After the weather turned questionable on our Golden Larch trip to the Pasayten Wilderness, Deb and Steve recommended going to The Wallows in north-east Oregon. Having never been there, Jim and I jumped on board. Deb architected a beautiful loop trip with 3 lovely summits. It is amazing how many 9,000+ foot peaks there are…
Jim has been wanting to do a 3-day traverse from Upper Lena Lake to Lake of the Angles in the Olympic Mountains for several years now. We took advantage of a nice 3-day weather window to do the hike. With a promise of no bushwhacking and no rain, Andrew signed on to join us. We…
Jim and I decided to try something different over Labor Day weekend. Drive to Snoqualmie Pass, hike in 5 miles, and go camping. We took a one day climb and made it into a 3 day camping trip. We headed into Melakwa Lake early Friday morning to avoid the weekend crowds on the trail and…
Jim and I have been wanting to do an Alpine Lakes Traverse for many years. With help from Fay and Jim Aga, we were able to do the traverse over our anniversary last week. The weather forecast was not great for a 5 day trip: 3 nice days of weather sandwiched between 2 questionable days.…
Nine years ago, Jim and I did the Ptarmigan Traverse with a group of friends. This was my first and Jim’s second attempt. After spending the last several years doing trips in the area, I really wanted to repeat the traverse via an alternative exit over the Chickamin Glacier and out through Hanging Gardens and…
Last week, we headed into the Olympics with our friends Greg and Tony. Tony’s daughter, Anna, and her friend, Engre, joined us. Brooke had to miss this adventure due to a bachelorette party at Lake Chelan. The 6 of us met at the trailhead near Lake Quinault in the late afternoon. We hiked in 5…
When Brooke arrived in Seattle last September, she had a list of the top 10 hikes in Washington State. One of the places she really wanted to overnight camp was Sahale Arm in North Cascades National Park. We told her so does everyone else visiting the North Cascades. Sahale Arm might be the most sot…
One of Brooke’s buckle-list items was climbing Mt Rainier. Big Surprise! We were supposed to attempt it June 2020 but Brooke couldn’t get out of Australia. Covid lockdown. Brooke told us Australia lockdown again a week ago. They have 22 new cases. After spending the last 4 months testing out vanlife with Dan, Brooke returned to…
Jim and I have been trying to climb Mt Whitney for the last several years. One trip didn’t go due to weather. The other didn’t go because of a fire closures. The day before our trip in June, we were informed that Whitney Portal was closed due to a fire. Whitney Portal was our exit…
For my birthday, Jim and I went to Yosemite to do our first backpacking trip of the season. Our main goal was Clouds Rest peak. We saw it 5 years ago from the summit of Half Dome and have wanted to climb it ever since. After a stop at Jim’s cousins, we headed into Yosemite,…