8 tubs to a box, each tub is 1.5 ounces, giving a generous serving of peanut butter. Personally I would avoid the chocolate as it contains fully hydrogenated fat, the Natural though gives an alternative to the expensive pouches of PB on the market (and honestly the tubs are easier to get all the butter out of!).

Find in grocery stores and big box stores for $2 to 3 a pack.

~Sarah

But I always wondered how much I could truly write about the outdoors? I’d say that having a run from 2004 to the present has been pretty phenomenal. Many give up in just a couple of months, some make it a year or two. But even I see myself petering for that first time in 7 or so years. My posts come farther apart, sometimes a month passes or longer. Mostly I realize I don’t have as much to talk about or dwell upon when it comes to the outdoors. My life changing has part of that to blame. I had kept a personal blog I wrote that after the birth of my second son, Walker, in March of 2010, became ever so slowly my choice of where I wrote. Mostly because my outdoor life isn’t separate from my everyday life – my family is part of that. As I wrote months ago I found I angered men who had read this blog that I talked about gear for babies, food items for babies, etc that was related to hiking. So I took all that to my personal blog where I could be a ‘mommy blogger’ and have a receptive audience (shockingly enough there are plenty of women and men who DO have an interest in that!) It left a sourness though to my outdoor writing, I felt cornered and that I couldn’t express myself, I waited after every post to see someone post negative remarks on Twitter that I was talking about babies again. I found myself even posting trip reports on my personal blog when I went hiking this past year. There I didn’t feel that someone would complain that I had *gasp* shown too many photos of my youngest giggling in his Deuter backpack.Or him walking up a trail on his own….

It just became easier to have a personal blog where I owed no one anything and if it bugged someone they didn’t have to read it. What I found was a warm group of readers who were trying to balance family and hobbies. My life changed more than I thought after I had Walker. When it was just Ford and I all those years ago, hiking all over, it was just that – hiking and being outside. He wasn’t a typical kid, he was a rare one, who liked hiking and didn’t question too often about why I dragged him everywhere. But as he entered his teen years I quit writing about him. I believe teens should have privacy. But once Kirk and I added another child (Walker) things changed. I calmed down a bit and found new hobbies in the outdoors. I found I could be just as happy pushing a jogger stroller on a paved rail to trail as I was doing a 20 mile day on the PCT. For me the simple act of being outdoors has always been what matters, not where I was. And being pregnant this fall has changed me more. I know that my life will change even more once our third child is here this winter. I will be limited where I go for another year unless Ford carries the burden of his brother and I am not sure I am willing to ask that of him. But I can happily push my stroller with my babies and my my oldest walking next to me down a moss lined trail in the Cascade mountains. And simply smell the air. Will I get back to where I was three years ago, backpacking constantly? I do not think so, at least for a couple of years. But again I am OK with it. My interest in tents and sleeping bags isn’t as high anymore, where as daypacks and jogger strollers are.

For now I give no promises on how often my blog posts here will come. I happily write my column for Washington Trails Association’s magazine, Wa Trails, and keep developing new recipes for the Trailcooking website. I am often posting items on the Facebook fan page as well – and love reading post from readers on FB. But as I get farther along with this baby my heart lies in blogging on Gazing In more and more. So if periodically being forced to look at photos of my children doesn’t cause gagging, please check out my writings. I warn though hiking is maybe 10% of it but you never know….you might enjoy the upcoming recipes of Candy-Fest 2011 (Candy-Fest 2010 was amazing I might add). Hah…….

~Sarah

And some of our readers know I am also expecting our third baby this winter, another (hopeful) mini-giant boy bringing the Kirkconnell Boy Clan to three.

So between my personal blogging, sewing cozies, dealing with my kids and the pregnancy I haven’t had as much time. Ah well. I am though always active on our Facebook Fan Pages – FreezerBagCooking is very active and then we also have one for TrailCooking. So if you ever have any questions please if you are on Facebook, come over! I always love wasting time there

And while I get behind on posting the recipes over on Trailcooking at times, I am still developing new ones for every issue of Wa Trails Magazine, for our column “Trail Eats”. Which speaking of I need to import over the three last recipes…sheesh! So keep an eye out for them soon! (And if you are feeling generous the WTA is an excellent organization! And did I mention the magazine is now full color? Oh yes indeedy!)

So don’t give up on me if you don’t hear from me here for an extended period….I am still around

~Sarah

Recycling the Non-Recyclable: TerraCycle Works to "Leave No Trace" on the Earth

TRENTON, New Jersey - May 18, 2011 - This summer, instead of throwing out their
garbage, hikers and park-goers have another option for their non-recyclable trash
after they pack it out: sending it free of charge to pioneering company
TerraCycle(r) to be recycled. TerraCycle collects people's trash and recycles the
non-recyclable into eco-friendly, affordable, and practical products.

The "leave no trace" policy, which has evolved into the "pack it in, pack it out"
policy of taking all your trash out of the park with you, is furthered by
TerraCycle's Brigade(r) program, through which people can send in
difficult-to-recycle food wrappers for recycling and upcycling and earn cash for
charity. Usually, wrappers from products including Kashi, Bear Naked, CLIF BAR, and
Revolution Foods, among others, are non-recyclable.

