Mount Washington was our first attempt at summiting a peak in the Cascades. It also proved to be our first successful summit! On the seventh of July, 2012 we summited Mount Washington (4,420 feet). This hike was extremely private, we only passed three or four other groups. This may have had something to do with our very early start. We were done hiking the 8.5 miles with more than 3,000 feet in elevation gain by 1:00 p.m. The Mount Washington hike featured on the WTA website has you stop 2 miles in at a viewpoint. We continued to the summit…
Lake 22
At 6.25 miles and 1350 feet in elevation gain, Lake 22 seemed a beautiful first hike with more than 1,000 feet in elevation gain for us to attempt. We were joined on this incredibly picturesque hike by our friends, Jason and Stacy. The turnaround point is the climax of the hike, a little more than 2 miles in, where you are greeted by an unbelievable natural wonder. The beautiful Lake 22 sits before you as Mount Pilchuck’s north face surrounds 2/3 of the water. When we went, there was still snow covering up the 1.2 mile trail that circumnavigates the…
Otter and Big Creek Falls – Taylor River Hike
We moved to washington just a few weeks ago and were eager to go on our first outdoor excursion. Using the Washington Trails Association (WTA) website for the first time we found the Otter and Big Creek Falls – Taylor River hike. At 10 miles it was one of the longest hikes we had ever attempted but, it only had 650 feet of elevation gain. We set off with the hope that this would be an easy introduction to hiking! Despite the constant and unpleasant drizzle that continued throughout the day we made it through the hike without any problem!…
Chamonix, France: Day 3
This morning we woke up to the same sound we fell asleep listening to, the rain pattering against the skylight above us. We checked the forecast and were disappointed to see that it was supposed to rain all day. Our plans of hiking an hour to a sweet climbing spot would have to be put on the back burner. We went out to buy a few more final souvenirs and snacks and then stopped at the office of our rental company to pick up a game/DVD pack they rent out for 10 Euros. The pack contains several dozen DVDs and…
Mount Whitney: The Climb up to 14,505 Feet!
With no training or any real idea of the challenge that lay ahead of us we climbed to the top of Mount Whitney (14,505 feet) the tallest peak in the continental United States. Looking back at it, we sometimes feel like we cheated since the horses carried us up to almost 11,000 feet the day before the actual hike up. We camped at Guitar Lake, a popular stop for hikers looking to climb Mount Whitney. It’s popularity wasn’t lost on us as groups of hikers began flooding the area and level, non-rocky campsites were becoming scarce. It was a sadly…