Lake Talapus

In a fit of planned spontaneity, we headed for the Cascades this weekend and hiked into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. We made it up to Lake Talapus, a beautiful little gem in a heavily wooded valley. The sky was brilliant blue, the huckleberries were ripe, and the lake was cold. It was a great day.

And for the record, the red hat Amy is wearing is a hard-won trophy given to us by my dad. The poor guy had to drink EIGHT Alaskan Ambers during the cruise he and my mother recently took up through the Inside Passage.