too cold to swim, but next time I go I will make sure I swim in Lake Serene.

Mostly because I won’t be going in early summer again, too many slugs. Will wait for the heat of August and then I can also swim.

We sat on what is referred to as “Lunch Rock” which is fitting for all the people there eating snacks. There was a group of teenage boys who showed up a bit after we did, and they all proceeded to pull out burgers they had picked up before coming on the hike. One of the boys said aloud to the others something along the lines of this was why he told them to bring a lunch.

We made our way back down to the car giving us a total of 8.8 miles with 2700′ of elevation gain between the two trails. We took 6 hours total, including all the sitting and savoring, making this a good full day hike (the drive to the trail is 2 hours from my house.) After the hike we had one thing on our minds: COFFEE.

We stopped at the infamous Espresso Chalet, which has become popular on social media for its amazing views. Rightfully so. I could take or leave the coffee though.

*The trail we hiked is right on those mountains in the photo. The coffee stand was maybe 5 min from the trailhead.*

There are few things I enjoy more than a full day of adventure followed by either a coffee or a good meal. These are the moments that remind me I don’t have to go too far to fuel my desire for new experiences. Sometimes all it takes is a new trail in your home state to feel refreshed for the week.

Q: Does anyone else have a very bizarre, irrational phobia? The most common question I get when people discover I am afraid of slugs is: “what, are they going to catch you?”

| 39 Comments Tagged Coffee, Hiking, Lake Serene

Early Morning Confessions

Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on July 3, 2025

1. Welcome to another dump of information about what’s been going on in the world of Brittany lately. I don’t know how, but it’s already July. My life has been very simple these days. I use simple instead of boring because I am trying to be mindful of my verbiage.

Life isn’t boring just because it’s slower paced. It’s simply…simple.

2. Duncan and I celebrated another year of partnership at the end of April. We had planned to go to Leavenworth, but after driving that direction the weekend prior for my half marathon I didn’t want to drive that way all over again so soon. We decided to spend the day in Seattle instead, something I haven’t done since 2021.

We went to the Pacific Science Center, somewhere I grew up going often. Sadly this place is a shell of its former self. It wasn’t worth the price, but I did get photographic evidence of my Raynaud’s which was pretty funny. Note the color of my hands next to Duncan’s “normal blood flow” hands.

3. It’s no secret around here that I love coffee. After working in the coffee world for seven years I think it will forever be part of my inner being. With that said, I am starting to get more into tea as well. I have always been a big fan of peppermint tea, but I have been somewhat obsessed with learning more about herbs and flowers so I can make my own loose leaf blends of medicine in a cup.

Loose leaf blends make me feel like I’m brewing a potion. My inner child loves it.

4. Speaking of coffee and tea, a new cafe popped up in my town recently. Duncan and I decided to try it, and upon entering I immediately knew I was going to enjoy sitting inside. The ambiance was top notch. Plants EVERYWHERE. The coffee was good (Duncan said best espresso he has ever had), and we were there during happy hour so I got a gluten free slice of cake for 1/2 off!

OH, and they had so many board games to play!

5. My last haircut was back in October. I have not gone more than 5 months without a haircut since December of 2017. My hairstylist moved, and my backup hairstylist is no longer at my backup salon. A mix of overwhelm at the idea of finding a new stylist and stress in life has caused me to let my hair get to a length I cannot stand.

The feeling of it on my neck and ears makes me want to shave my head every single day.

6. I am surprised by how many hikes I have already managed to squeeze in since May started. Not all of them are blog worthy, some are worthy of their own post, and a few are worthy of just a snippet of information with some photos. I’ll share two of the latter.

I hiked to Lake Angeles with my pals Caitlin and Jackie on a very blustery day. This was my third time hiking here and it’s always a good time. Just over 7 miles, about 2300′ of elevation gain, and a beautiful lake at the end.

*Caitlin took this one on film, how fun!*

I also hiked to the plane wreck on the Tull Canyon Trail – somewhere I tried to hike to last summer, but missed the turn off. This wreck is extra sad because the plane was sent on a SAR mission to rescue people who had already crashed in ANOTHER plane. Five of eight in the Tull Canyon crash survived. There is good information here if you are interested in deep diving.

This trail is moderate until the turn off to Tull Canyon, then it gets steep. The hike was around 9 miles with 1500′ gain (all in one spot.)

7. I’m moderately ashamed to admit that I have been hyper aware of my skin lately. My face looks like it aged 10 years seemingly overnight. Stress is likely a big contributor to this, but I’m also getting older and that’s just life. With that said, if anyone has any skin care recommendations let me know.

The caveat is that the products have to be “clean.” I’d sooner let myself look 20 years older than use toxic products.

8. One of the perks of my job is having first dibs on all the gear people return. With a one year return policy, people return nearly new items all the time simply because they didn’t like them. Sometimes after just one or two uses. We then reprice the items that are still able to be sold and put them into our “garage sale” type area.

I was able to snag a two person tent recently for a FRACTION of the cost. The people who returned it literally used it once and thought it was too heavy (they likely wanted it for backpacking.) I set it up in my backyard to see how Little liked it. He approves.

9. Little and I are in a bit of a weird limbo. We switched to a new vet two years ago after some struggle with his vet of many years, and I just discovered a few weeks ago that our new vet is leaving the clinic. I am hoarding his medications like a squirrel preparing for winter because I am so overwhelmed to find a new vet.

We might just ride the wave for a while, and I will take him somewhere new in 6-8 months just to establish a relationship.

10. Duncan and I went for our first bike ride of the year last week. We parked the car at one end of an island nearby, and biked 7.5 miles to the other end for coffee and a baked good. The weather was perfect, and I hope to do this ride again soon. We then biked the 7.5 miles back for a 15 mile jaunt, and I stopped at probably six Little Free Libraries.

I commandeered two new to me books, and it was so fun to see what each little box of books contained.