Tag: Lake Angeles

• 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.

  

  

  

  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.

  

  

  

  Give me a good bike ride or a good hike with food and coffee mixed in and I am a happy gal.

  Q: What’s your confession?

  

  | 51 Comments Tagged Biking, Early Morning Confessions, Hiking, Lake Angeles, Little

• Summer of the Lakes

  Posted at 10:30 AM by Brittany, on September 6, 2024

  This summer has been the season of the lakes for me. My activity of choice changes with the seasons, and summer is reserved for hiking as many places as possible. While I prefer hiking in the fall, summer hiking means I am far more likely to submerge myself in a body of water. I have managed a few more lake hikes since I last posted, one of which I swam in.

  All of these hikes I have done before (and blogged about!) so I will share the link to the previous adventures because I like looking back in time.

  First up I ventured to the Olympics for a tromp up to Lake Angeles. I did not swim in this lake because it was under 65 and I was a wimp. We did see one swimmer, and I commend him for his bravery. Caitlin, Duncan, and I had a lovely time on this adventure. We saw a multitude of frogs, very few other humans, and had coffee and ice cream after we finished. I was wild and chose a honey lavender flavor, but it did not sit well. This is why I stick to vanilla.

  Hike Highlight: spending time giggling with my two favorite people. Read about my last venture to Lake Angeles here. (I was much more philosophical in that post. lol.)

  

  

  Next up was a trek to my favorite alpine lake within the Alpine Lake Wilderness. I used to embark on this trail solo after a long week working at Starbucks, and it holds a very close spot in my heart. I wrangled up three of my coworkers (including Caitlin because duh) and we headed to Melakwa Lake on a Friday morning.

  I almost didn’t make it out the door however, because look at what I had to say goodbye to…

  

  I warned my other two coworkers who had not been hiking much that this trail was relatively steep, but they were up for the challenge. Despite the fact that I had done this trail many times, I had not been since they reconstructed the parking. I was thrown off by this and ended up taking us on the adjacent trail adding another 2 miles to our day.

  While this made for a longer hike overall, I was jazzed we made this detour because I had never ventured down this other trail. This 2 mile out and back leads to Franklin Falls, and I can’t believe I never took the time to make this detour on my last few visits to Melakwa Lake.

  

  

  

  We managed around 12 miles total this day, and while one of my pals was in a good bit of discomfort after, she is still up for another adventure. We spent just enough time at the lake for three of us to swim, snack, and SAVOR the surrounding beauty! No ice cream after this hike, how sad for me.

  Hike Highlight: swimming in my favorite alpine lake. Read about my last trek to Melakwa Lake here.

  

  

  

  Next up was a stroll to Snow Lake, one of the most popular trails in the Alpine Lake Wilderness. I was quickly reminded why I do not hike this trail on a weekend, alas I wanted my Monday – Friday working boyfriend to go with us on this hike. I also saw a woman hiking up with a cat in a mesh backpack, so I guess it was worth it.

  We started early making the hike up pleasant because we didn’t see many people. We secured the perfect spot on a rock by the lake to drool over the view before heading back to the car. This hike is more of a moderate one, which is partially why it’s so popular. Caitlin, her pup Poncho, Duncan, and I ventured off for this stroll on a Sunday. Never again.

  

  

  This was another chilly day so we did not swim in this lake either, which is a bit of a bummer. Last summer Caitlin and I hiked to Snow Lake, and continued on further to Gem Lake where we did swim. I have yet to swim in Snow Lake, so next year it will be a must. Coming back down after we enjoyed our snacks was a nightmare. There were more people than a big city train station and I was loosing my mind. No more popular weekend hikes for me, sorry Duncan. Also no ice cream after this. I am deprived.

  Hike Highlight: cat in a backpack. Read about my first stroll to Snow Lake here. So young, and my photo quality was so, so bad.

  

  

  

  Lastly a quick honorable mention. My mom spent a week in Glacier with one of her girlfriends last month, which meant I got to stay home with my sister. For those of you who don’t know, my older sister has autism. My mom and I tag team taking care of her, and while she will never be fully independent she is relatively high functioning.

  She loves going on adventures, and was keen on the idea of going for a hike with me and Duncan.

  We took her to a moderate trial, and while I dressed her myself I was shocked to discover just minutes before arriving at the trail head that she had changed out of her Nike shoes and into her Converse shoes. I refused to turn back, so we hoped for the best. Turns out she was more eager than both of us to get to the top (perhaps because Duncan told her she could have a Beanie Baby from our bin in the garage after), and her shoes worked fine.

