Harmony Falls — Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018

Harmony Falls/Spirit Lake: This hike has been on my bucket list for years and I was not disappointed. It’s a mile down to Spirit Lake and then a mile back up. Of course, we did this hike on the hottest day of the year. The first half going in was shaded so, luckily, the last half coming out was shaded. This trail was very “ashy” so expect to get your feet dirty. Once you reach Spirit Lake, there is a bit of a scramble over the logs to get to the water. You can avoid this if you want to just take in the view, but the water is so worth it. It’s clean, it’s clear, it’s refreshing.  Our timing was perfect as we had the entire lake to ourselves. Since we were wet from our dip in the water, the hike out in the heat wasn’t as bad as we were expecting. I definitely recommend getting there in the morning because when we hit the trailhead on the way out around 2:00pm, carloads of people leaving Windy Ridge showed up. This hike was worth it. Definitely moved up into my top 5.