Here’s a “fun” fact for you – Seattle has had 9 days of sunshine since the first of October. Nine. Out of 178. And So. Much. Rain. Does that sound depressing to you? Because it has been for me. Now if you’ve read this blog at all in the past, you probably know I don’t like…
Read More
One of my favorite ways to end a year is to remind myself of all the things that made that year great. I’ll be honest, 2016 has been a rough one for me, both personally and because of what is happening around the world. It leaves me feeling conflicted. How can I be unhappy in…
Read More
After our glorious morning hike to Blue Lake to see the larches, Adrienne drives us a short distance to Washington Pass for more gorgeous mountain views. Unlike Blue Lake, the views at Washington Pass are only a short walk from the parking lot. The larches here in Washington are alpine larches. They only grow at high altitudes….
Read More
Are you ready for Larch Madness?! I’m going to tell you about a place straight out of a fairytale, but you have to promise to keep it between us, OK? Roughly 3 hours northeast of Seattle lies one of the least visited national parks in our country – the North Cascades National Park. Carved out by…
Read More
Yeah OK, so I steal Irving Stone book titles for my blog. And I can’t promise I won’t use any more. But if you ever see me title a blog with “Clarence Darrow for the Defense”, you’ll know I’ve run out of ideas. Climbing Mt Rainier is by far the hardest physical and mental challenge…
Read More
Since we’re on the topic of climbing mountains, now seems like a good time to share my hike up Mt St Helens with you! Back in 2011, Amy (who I climbed Kilimanjaro with) and I did our first big climb together. Little did we know what we would later go on to accomplish. I’m pretty sure…
Read More
I’m just starting to doze off when suddenly the lights come on and Dave cheerful tells us it’s time to get up and get ready for the summit! He even gave us an extra 15 minutes to sleep, it’s 11:15pm! We have one hour to get ready, hot water is being brought in for coffee…
Read More
Much to my relief, our third day of the climb dawns cloudier and cooler than yesterday. After my ordeal last night, I couldn’t be any more grateful. I wake up still feeling weak, and I’m wondering if I’ll even be able to make it to Camp Muir, let alone anywhere on the upper mountain. But…
Read More
Before I get into mountaineer school today, I should probably tell you a bit more about this climb. The program Lori and I signed up for is the four day summit climb through Rainier Mountaineering Inc. RMI is the original guiding service on Mt Rainier, and they have an excellent reputation. There are two other…
Read More
Before I get in to the details of my climb of Mt Rainier, I won’t keep you in suspense of how I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the summit. Words can’t even describe my disappointment at not succeeding a second time, however I did get to 12,300ft, the top of the Disappointment Cleaver…
Read More
Holy smokes it’s time. We’ve reached the climax of our training. The crux of our hikes. The hardest one of them all. At least until we get to Rainier. Mailbox Peak is practically legend in these parts. Hikers mention it with awe and fear. People speak of it in hushed tones. Ok, maybe not that extreme. But…
Read More
As I mentioned last week, I climbed Mt Rainier this past weekend. And I’ll have photos to share with you soon, but I have a two more training hikes to tell you about first. Our second to last hike is Granite Mountain. I did this hike for the first time I tried to climb Rainier…
Read More
