Although we attempted to find some local hikes that aren’t Holland Lake, when our friends the Merrills showed up on our doorstep, we decided to go to Holland anyway. It was a scorching hot day (in the midst of a Pacific Northwest heat wave) and the sunny parts of the trail were a little rough. While Matt and the kids played on the lake, Pepper, Heather, and I headed up the mountain.
We were rewarded with a refreshing reward at Holland Falls. The air temperature was probably 20 degrees cooler, with a fine mist from the water. It was exhilarating after a hot hike.
It was fun to edge closer to the falls and get drenched in ice-cold spray.
After cooling off, we had a snack. The chipmunks in the area must be well-fed by tourists, because they have no fear. This little guy climbed right into my backpack.
(No, we didn’t feed him anything.)
The view from the top was, as always, spectacular.
After hiking back down, we joined the others on the water and spent the rest of the day swimming and boarding. Gotta love lakes on these hot summer days!