Fremont Solstice Parade

I enjoyed the Fremont Solstice Parade for a second year this year. With horrendous parking around Fremont and Wallingford, we arrived after the start of the parade. I was disappointed that we missed the famous naked bicyclists' ride at the beginning of the parade. To our surprise however, we stumbled upon the entire cadre of nude bicyclists gathered on the large hill in Gasworks Park and mingled amongst the crowd at the end of the parade route. Quite a different atmosphere than a usual Saturday afternoon.

The rest of the parade was enjoyable as usual with fun, festive, funky, and just plain weird floats and people of all shapes and sizes (including a flying spaghetti monster float with a slew of pirates). I snapped just a single photo this year - our view of the parade route. The wolverine costume was pretty funny.

Lake Serene

I hiked Lake Serene on Sunday, June 14. The weather turned out to be a little discouraging since the trail and lake were almost completely socked in by thick fog. We couldn't see any more than 100 feet of the lake from our lunch spot. Nonetheless, Bridal Veil Falls along the trail was a highlight. A side trail allows you to climb right next to the waterfall and cool off with the spray from the falls. The trail itself climbs very gradually for the first mile and half; it gains most of its elevation in the final two miles which were two of the tougher miles I have hiked thus far. I would definitely like to return to Lake Serene for views of Mount Index and the lake itself.

Area: Index, Stevens Pass
Distance: 7.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 2000 feet
High Point: 2521 feet