Otter Creek Falls

Otter Creek Falls

My family went on a great hike a couple of weekends ago along the Taylor River Trail in the Snoqualmie region of Washington state.  I found the information HERE - I was looking for a hike that was going to be easy enough for the kids to manage and that we could bring our dog with us.  I also liked the idea of seeing waterfalls and that it would be less busy than some of the more popular areas. 

It was a really pretty hike- we were completely surrounded by trees on both sides for the majority of the hike so our views were somewhat limited though.  The path itself was mostly made out of rocks, so the decision Will and I made to wear our Vibram's was probably not the greatest- our feet were bothering us at the end of the 6 mile loop!  Once we reached Otter Creek Falls we took a little break and ate our lunch and Will hopped in the water (brrrr!) for a minute.  Overall, the hike was perfect.  A little bit busier than I thought it would be and we should have worn bug spray instead of sunscreen, but otherwise it was a great hike for kids and dogs. 

Our five finger's.  Not the best shoe for this trail!

Will hopped in the freezing cold water!

We got passed just before getting to the falls by a trail runner and his dog.  They both hopped in the water and swam around for a few minutes then continued down the trail.  He said he was going one more mile up to make an 8 mile round trip.  The path was soooo rocky I don't know how he did it without worrying about twisting his ankle, but he was the most peaceful guy I had met in a while.  Trail runners are pretty awesome- maybe I can be that cool one day.

When we got back home I was feeling like I needed to go for a run.  I was not on a training plan at that moment and had only managed a 4 mile run for the week.  That is what happens to me when the calendar does not say "Tiffany- go run 6 miles today" and I do not have a specific race I am training for!  Granted, I had just ran 18.6 miles the weekend before during the Ragnar Relay- but I was still feeling lazy and 4 miles was not going to be my mileage for the week!

It was really warm outside and it was around 4pm when I set out on my run.  I managed to get 5 miles in and boy, was I a sweaty hot mess when I was done.  But I was happy that my weekly mileage would at least be a 9!  I was content knowing that my new training plan would begin in 2 days and all would be right in my little running world again.