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…
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…
Heather Lake
Our baby boy, Jack, is now 4 weeks old! We took him out for his first hike when he was 2 weeks old, but we didn’t get far, as I was still recovering and needed to take things pretty slow. When he was 3 weeks old we took him, along with a set of his grandparents, to Mount Rainier National Park, we drove to Paradise and did the very short paved trail up to Myrtle Falls. Now that he is 4 weeks old and I am pretty much completely healed up from the birth we decided to try a real hike!…
Sunrise Rim Trail to Emmons Overlook
The 4th of July weekend occurred just two short weeks before my due date. Normally, we would’ve planned a grand adventure-filled weekend, but with baby potentially making his appearance at any time we knew we shouldn’t wander far from home. The road to Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park was just recently opened up after a long snowy winter and Bobby has been itching to visit this section of the park. We had never been to Sunrise, at 6400 feet it is the highest point in the park that you can drive to within the national park. There is a large…
Franklin Falls
This week was a pretty big milestone for us, I am officially full term in my pregnancy at 37 weeks! We decided to celebrate by going on a short and easy hike that was a bit of a drive into the mountains. Franklin Falls was the perfect destination for our outing. It’s a bit of a drive, just about an hour, so I got to enjoy a wonderful car ride through the beautiful Cascades, which is honestly one of my favorite parts of all the adventures we take in the woods! Ever since I was a child I have enjoyed long…
McClellan Butte
Back in June 2012, Maura and I went for our first day hike as Washington residents. Scouring through our new guidebooks searching for a good hike I made the ill-conceived decision that we should start out with one of the ‘more difficult’ hikes. Coming from Minnesota we didn’t have an understanding of how elevation gain added to the difficulty of a hike or how there could still be snow in June on trails. That day we only made it in a few miles before deciding to turn back at an avalanche gully after trudging through a few feet of snow.…
Goat Peak Lookout
We were staying at the Happy Trails cabin in Mazama with a group of friends for the weekend to celebrate Maura’s and my 5 year wedding anniversary. Maura, being 34 weeks pregnant, wasn’t up for much, so she invited a gaggle of our friends along who were, as an anniversary present for me! While she remained at the cabin with Latigo, enjoying a peaceful day of reading and relaxation Marie, Kelly, Cary and I headed up the 12 miles of dusty and washboarded forest roads to the Goat Peak Lookout trailhead. From the valley floor the peak looked entirely snow free and…
Denny Creek
Bobby and I have both been antsy for a more difficult hike. At 33 weeks pregnant I am limited as to what I can do safely and comfortably, but we decided to embark on a longer hike. We chose Denny Creek, a 4 mile hike, which is touted as one of the most family friendly hikes in WA. Arthur A. Denny was the leader of the Denny Party who were some of the original settlers in Seattle. Denny Creek was named for the family because they had mining claims in the area. We packed lots of snacks, a lunch, and a…
Coal Creek Falls
Officially into my 8th month of pregnancy meant a pretty low key Memorial Day Weekend at home for us. We did manage to get out one day for a little excursion into the foothills of the Cascades. We headed to Cougar mountain and the Coal Creek Falls trail. A trail that I had actually helped reroute on a Washington Trails Association (WTA) trail crew work party earlier this year! It sure was neat to bring Bobby to a trail that I had helped build! I got to point out a stump that I had helped pull out that was sitting…