We arrive and AGAIN that thing happens where we are more impressed with the less popular parks than the bigger, famous parks. Abby thinks it is because we all generally dislike people and prefer the less busy parks. Who knows either way, but it is just gorgeous here. The lakes...the LAKES are multiple shades of blue and green and turquoise and crystal clear blue and they are just gorgeous. I am a sucker for water and just love lakes, and oceans and rivers and etc. and this place is no exception. We stop at the lakes and I take a ton of pictures that can never capture the grandness of it all. I get a little verklempt which is not unusual for me. Abby teases me for tearing up (foreshadowing). I decide that when I die my ashes can go in one of the lakes in this park. Originally, I had wanted them in a lake in Alaska that I discovered when my mom took me when I was 15 - Lake Kluane, but a few years ago Adam shattered my dreams when he alerted me that lake is actually in Canada. I am not being laid to rest in Canada, thank you. Since then I have looked for a new replacement and I felt like I found it today. I look at Adam and ask him "what is the name of this lake again?". He says "Lake Diablo". Huh. Guess, I still am on the lookout for that replacement lake as I am not sure Lake Diablo sounds like a peaceful place for eternal rest.
We keep moving through the park and it is crazy busy. There are a bunch of places where there isn't even room to park anymore and we have to pass by those overlooks. Bathrooms are hard to find as well but we seem to make it ok. We head towards the area that has the Happy Creek Trail hike we want to do and hope we can find a parking spot. Low and behold we get there and there are still a few spots left! We are psyched. We grab our stuff for the hike and head out. I bought a walking stick at the visitor center because of that twinge in my leg and brought that, but honestly, didn't think I needed it.
We make our way through the paved part of the path (only .3 miles) and then begin on the real hike. The first part we encounter is a downed tree blocking the path but we make our way around it and keep moving. The path was well defined but was a bit harder than expected. I wouldn't have called it "easy", but probably moderate. Lots of ups and steep downs but do-able. We stop and get lots of great pictures as we walk. In my head, I decide we have probably gone .5 miles, so only another .5 and we'll be at the waterfall shortly! We keep trucking. I keep waiting to hear the waterfall. As we are going up and down, I notice that my leg hurts more on the down parts but I lean on my trusty walking stick and get through it. Nothing horrible. I decide we are at least .75, but still no sound of a waterfall and the path is winding along the outside of a hill but not towards where I expected the water to be, but I never have any idea where I am going so I don't say anything. We keep pushing along through a very steep downhill section where all of us struggle to stay upright. Again, I think...this is not an "easy" path. Suddenly Adam says "I think we've been about a mile but we are on the wrong side of the hill and I don't hear water". Thank God I am not crazy. None of us have a fitbit or an apple watch to track how many steps we've taken. I look at my camera for the time pictures were taken to gauge how long we've been walking, Abby checks the steps on her phone which she says is usually wrong. We determine we have been between .62 and .9 miles but since we can't even hear water, we know the path must be much longer. We wonder if the 2 mile roundtrip was actually 2 miles each way? Adam and Gideon decide to push forward and Abby and I decide to head back. My hip and leg are starting to hurt worse and I don't want to risk going further. We start walking back towards the car when we meet a couple on the path. They ask us if we've "seen a waterfall around here". Ha. We give them the whole shebang of where we are at and how Adam and Gideon are still pushing forward. They tell us that they thought it was only .75 miles to the waterfall! They move forward and we go past them towards the car. Abby and I go pretty slow because my leg is hurting more and more but we make it back. We sit on a bench and wait for the boys. About 10 minutes later the boys show up and they are highly out of breath. They note that not only did they NOT find the waterfall but that the path got downright expert level including a really steep climb. We were all disappointed that no one made it to the waterfall and decide that the trail guides were wrong. That other couple is missing (hopefully they found the waterfall) and we head back to the car. When we get to the car a new couple is just arriving and they ask if we did the waterfall trail. We tell them the whole story and the husband says to me "Well, the ranger told me there is an offshoot trail for the waterfall that is easy to miss". Are you kidding me?! Who even knows what trail we were on (the sign clearly said happy trail)? We finish up northern cascades disappointed we didn't get the waterfall, or my final resting place, but it was an invigorating park. We all liked it better than Glacier and kind of tied with Theodore Roosevelt...
We drive back to the hotel to get some rest after a long day and fake hike. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day celebrating Gideon's birthday.
Summary: Old hip problems, don't go chasing waterfalls, smaller parks make bigger impacts. Ending the day at the Holiday Inn, Everett, WA (again).