Finding direction and purpose from travel and culture
It seems like Mailbox Peak has been on our list of must-do hikes forever. We've been putting it off in part because it's a long one-- taking the New Trail puts the overall hike at just over 11 miles round trip. It's also considered a fairly tough one since you experience 5,000 feet of elevation …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Mailbox Peak
Despite the overcast skies we decided to squeeze in one more hike to round out our weekend of hiking adventures when we woke up at Mt. Rainier National Park's Paradise Inn on Sunday morning. We headed over to the Nisqually Vista Loop for an easy hike to a series of overlooks that were supposed to offer great …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Nisqually Vista Loop and Deadhorse Creek
On our recent trip to Mt. Rainier National Park, we opted to stay at the Paradise Inn for an evening and dedicate our weekend to hiking around Paradise. After an incredible morning hiking at nearby Sunrise, we finally arrived at Paradise to find that the clouds had rolled in, blocking much of the summit and …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Alta Vista Loop
During our recent trip to Mt. Rainier we decided at the last minute to check out Narada Falls on the recommendation of my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. They had visited Mt. Rainier during their time here and said it was a nice, quick stop on the way out of the park. They were right--the falls is …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Narada Falls
We celebrated our anniversary weekend at Mt. Rainier National Park, hiking around Sunrise and Paradise and spending the night at the historic Paradise Inn. We stopped at the Black Diamond Bakery for an amazing breakfast on our way down to the park and arrived at Sunrise around 9:30 a.m. to begin our hiking adventures. Although …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Sunrise Rim, Burroughs Mountain and Sourdough Ridge Trails
We wanted to take my brother-in-law and his girlfriend on an incredible hike in the Cascade Mountains last weekend but the weather wasn't cooperating. Although things can sometimes change while you're on the trail, the radar strongly suggested our window of hiking opportunity would be Saturday morning--by Saturday afternoon, the rain would be saturating the …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Barclay Lake
This weekend we FINALLY got around to hiking Mount Pilchuck! This hike has been on our list since we moved to Washington, but for some reason we managed to hike multiple other hikes around it while avoiding this big one. It’s actually not a ‘big one’ compared to most—it’s a little under six miles roundtrip …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Mount Pilchuck
The weekend after my master's degree classes ended (HOORAY!) we set out mid-morning for one of the longer bike-and-hikes we've tackled in a while. Our destination: Lake Serene. By the time we arrived parking at the trailhead was scarce and I was glad we were on our bikes and able to sneak into an available …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls
Brian’s birthday fell on a Sunday, two days after I turned in the final paper of my master's degree program, so of course I immediately drummed up all of the fun weekend getaways I keep stored in the back of my brain for just such an occasion, ready to hit the road and celebrate! Unfortunately …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Spencer Island
We set out Saturday morning to tackle a new hike near Steven's Pass on the western side of the Cascade Mountains called Heybrook Lookout. This short but steep hike to the lookout ended up being about 2.5 miles roundtrip with 992 feet of elevation gain. You better believe our hearts were pumping after that mile …
Continue reading Washington Hikes: Heybrook Lookout
Finding direction and purpose from travel and culture
Finding direction and purpose from travel and culture
Finding direction and purpose from travel and culture
