Cecret Lake...for real....finally!!

Ok, I guess third times the charm!

After this unsuccessful venture to Cecret Lake...

followed by this unsuccessful venture to Cecret Lake...

we FINALLY made it!!

Trumpets please!!

Dun, duh, duh, dun, duh, DUUUUUUN!

Cecret Lake!

That, my friends, is Cecret Lake...up close and personal.

BoOyAh!!

To try to ensure success this time around we got up at 6 AM and left the house just after 7 so we would have better chances of beating the throngs of hikers who plagued us last time around.  It worked like a charm.  We arrived at the parking area just before 8 AM and were one of a handful of cars.  By the time we were driving out about 10:30 AM the place was packed so it was a good choice.

This was a wonderful day trip for the family.  The hike isn't too rough and is only a mile each way so it was quick.  

The area was also gorgeous!  There were tons of wild flowers blooming everywhere and squirrels and birds and chipmunks and even moose out and about for us to spy (Parker actually spotted two moose, like a pair of moosen or something).

(This was the steepest, rockiest bit of the hike just before you get to the lake.)

It took us maybe a half hour to reach the lake and then we got to explore.  The area is really really gorgeous.  I can see why it is so popular.

We were literally the only people there for nearly an hour and a half, so we walked around the lake and just experienced everything it had to offer (except for Aubrey who opted to lay on a rock in the sun and just soak in the beauty while she sat still).  We watched a huge rock slide on a neighboring hill, saw elk wandering up a nearby slope, looked at a beaver lodge, spied on huge tadpoles or mudskippers or some swimming thing with legs that lives all throughout the lake, and skipped and threw rocks in the water.  We also watched some sort of fat, snub-tailed ground mouse (big, round ears -- not a pot-gut) gather seeds.

Once we worked our way all the way round the lake, a couple of other families made their appearance and we decided it was time for us to head back.  

But just then, Josh found a little plastic case in the bushes.  We opened it to find a note saying this was a "Secret Box" placed by someone from "Green Jello Land" in early 2010.  Inside was a little notebook and a homemade stamp.  We wanted to add our names and the date to the book (which several people before us had done) but had not means of doing that.  I did valiantly offer to cut myself and then we could write with my blood but Josh said no.  Party pooper.

We put the little box back in the bushes and left it to be discovered by someone else another time.  Fun!

And then we hiked back down to the car.

(Our crew of canyon adventurers.)

I would go back to this place in a heartbeat...if the snow had melted and the parking lot wasn't full.  We all had a good time and it was just a great, relaxing, family adventure.

Loved it.  Thanks, Cecret Lake!