  Hike Highlight: watching her trail blaze like a pro.

  

  Q: Do you prefer savory or sweet after a long physical endeavor?

  

  | 31 Comments Tagged Alpine Lake, Hiking, Lake Angeles, Melakwa Lake, Snow Lake, Summer

• Lake Angeles

  Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on August 29, 2017

  I used to be extremely active. One season of my life I was training for my third half marathon while completing the Insanity DVD’s, and this was completely normal for me. I was never not doing something intense. Then I lost my period, and it would take another few years for me to realize perhaps it’s time to take things down a notch.

  

  Don’t get me wrong, I love the euphoria that comes from an extreme cardio session, but my body has been trying to tell me to take it down a few notches and I’ve chosen not to listen. It amazes me how loud and clear our bodies will communicate to us if we listen, the problem is that we’re usually so focused on other things we don’t hear the warning signs.

  The go go go mentality comes into play for me whenever I go for a hike as well, the mountain has to be bigger and badder than the one before or I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished much. The mountains aren’t close to me, so I’ve always had a certain rule when choosing trails.

  

  I LOL’d at this sign, if you look closely next to the 3.7 someone wrote “More like 5.”

  My rule is that when it comes to a hike, I need the time spent on the trail to be longer than the time it took to drive there. On average, it takes me about two hours to get to a good hike meaning the actual hike will ideally take 3 hours or more. This means the trail needs to be at least 7 miles RT or more. 

  I realize how ridiculous this all sounds. I can’t say all my marbles are straight, but I’m actively working on pushing them closer together in a somewhat uniformed line. I don’t hike as much these days in an attempt to re-balance my body (still no consistent periods, but I feel we’re getting closer) and I really don’t enjoy running so that had to go too, but if I find a friend to tag along on a hike I’ll go.

  

  Before setting off to conquer Lake Angeles, I found myself slipping into old habits. Originally when my friend asked if I wanted to go for a hike, I got onto the Washington Trails website to find a big and bad hike to conquer. I must also mention I’m not at all in the shape I was when I was running half marathons and doing Insanity, meaning big bad hikes are more painful than enjoyable these days.

  

  I originally chose a different trail to explore. Higher elevation, and longer distance. Because, why not. I woke up at 3am the morning of the hike with a lump in my stomach telling me this was not the trail I wanted. I was dreading the adventure, and that’s no fun. I remembered that I’m trying to respect my body and not destroy it, and made the change to Lake Angeles last minute.

  At 7.4 miles RT with an elevation gain of 2350′ this was more than enough. It kicked my out of shape butt in all the right ways. This also happened to be the week that Washington was hit with a shitton of smoke that was pushed our way from the BC wildfires, as you can see in all of these photos, so taking it easy was ideal.

  The smoke gave me terrible headaches. I can’t imagine what it was like in Canada. 

  

  The point of this post is to remind me, and to encourage you to listen to our bodies. When things are out of balance it’s for a reason and the only way to know is to slow down and listen. It’s a challenge for those of us with obsessions or addictions to certain lifestyles, but without challenges we will never grow.

  We are constantly bombarded with people telling us that we are lazy if we don’t want to workout, or unhealthy if we want to eat the cake, but at the end of the day only you know what’s best for your body and soul. For too long I told myself I was lazy if I didn’t go for a run, or climb a bigger mountain, but you can only force something for so long before the joy is zapped from it.

  

  Hiking is meant to bring peace and calming (with some blood flow) and satisfy my urge for exploration. It shouldn’t be just a way to sweat. I’m reminding myself to stop and smell the roses, not just view them from the top. Hiking is so much more enjoyable when you savor the journey, and it just so happens this is a metaphor for life too.

  Rest if your body tells you to rest, move if your body tells you to move, eat the cake if your soul tells you to eat the cake, or avoid the cake if your body tells you the sugar is not working for you. Listen to your body, it’s smarter than any media article or science guru combined. The key is learning what to listen for.

  

  Life is not about perfection, all we can do is strive to improve who we are today from who we were yesterday. Just be sure to give yourself grace along the way. 

  Q: What activities are you not enjoying lately that you used to love? For me it’s running. So now I bike!

  

  | 63 Comments Tagged Hike, Lake Angeles, Life, Mountain, PNW

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• BRITTANY- Self proclaimed minimalistic nomad striving to maintain a balanced, healthy life with good food, long hikes, deep connections, exploration, and lots of potatoes.

• If this blog does not meet your standards, please lower your standards.

• Contact: blissfulbritt@yahoo.com

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