Twin Lakes

After many attempts to reach and enjoy Twin Lakes, Dylan and I finally did it! In the past, we have been unable to drive the snowy off-road path to the top of the mountain. Even when we decided to walk up, the cloud of fog left us blinded with no scenery to see. But mid-August came around and we fulfilled our dreams. It has been so cool to see this area in multiple seasons, and the effort every time really introduced me to new experiences. As we packed up Dylan's Jeep, we were ready to head out of town. But unfortunately, the camping fridge drained the battery and stalled our trip just a tad. With the help of Bob (our 10 pound-6 way use-power box), we were able to jump the car quickly and simply! It wouldn't be an adventure if it was easy, this isn't a vacation on the beach! During this time, the wild flowers are in full bloom and the blue lakes have shed its winter snow cover. After a steep, switchback drive, we arrived at the scenic haven of Twin Lakes. It is a mountain top oasis with views of Mt. Baker and not one, but two neighboring lakes surrounded by lush mountains. For this overnight trip, we decided to grab some carnitas from our local Mexican grocer to make tacos for dinner. With chopped onion and cilantro, this was one of our more simple ideas. With a quick stop for food and a couple of gallons of water, we were off to the East! About an hour later, we got to the summit of the mountain and took the Twin Lakes forest road. Immediately the car started to be thrown side to side by the potholes. This road is one of the more dangerous roads, one that compact cars aren't able to attempt. The steep hillside and dropping views are a common distraction to driving. As we passed further past our previous end points, we were getting more excited to reach the top! Finally, we simply pulled up to a scenic and peaceful set of lakes and trees. The camp ground setup is beautifully maintained and all offer views of the lake and a soft platform for tents. As one of the only people up there, we chose our spot to cook and call home for the night. As we settled in, Dylan was brave enough to swim in the glacial fed lake while I documented it through his camera. After taking too many pictures we decided to set up the Oru Kayak and get a closer view of the lake. Dylan is officially a pro at setting up the kayak and can do it in under 15 minutes. With a great experience on the lake, we decided to walk to find a spot to take star pictures of Baker. We headed back down the road and watched the sunset gleam off of the mountain ridges. Although I had eaten quite a few Oreos we were still excited to make our carnitas tacos. While the sun was getting low, we had a bit of a challenge in preparing and eating dinner-it was almost like an episode of "Eating In The Dark". Once the food and sun was gone, we head back to the tent to get ready for the stars. This was a beautiful location for a view of the night sky. Without hesitation, the stars started to fill the sky. Dylan is very talented in taking star photography so we were pointing that camera in all directions. One our best ideas was to take a picture of the Galaxy from inside our tent. This vision of ours came true that night! After a creative session of night photography we decided to head down to the lake. Little did we know, the green light behind the mountains was the aurora! We have always wanted to see the Northern Lights and the dancing beams blew us away! The camera picked up the color spectacularly and we were thrilled with the view. Once the lights started to fade away, we went back to the tent to call it a night, this was well after 1am. As I climbed the ladder into the tent, Dylan yelled at me to not move. As I was scared as to why...I leaned over and there was a mouse that had climbed out of our tent.......I was officially freaked out while Dylan just commented that the mouse was cute. After we were settled in the tent and almost asleep, Dylan wakes up to a noise. Once I start to listen, I hear a loud scraping noise going around the tent, I was informed that the mouse was back.....we smacked the sides of the tent and filled any openings. It was extremely hard to sleep not knowing when that little critter would come back. I now know we should always close the tent sides and not leave Oreos in the tent.

Besides the mouse invasion, it was a magical trip to Twin Lakes. It was a beauiful summer day and night spent well outdoors. It was a quick getaway trip, but we will be going back before the snow starts to fall. Below are some pictures of our adventure!