A little girl asleep in her bedroom in a state somewhere between a dream and consciousness, as she is awakened by the first light of morning. Scurrying out of her bed, in her polka dotted footie pajamas, she quickly dashed up the flight of stairs to be hit with the aroma of her Mom's amazing cooking. As she passes the front door she sees the backpacks that her Mama and Papa had packed the night before.
Finally making it into the kitchen she is greeted by her Mama and Papa and a huge plate of homemade biscuits and gravy. Swiftly eating her plate and handing it back almost clean to her mama, she hops downstairs to change into her hiking clothes that Mama had laid out for her that morning. Throwing off her pajamas and pulling on her clothes she then ran back up stairs anxiously waiting for her Papa to finish eating.
Papa finally finished his breakfast and went to pick up his backpack from the front door and put the little girl's backpack in the back seat. The little girl hopped into her car seat anxiously waiting to get on the road. As Papa turned on the car the little girl squealed in excitement. Off on their journey they went.
After 20 minutes on Highway 90, Papa turned onto a gravel road to get to the beginning of the trail head. To the little girl, the car ride felt more like eight hours than the mere 35 minutes. When they pulled up to the small parking area, there were a few other cars there. The little girl hopped out of her car seat grabbed her backpack and scurried over to her Papa who was grabbing his half full backpack, slinging it over his back.
They see the sign which reads: Talapas Lake - Snoqualmie Pass, round trip 6.2 miles, elevation 1220 ft, highest point 3780 ft. Papa looks down at the little girl, smiles, takes her hand and starts walking to the broad trail towards the lake. Excitedly the little girl pulls her Papa to the damp trail.
As the two cross into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness the path begins to even out, but the trail starts to get wetter almost bog like. Papa warns the little girl that if she walks too slowly her boots would get stuck in the damp ground.
Soon the bog like trail dries out and soon they come upon Talapas Lake. The little girl runs to the edge of the water, and looks into the crystal clear water. Papa looks around seeing fourteen other people doing various tasks, hoping that they would have some peace and quiet, he called over the little girl and asked if she could hike an extra mile and a half too Olallie Lake. The little girl nods eagerly, taking another glance at the beautiful lake.
The two set off back to the small damp trail. Papa looks at the girl hoping that she can make it the extra mile and a half. But soon they hit the bridge and I sign saying that they are only .4 miles away from Olallie Lake. He smiles at the girl, pointing to the sign, were almost there. As the little girl squeaks and quickens her pace.
Soon the two find themselves alone in front of a beautiful blue lake. Papa picks up the little girl carrying her over to a pick nick table and sets her down on top of it, pulling off her backpack she points to the water. Papa looks where she is pointing and sees a family of otters playing in the cool water. He smiles taking off his backpack and pulls out their lunch and their art supplies laying them on the table. She picks up her sandwich and starts to munch on it he starts to eat some trail mix.
When she had finished her sandwich and drank some water she picked up her notebook and water colors and starts to paint the family of otters, and by the time she had finished it was late afternoon. Papa motioned that it was time to leave and the little girl look sad but packed up her notebook and water colors and put them back into the bag.
They begin the hike back down the mountain over the bridge. The little girl pulls on his sleeve, he knows exactly what she is saying so he stops and moves the stuff in his pack around so there's just enough room for his little girl, he picks her up and places her into his backpack. Soon she is fast asleep. Hearing her quiet breathing Papa smiles thinking how proud of her he was. She had made it all the way up and had painted a beautiful picture.
When he reaches the car he carefully takes off his backpack and takes the small girl out of the bag trying not too wake her up. He sets her in the car seat and buckles her in and puts their bags into the trunk of the car, and drives home.
As they pull into the driveway. Her mama was at the door smiling. He pulled the small child out of the car waking her slightly. She shifts her weight in his arms as he carries her into the house and down into her room. He sets her down on her bed kisses her head as her mama walks in and changes her into her pajamas. She falls back to sleep and is back in between her dreams and consciousness.
