Cecret Lake

I will apologize in advance for the picture overload. This canyon is just too pretty not to post a million! That's why I'm so behind on posting this. The week after our failed attempt, we decided to actually get to Cecret Lake. So once again we headed off early and got up the canyon before sunrise. This time we brought the whole crew with us. The trail head is hard to find in the dark, but we found it and set off. The terrain was nice. Not too many rocks/roots. We had to cross a couple runoffs but it was really pretty. 

As we headed up the terrain started to change. It was very rocky and pretty uphill. I was struggling until I took the 23 pound baby off the front of me and passed him off to the hubs. After that, it was much easier. We stopped a lot with the kids and they never complained once. They were great sports, especially considering we woke them up at 4am to get on the road. 

 When you think there's no such thing as Cecret Lake, you're almost there. If you aren't looking where you're going, you'd fall right in. (No but seriously it's pretty cool and feels like a little secret tucked into the mountain.)

 I was the first to get to the lake. I was pretty excited, and I may have started chant/singing "Cecret! Cecret!" And I turned to my left and saw a good sized bull moose that was very close!!! Oops!

 It was SO awesome. We fell silent and watched in awe. The girls had been saying they wanted to see a moose the whole time since Wendy and I had seen one last week. Well, when we actually saw it, they wanted to turn around and leave immediately. Can you tell in the picture below? Someone wouldn't take her eyes off him.

 We wanted to keep our distance so we walked around the lake and watched him from afar as we enjoyed our granola bars.

 Even if we hadn't seen the moose, I would've still been blown away by the scenery. It is so gorgeous up there. We stayed for so long just watching the sunrise over the little oasis.

 Moose Selfie!

Scared selfie!

 On the way back down we noticed how green it is on the sides of the trail. The huge boulders are pretty cool too.

 We made it back down! Overall it was a great hike. It was great for kids if you stop a lot. Be careful of some of the rocks towards the end, you can slide pretty easily. The views are incredible. We did pass quite a few people on the way down, so I would suggest, once again, that you go early if you don't want to run into lots of other people. We all had a great time! I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for something gorgeous to see.
 Here's our stats via Fitbit:
Hike up:
Pace: 39'09"
Time: 1:09:18
Miles: 1.76
Steps: 4,176
Hike down:
Pace: 29'16"
Time: 37:27
Miles: 1.27
Steps: 3, 019