Darkness surrounded us. Without our headlamps on we couldn’t see our hands in front of us let alone the steep, eroded “trail” leading to Mailbox Peak. Staring up into the night sky we could see the the trees melt into blackness. Glimpses of brilliant shining stars would peek from between the forest canopy providing the only reprieve from the blackness. I suddenly became very thankful that I had packed every single AAA battery I could find in the house as backups for our headlamps. Maura’s sister and her family were in town visiting for the weekend to meet our 7 week old son,…
Bean Creek Basin
After a successful first night of camping for our 6 week old baby boy, Jack, we drove halfway home and stopped for a hike in the Teanaway. We have been doing easy, family friendly hikes since we found out we were going to be parents last October. Mount Pilchuck was the last hike I had done that had more then 2000 feet of elevation gain and that was almost a year ago! I was eager to get back into the higher elevations so Bobby found a hike of 5 miles with 2000 feet of elevation gain, whose description boasted incredible views of…
Jack’s First Camping Trip
The weather for the weekend was looking perfect with highs in the 80s and lows in the high 50s. We decided it would be warm enough that we should be able to take our 6 week old baby boy, Jack, camping without too much concern for him staying warm enough. Before we could head out we had to make a few purchases to make camping with an infant as stress-free as possible. We needed a new, family friendly tent, a portable crib, and appropriate warm layers for Jack for sleeping. We went to REI during their Labor Day sale and…
Talapus Lake
Jack was 5 weeks old to the day when we headed out on his second hike – we chose the hike up to Talapus Lake. The forecast for the day was calling for intermittent rain and chilly temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s. After some debate as to how we would face our first cold/rainy hike with our newborn son we packed up rain gear, extra layers for everybody, and Jack’s trusty umbrella and hit the road. We arrived at the trailhead at around 11:00 a.m. and were surprised by the number of cars in the lot. We…