TerraCycle upcycles some wrappers into tote bags, coolers, notebooks, laptop cases
and mini-speakers.  Wrappers that aren't upcycled are melted down and turned into
plastics such as trash cans, flower pots, and clipboards. The snacks that hikers use
while enjoying the outdoors can become eco-friendly, long-life products that support
the environment that hikers are enjoying. Instead of just leaving no trace on the
parks, hikers and outdoorsmen can also leave no trace on the Earth.

Anyone can sign up for TerraCycle's Brigade programs and send in their wrappers for
free. For every wrapper TerraCycle receives, two points are awarded that can be put
toward buying a specific charity gift, or converted to money and donated to a
charity of the participant's choice. Most importantly, the Brigade will be keeping
these wrappers out of the local landfills and off the ground.

So far, TerraCycle has kept over two billion pieces of trash from leaving their mark
on the Earth, and with its partners, dispersed over $2 million to charity through
the Brigade program.

For more information on how to sign up, send in trash and earn extra cash for your
favorite school or charity, visit www.terracycle.net

~Sarah

Each box has 7 packets, each packet flavors 17 to 24 ounces of water (I like it weaker, it is pretty strong in flavor). In grocery stores I see it for $2.50 to over $4 a box. At Wal-Mart it is $2 a box.

Recently I found the Wal-Mart version, in 4 of the flavors that Crystal Light has. Two of the flavors:

The Wal-Mart version is a tiny bit heavier – 2.17 ounces versus 2.22 ounces for 7 packets.Wal-Mart’s version though is priced at $1.76 a box.

They are both similarly packaged and prepared the same. Taste-wise they are very similar.

There is a difference though -The Crystal Light version has “electrolytes” added of a light addition of sodium and potassium.

The Wal-Mart version only has a light bit of sodium added:

Both are sweetened with a blend of sugar and Stevia herb and are dyed naturally with plant dyes.

If you like Stevia (I do) you may want to search out either brand.

~Sarah

Wings of Nature™ bars! Kirk and I had a chance to try out all three of their flavors and both of us agreed we’d love to carry them while hiking. The bars may seem small at 1.4 ounces (40 grams) but pack a powerhouse: 170 to 180 calories, 10 grams fat3 to 5 grams protein and fiber as well. With clear packaging you can see exactly what you are buying as well (bonus points for that) and they have a good shelf life.They are cold processed, gluten free, and both vegetarian and vegan friendly. Did I mention they use agave syrup for sweetening? (Yeah, I love the stuff! See here for my agave sweetened chocolate pudding, which if one likes to do show off treats on the trail this one can be made with dry milk, dairy or otherwise!)

Price wise they are not bad, if you purchase a box from the company direct (they are still hard to find) they are around $1.33 each. Compare this with the price on other bars in the same level and you will find them more affordable.

Espresso Coffee:

Chocolate and espresso together and neither taste artificial nor overpowering. The naturally dried raisins are pleasantly chewy and the rice cereal crispy. I have tried many a bar over the years (as our readers only know too well!) and this bar would be in my top 5. For me the smaller size was perfect. And that it wasn’t overly sweet nor densely packed. One thing that turns me off quickly on bars is when they are compact hockey pucks. These are not.

Cranberry Crunch:

Kirk enjoyed the texture of the Cranberry. He liked the combination of soft chewy berries to the crisp texture of the cereal, nuts and seeds.

Almond Raisin Bar:

The only thing we didn’t like was opening the packaging. The plastic ripped nicely till it hit the stickers (on both sides) and then stopped. But that is a small price of momentary frustration for a very nice product. As for finding them local I would bug your local Whole Foods to carry them!

~Sarah

My friend Jared was free (or at least looking forward to goofing off and studying for his classes….) so we headed up to Snoqualmie Pass for an easy hike to Snow Lake.

I have often wondered how many people on this extremely popular summer hike turn around after the stairs at the start? The stairs are a huge turn off I am sure.

Periodically the sun would come out and blind us:

With the snow this past week the streamlets and creeks were all running nicely. The lower cliffs that line the first part of the trail all had waterfalls streaming down them:

As we headed up we encountered snow pretty early on:

The views on the hike never quit amazing – one solid reason this hike is so popular. Jared loitering in a winter avy slope with the peaks behind him and Slide Alder lining the trail:

There are 2 small creeks to pass on the trail. I elected to take the ‘walk through’ method versus rock hopping. The waterproof of my new boots I picked up last week held along with some less than fashionable old school OR Verglas gaiters. (More to come later on the boots) I was glad to have the gaiters as I had the waterfall pounding against my leg as I went through.

Eventually we entered the snow permanently:

I have taken up in the past year of wearing a High UV Pro Buff to stop sun damage to my hair and scalp. It has worked well, I have it on first, then I put a visor on over it. In the cold it also keeps my head warmer without having to wear a heavy fleece or wool hat all the time.

