Howdy blog. Let’s explore the photos I took on my iphone during our hike to Lake 22 last Sunday. Would you believe I forgot my camera?! The humanity!

This was a new lake for us to explore, heavily recommended by my co-workers. The drive up to the lake was horribly hazy from all the wildfires Washington has had lately, but we figured we’d make it work.

I thought this sign was hysterical, especially the little “touch” of the poop shooting out of the crazed dog’s butt. Clever! We did keep the girls on the leash during the entire hike to the lake, but on the way back we let ’em free. Nobody minded. Nobody yelled at us (this time!).

One of my favorite shots. So beautiful!

It’s about 2.7 miles to the lake but if you walk all the way around the lake like we did it brings the total trip mileage to about 6 miles. Easy hike, barely any elevation gain (1350, thanks Google).

I’m a little butthurt that we’ve only gone camping twice this summer, but we seem to be making up for it with these day hikes. I’m loving hiking right now!

Fun for the whole furry family.

Little waterfalls along the way. Gonzo Josh of course had to scrabble over the boulders to get a nice close-up of the waterfalls.

Hazy sunshine.

Still beautiful, even through the smoke.

Arrival at Lake 22. We were surprised to find a wooden boardwalk that extends nearly around the entire lake.

It’s a small lake, and I suspect it would have been a lot more beautiful if the sky wasn’t filled with smoke. Once we got out onto the water you could actually smell the smoke. Stupid wildfires!

We hiked to the far side of the lake and had a snack, then stripped off some clothes and went for a swim. We swam out onto the little boulder “island”, and Josh dove off a few times. Maggie dog jumped off. Bear Cub and I slid off, slowwwwly. Scaredy-cubs!

Hey look it’s a panoramic! I love taking these with my iphone, even though the horizon often comes out uneven.

I decided to leave on the board shorts I was hiking in and swim in my brand-new VS sports bra. It has padding and is a little ridiculous, but it keeps the girls up in the air!

Maggie dog takes in the scene.

We stayed about an hour, and then began the hike back. Not a bad little lake, but not nearly as beautiful as a few others we have been to.

Found my heart! And a triangle, and a rectangle too…next challenge: a STAR.

I stopped to pee during the hike back to the car and admired this lovely swirl of a tree.

Fungus among us!

I didn’t have any tooth pain during the hike, but on the drive home my mouth started THROBBING. Luckily I had my root canal yesterday, and today everything is hunky-dory. Well, I have a little jaw pain, but nothing that regular intervals of Norco and Ibuprofen can’t fix, heeeeyyyyyyy!

Today I’m painting the office CHARTREUSE. Ooh baby baby ooooh. Expect 10,000 photos of that nonsense to come! Tomorrow I’m flying to Boise to hang out with my family and my father’s new puppy…catch you on the flip side, blog.