hike: icicle ridge in leavenworth

A few weeks ago we traveled to Leavenworth, a faux-Bavarian town in central Washington. We had read about some of the hiking trails in the area, and decided to hike Icicle Ridge during one of our mornings there. (We hiked to the peak of the ridgetop that is directly behind me in the photo on the left.) We knew that this would probably be our last hike of the season, so we hoped to make the most of it.

Soon after starting on the trail, though, we realized that we wouldn't be ending our hiking season on an extremely positive note. The hike wasn't too scenic, since many of the trees had lost their leaves. There was even snow at the top of the trail. But the view at the top of the hike was still quite nice.

However, the most frustrating thing about this hike was the trail. It was very narrow, consisted primarily of very steep switchbacks, and often was placed right against the steep slope of the mountain. It was really difficult for us to carry Sam up such a steep trail - J and I joked that we were doing penance for our inconsistent attempts and exercising. However, we also couldn't let Sam walk up the mountain either, for fear that he'd fall off of the narrow trail and careen down the mountainside.

J and I were exhausted after a mile or so, and slowly dragged ourselves up the mountain for another mile. It was pretty miserable at times. Sam got really bored and grumpy, too, which didn't help the situation. But we finally finished the hike after about 3.5 hours (which included time to eat lunch at the top).

At the beginning of the hike, when Sam was cheerful and J had energy

Recuperating at the top

This wasn't the most pleasant hike in the world, and I know that it's largely because we were hiking with a small child. This hike would be a lot more fun if we were only with adults or teenagers. Even though it was good to get some exercise (and do penance, I guess), I don't think we will becoming back to Icicle Ridge anytime soon.