Looking up at the peaks lining the trail:

I got tired of slogging through wet snow a couple hundred feet of gain below the pass so Jared shot ahead and took my camera with him (his battery had died on his) and shot some photos of Snow Lake below:

The lake is nicely snowed in and there was at least 1 1/2 feet of snow at the pass. Looking across at the peaks as we were heading back down:

We went down to the junction for Source Lake and since Jared had never been there we walked out there (it is a very easy side trail if you are already out there!)

Source Lake sits maybe 100 feet below the trail but getting there isn’t easy any time of the year as it sits below a messy avy slope often littered but as well full of Alder. It isn’t big either, though it is the headwaters of the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

In summer if one knows the way they can continue here and take the old trail towards Snow Lake. It is there. You can even see it on Google Maps in Sat view (which has been very useful when looking at abandoned trails for ideas if they are above tree line).

After wandering back there and getting into a nice foot or so of snow we called it a day and started the hike out. Jared crossing a waterfall:

It was a nice day out before the trick or treaters came out at home – so I knew I had to get back home to hand out candy (it is a huge deal where we live!).

~Sarah

Otherwise…have a great two weeks and we will hopefully have some kick butt photos, tales and reviews to talk about soon!

~Sarah and Kirk

Being that I needed to justify the buying of Walker’s BOB Jogger 5 months ago I spent much of the spring, the cooler parts of summer and now the chilly September days out walking with him, or as I prefer to call it ‘stroller walking’. It is one of our semi-daily routines and keeps my legs in hiking shape – especially considering pushing it isn’t light. Fully loaded I push 50 to 60 lbs around. A good all body workout!

But one thing I have been focused on late is having the ability to shed the use of our truck in the cooler months (call me a wuss but I don’t like anything above 70°). I wanted to be able to run errands, or well…walk the errands. What I found in spring when Walker was tiny was that our town blows. It blows to be a pedestrian. It is designed for vehicles. So pedestrian un-friendly that half the town is out of reach unless one wants to walk on the side of 3 major roads. No sidewalks. So much for finding out that our housing community we live in is on the ‘wrong side’ of town. Well…actually over half of the town’s houses have no clear way to get where they want or need to go. The town only incorporated in 1997, yet in the past 10 years has grown by 63%. We are what once was a backwoods bump in the 2 lane highway to Rainier, a place Seattle folks came to in summer for its affordable deep lakes. I love where I live but when I think about I hate it at the same time. We cannot walk safely to the post office or the library or to any of the public schools.

I think what has gotten me the most over the past 5 months is the blocks against people walking (or biking) safely. While we have an incredible rail to trail that runs through town, connecting the two shopping areas and of which connect to another rail to trail that will take you to many other rail to trails…well to get on that trail you must live near it. By GPS we live 1 3/4 miles and must cross one of the major roads without a cross walk. Hmmmm. Ain’t so easy.

But armed with observant eyes, a GPS and Google Maps, Walker and I are often plotting new adventures. Mission accomplished this morning when I found a route to the local Safeway and Starbucks that only had one semi-scary crossing each way and was on 25 mph roads (though as I have always noticed on these walks how many cars plow through residential streets doing 40 or more….). We had lights to cross the major highway (5 lanes) and a baby in a stroller usually means you don’t get flipped off and or yelled at when you are in the crosswalk. Usually that is. It never ceases to amaze me how some people have such a bloated freaking view of their self importance. Gasp, how dare I walk across a public street in a marked path? (Insert rolling of eyes) My favorite is when they honk, flip you off and scream at you all at the same time, bonus points for them doing this while on the phone.

But while our walk went well overall what I noticed was the lack of caring, no deep planning. Sidewalks to nowhere, that end with no slope. Sidewalks with slopes that would knock a wheelchair to its side. Homeowners who cannot be bothered to come out and trim their trees (hey, how about cutting the trees up to say 5’5″, OK?). The city allowing blackberry vines and shrubs to grown over the sidewalks. Just a general ‘we-don’t-care’ feeling. But I think what bugs me most is this:

To do a 1 1/2 mile walk to the grocery store to be safe I must walk over 2 1/2 miles each way. Over a mile extra simply for safety. The Long Way indeed. But what choice is there? The main highway has no shoulder, no bike lane and no sidewalks for most of the way.

So we take the lesser traveled route and hey, maybe that mile + each way isn’t a bad thing afterall. It is quiet as I walk through suburbia in the morning. I look down into the retention ponds full of run-off and I saw ducks and geese. The neighbor cats peek out and the curious ones follow us. Off the main road the air is clear, it is quiet. Retired people out working say hello. We pass a tiny pocket park the city built, Walker will love that when he is older. It has a tiny picnic table even. We cross the rail to trail and take it into town.

Maybe someday my town will take it seriously and change it. And build the missing areas. Currently the city puts in sidewalks to nowhere whenever the two highways are rebuilt and new housing developments are required to build them. At the same time I dream of how great it must to be live in a town built on the safety and health of its residents. Ah well.

Walk your town!

~Sarah

Now that is where heaven is after a hard hike

~Sarah