Hiking Rattle Snake Ridge with Family!

Every time I go to Seattle to visit my Aunt, it seems like a new adventure each time. This time round the reason for the visit was my mom and aunt’s reunion. Our trip was short but yet such a fulfilling family reunion. All we did was enjoy homemade delicacies, chit chat and shop. Although I was born and brought up in India, Seattle has been my home away from home because of my lovely aunt and adorable uncle. Their love is unconditional and I am lucky to have them in my life.

One of the days of our visit, we decided to go hike the rattle snake ridge which is about 45 mins away from where my Aunt lives. Weather being nice, there were lots of people around the lake kayaking along the shores, camping by the water and swimming in the lake. As we sat down by the lake, clicked a few pictures and enjoyed the fresh fruits and nuts by the lake. We started to get ready for our uphill hike to the Rattle Snake ledge which was a 2 mile uphill hike with an elevation gain of 1000 feet.

At first I was a little nervous as I started to get short of breath walking uphill. But walking at my own pace and taking stops where ever I needed to rebound, helped me get up to the top. As we walked through the hill cut sides surrounded by tall trees, the path seemed more and more challenging. Our motivation for the hike was the glorious view of the turquoise blue Rattle Snake Lake from the top of the ledge. As we kept going up and up, we would ask the other hikers who made their way down about how much more we had to climb and at last I was very happy to hear that we were almost there.

After reaching the top, I really forgot all about how tired I was and got immersed into the crystal blue color of the lake surrounded by the gorgeous mountains. The boats in the river appeared really tiny from far above the sea level. We sat by the edge of the rocks for quite some time and enjoyed our picture break from all the hiking uphill. After enjoying to the fullest, we walked back down which was relatively very easy compared to climbing up. It took as about 2 hours both ways, probably just half hour downhill and the rest of it up hill.

As we reached down by the lake, we bundled up together for family pictures and absolutely loved the day. We tried to capture each and every moment of us all being together. I did learn a lesson contemplating how at times the path might get tedious but the results make it all worthwhile. So instead of giving up, we should just keep going at our own pace working hard, one day we will definitely be able to reach to our destination and it will be all worth it that day. Sometimes travel teaches us surprise lessons!

Blast from the Past, Wisconsin Dells!

Every year my parents visit me here in the United States and we usually plan our annual travel trip during the summer. Last summer, we traveled to Wisconsin Dells because it is at a driving distance from Chicago and there are just so many fun activities to do out there especially during the summer. In small towns such as the Dells, we prefer staying in bed and breakfast over a hotel. It feels more homely and you also get to enjoy breakfast first thing every morning. Our Bed and Breakfast was Victorian style old home with a pool right by the breakfast patio. We really enjoyed the home cooked delicacies every morning. The inn had a huge backyard that overlooked the Dells river. The evening we reached there we enjoyed sipping coffee in the backyard and then crossed over the road to walk along the river walk.

We spent our first day in Dells exploring the river area with Upper Dells Boat tour. Our guide gave us brief descriptions of rock formations and sandstone cliffs overlooking the Dells river. The boat took us to two scenic locations where we got down and explored the areas on our own. We walked down the mysterious pathway of witches gulch and enjoyed watching the dog jump over the stand rock. We did a short hike through the forest and reached back to board the boat that took us back.

We ended our first day in Dells enjoying delicious wraps at a local restaurant in Downtown Dells. Downtown Dells was walking distance from our Bed and Breakfast and that was one of the best part that we did not had to deal with any other means of commute. My parents loved our trip to the Dells and it is definitely one of the best destinations in the US for family vacation. We also went river tubing, jungle safari and horse canyon riding in the Dells which I can’t wait to share in my next post 🙂 Family vacations are just the best, where did you recently travel with your family? Do share. I would love to know.