With Lake Odin vacationing it up at NanaBaba’s, Michael and I had an opportunity to do a little camping and hiking ourselves. Michael is a master at picking good, relatively unknown, hiking and camping gems. After a few hours of research he had a three part contingency plan formulated.
He lead us up the Skykomish into on a day hike into the Wild Sky Wilderness following Johnson Ridge out to Joan Lake for a 9 mile trek with jaw dropping views on either side.
We dropped down into Joan Lake for lunchtime and were treated to a live marmot show. These were some of the biggest marmots either of us had ever seen. Otherwise it was pretty quiet, just a few birds and only a few other hiking parties were encountered.
We were well situated for the day hike launch having camped at Beckler River Campground, where we scored a sweet spot right on the river bank for $18.
It did rain more than we were expecting however that did not dampen our spirits. It was great to spend the weekend out in the mountains, sharing the fresh air with the wildflowers and my sweetheart!
A Perfect Day . . . 
Hello Mike and Tolle. Ken typing on Annie’s big Laptop. It was fun for us to go through your posting of your recent hike. I expect that I did some of the same hikes that you have done. I had several friends who also liked hiking. Also Brother Jerry. Bob and Kazumi weren’t as interested in hiking. Dave was also interested in going on some of the hikes that I remember. Ken, Bob and Jerry were all in groups that liked to go hiking. And Camping! I drove up to the trailheads of quite a few hikes. I lived in the Seattle general area during my hiking days. No more overnight hiking or camping now. Instead Annie and I enjoy going on car trips to out of the way places where we can find a local small town with a motel for two. Mike Memories of camp and/or hiking trips we took would be welcome. I still have large collections of photos and slides from trips we took. I don’t look at them much anymore. Or even think about outdoor adventures. It is all motel trips now. We are pretty settled down to Semi-Country living. We mostly like ocean highway drives. Annie just told me that this will go to Tolle’s Blog. We don’t know how to send this letter to other family members. It would be appreciated if you could send this letter to other Ayres family and other friends. Love to Mike and Tolle. Seattle dwellers, just like I was for a long time. Now I and Annie live in the semi-country Shelton area. With big city Olympia about 35 minutes away. Love from Annie and Ken.
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Thanks for reading my blog, Ken and Annie! I’m glad the hike brought up some good memories. Michael talked a lot about the hiking all you all Ayres did growing up. He especially fondly remembers the frequent backpacks to Lena Lake’s as well as with the “brothers and cousins” hikes. Keeping up the tradition!
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