Whistle Lake Hike

By the way--we got our new car!!! So exciting! It's a Prius, and with the cost of gas right now, I feel like the shackles have been removed, and we can actually drive somewhere to have an adventure...I've got to get some pictures of it to post...later...

So anyway, on to the adventures! On Sunday we went down to the Anacortes area to go on a hike. We have a book listing the best hikes in Washington for families. One of the hikes in the book is around Whistle Lake in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands (http://www.friendsoftheacfl.org/). Great hike! There are TONS of trails in the forest, and much of it has very little elevation gain--good for small legs. There are also some hills to climb, so there's something for everyone.

When we first got there, I spotted a snake slithering along the water's edge. Sean, bravely :-), caught it so the boys could touch it and look at it up close. Such a good dad...I was the good mom, took pictures, and stayed away from the snake.

From there, we hiked on until we found a little spot to sit and enjoy our Cheetos (a highlight of the hike from the boys' point of view, I'm sure). We watched some people across the lake jumping off cliffs into the water. Young fools, they must be...

So we trekked on around the lake, and heard some commotion...more people jumping off cliffs. Most appeared to be about college age, and they were having a grand time. Sean started saying it looked like fun, the water was pretty comfortable, etc., etc., and I could just tell he wanted to do it. After watching about 5-10 people jump, and seeing no blood gushing from the jumpers (only a couple belly-flop/body slap splashes), I gave him what he needed--"why don't you try, honey?" He was on top of the cliff in less than 5 minutes. See him in the picture below? He's in the navy shorts, about a third the way down to the water. Crazy man, but I love 'im.

So after this, we started heading back to the car. Of course in a place like this, there should be geocaches all over the place! Not quite so...there were a few, but none close around the lake. We had a "travelling coin" that we needed to drop off, so we were thinking we'd try to find one on the way back. Unfortunately, the batteries died on the GPS, so it made it difficult--BUT I DID IT ANYWAY!!! At 0.19 miles from the cache, the batteries died, but using the description and a hint of the location of the cache, I found it at the top of a hill named Sugar Cube. Awesome. I am so good...of course I have no pictures of the success, since I forgot to bring the camera with me (the batteries were dying on it too), but I promise--I did it!

And finally, on the way home, we took a picture of this house, which I figured my mom would appreciate...

Great day! Anacortes, with Washington Park, and now the forest lands, will definitely be a spot for repeat adventures for the Cools.

Melinda