Saturday had a threat of rain in the afternoon and weather forecasts indicated that Sunday would bring rain all day. So we made ready early in the morning on Saturday and set off for a hike. I am now 21 weeks pregnant and am really getting used to the body I find myself living in with the added bonus that our little baby boy seems to have shifted and has eased the bad back pain that I had been enduring throughout the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy. So, I agreed to do a hike that had some elevation gain. Bobby…
Potholes State Park and White Bluffs
Lots of snowfall in the Cascades made for some pretty high avalanche dangers this weekend. So, we decided to make the longer trek over the mountain pass and into the more arid areas of Eastern Washington. We decided to make a weekend of our adventure seeing as we were looking at a 3+ hour drive for a hike that was free of snow and a bit warmer. Finding a spot that was open and had camping available was a little tricky, but Bobby succeeded in finding the perfect spot. Potholes State Park is a popular destination for boaters, with over 6,000-feet…
Santa Monica, CA
It was time to plan one last vacation before baby comes in July! Due to our busy spring schedule we decided to plan a winter getaway earlier in the pregnancy. We left cold and rainy Seattle behind and flew south to Los Angeles. We found a great deal on airfare using our favorite go-to trip planning site, Trip Advisor. Finding a hotel proved to be a little more difficult and we ended up spending quite a bit more then we normally do. We decided to throw caution to the wind and live it up one last time, booking ourselves into…
Barclay Lake
It’s been far too long since we have hit the trail and posted to our blog. Two primary reasons are responsible for our overly long absence from the outdoors scene. The primary reason being that Bobby and I found out we’re expecting our first baby this July! Dealing with the woes and wonders that come along with first trimester of pregnancy left me feeling unenthused about spending a day hiking about the woods. The secondary reason is that it’s snowboarding season for Bobby (the pregnancy has kept me sidelined from such a potentially dangerous activity). This past weekend though we…
Wonderland Trail: Longmire to Carter Falls
We decided that it was about time we visited Mount Rainier National Park for the first time! We have lived in Seattle for over a year and a half and our lack of visits to such an incredible National Park was getting ridiculous! We left Latigo at home and headed south. Two and a half hours later we found ourselves entering the majestic woods of Mount Rainier National Park. It had been our intention to snowshoe to Panorama Point but upon reaching the entrance we learned that, due to severe winter storm warnings that would be in effect throughout the…
Skyline Lake
Snow has fallen over the peaks of many of the mountains in the Cascade range. Hikes without snow are becoming more and more scarce. We decided to go all out this weekend and headed to Stevens Pass for a short snowshoeing trip! Skyline Lake is a short and sweet snowshoe with some pretty amazing views of the pass throughout the trek up. At only 3 miles and 1100 feet in elevation gain it is a brief but difficult snowshoe. It never ceases to amaze me how inadequately prepared we are for our first snowshoeing trip of the season. Not in gear…
Mount Pilchuck
A thick fog engulfed the trail and there was a definite chill in the air as we set off from the trailhead for Mount Pilchuck. We hoped that upon reaching the summit of the mountain at 5,324 feet we would find ourselves above the fog with glorious views of mountains floating above the clouds. We began the trek up the 2200 feet of elevation gain in just under 3 miles and were soon huffing and puffing. We had gotten a late start to the day and didn’t reach the trailhead until a little after 11:00. Though foggy and rainy the…
Blanca Lake
Last week we hiked up to a peak. This week we decided to hit another hike on Bobby’s bucket list, Blanca Lake. It’s a tough trek with over 3000 feet of elevation gain but the spectacular setting you find yourself in after a lot of hard work makes the difficult hike well worth it! We headed out Saturday morning with our friends, Jason and Stacey. The drive to the trailhead from Seattle is a 2+ hour journey. The access to the trailhead includes a half an hour on gravel roads that were fairly potholed so be sure to keep that…
Granite Mountain
After my two week absence I was finally back in Washington and ready to go hiking and be welcomed home by the mountains I love so much. Bobby had been wanting to hike to the summit of Granite Mountain all summer. Due to it’s popularity we had been putting it off, however we decided it was high time we braved the crowds and headed up. We arrived at the trailhead at half past nine and were glad to see that there were still some spots left in the parking lot. This trail’s popularity causes the lot to overflow quickly. We…
Eightmile Campground and 8-Mile Rock
Rain was predicted for the weekend but that doesn’t generally stop us from seeking adventure! We set off Friday night for Icicle Creek Canyon. It’s one of our favorite spots in the State of WA and we haven’t camped here since early spring. We aren’t the only ones who enjoy this area and the campgrounds are generally packed every single weekend. We hoped that because it was the weekend after Labor Day and the gloomy weather report would keep the crowds away and we would be able to secure a site at the popular Eightmile Campground. There are five campgrounds…