Ford and I back in 2003 – he was 5 at the time:

It was good we did it back then – we never got back…other trails called to us. Then in 2006 both trails disappeared after the flooding. A “trail” was picked through to Glacier Basin, through the river bed, so that climbers could get access. The WTA (Washington State Trails) stepped in to help the realization of a new trail that would be permanent. Read this link to see what was going on last summer in 2009. The first third or so is done now and is an absolute dream to hike on.

The trail begins as the old one did, the parking being at the picnic area/climbers parking lot near the end of the White River Campground Rd. You have to road walk a tiny bit and then jig through a path in the woods where you come across the trailhead sign. The new trail pulls up above the river, getting out of the flood path. It is so smooth and evenly graded that you can walk without looking down. No twigs, roots or rocks! Well built bridges cross the streamlets pouring down.

Kirk and Walker before we got on the trail:

Ford and Kirk:

Walker and I in the woods:

Ford hanging out, he was carrying the gear for both him, Walker and I…nice to have the help!

After a lovely mile or so in the woods you start getting views of the mountain:

About where the trail used to hook off to the left to Emmons Moraine is this open area:

The good trail ends here, where the trail clips down the Inter Fork River. It is flagged and you skim the side on the rocks. There is though a whole new section of trail being built here, it isn’t open yet and we passed a worker. You can see right before the water where the new trail will switchback to go up and around this area.

We followed the flagging (yellow and pink ribbon) and kept going. But realized that while I could go uphill coming back downhill with the baby strapped on to me was not so easy. The trail here is a rough boot path, zagging through the woods and boulder fields. So we didn’t make it. Oh well! Going to where it clips the side of the Inter is a lovely turn around.

When the work is finally done this trail will be as nice or nicer than Summerland. Even then, it offers views and more without the crowds that swarm Summerland, just down the road.

We headed back and had a picnic in the trees above the White River, along the Wonderland Trail. A last look at Rainier from the river bed:

~Sarah

A pleasant chewy texture and a mild flavor. No greasy aftertaste either. This is great snacking sausage, diced up it would be great added to a pasta or rice dish as well.

~Sarah

The vegan friendly meal is a powerhouse: Cal: 870  Fat: 28g  Sodium: 465g  Carbs: 95g  Protein: 35g – it boasts whole wheat pasta and plenty of chunky walnuts. Easy to make and ready to eat in under 15 minutes. I have found for best results with the whole wheat pasta to add the oil packet and dry ingredients to the water and then bring to a boil. Gives the pasta a little extra help (the directions state to add the dry ingredients to boiling water).

The single serving bag is huge and will easily fill up even the hungriest man. If you have a smaller appetite you can easily split it between two with maybe a nice hunk of bread with it. The flavor is robust and not of the normal ‘commercial meals’ type. If you like organic non-dairy foods you will like this one. And beyond that – the sodium level on this meal is stellar!

~Sarah

Some of the recipes were recently added to the website for archiving so you may have missed them – but don’t hesitate to try them out before the end of summer!

I will add to Trail Cooking in a month or so the newest recipes. This month’s issue is all about foraging and we did two recipes using found items -

Blackberry Green Beans

Nettle Pesto Pasta

Our first issue was September/October of 2009:

Curried Salmon Pilaf

Double Ginger Huckleberry Cobbler

November/December 2009:

Blustery Day Double Potato Chowder

Harvest Pasta

January/February 2010:

Spam©-Tastic Fried Rice

Cherry Chicken Couscous

March/April 2010:

Hiker’s Primavera Pasta

Cran-Mac Caramel Bars

May/June 2010:

Last Minute Meat and Olive Pizzas

Pina Colada Mini Pies

July/August 2010:

Asian Chicken Slaw Wraps

Ice Cream In a Bag!

PS: And as always….if you live in or love the great Pacific Northwest please check out what WTA does for this area!

~Sarah

When we moved there it was culture shock, we had lived in an area with a bustling city and suddenly I was living 10 miles from town, no transit buses…nothing but eagles, coyotes, a vast state park to roam (it was across the road!) and a zillion jets from NAS Whidbey screaming over at odd hours. I may talk a lot about Rainier but one of my true loves is the islands – all of them, from the San Juans to the ones in the Puget Sound. The state owns a lot of land and much of it is open to the public. North Whidbey though is easy to get to…being that there are bridges connecting it to the main land. The park receives many visitors a year and it boasts 38 miles of hiking, much near the water.

But as we sat there, enjoying the views I could see Mt. Erie in the distance, across the water. And I knew where I wanted to go on the way home. Mt. Erie is on Fidalgo Island, which sits between the main land and Whidbey Island. Many people drive onto Fidalgo and don’t realize they are even on an island, the crossing is very narrow. Fidalgo is home to the town of Anacortes but beyond it lies a number of small peaks (and yes, small they are but wonderful none the less). The Island boasts many lovely lakes to go with the peaks. It is also home to the Anacortes Community Forest Lands (ACFL) with over 50 miles of trails and which is where Mt. Erie resides, the high point of it and as well of the island (at over 1200 feet). Sitting up so high one gets a birds eye view of the area spread out below them. Mt. Erie is one of the places where one can either walk up to or drive a steep but short road up to. When Ford was little he and I walked (and also him riding in his jogger on the bike friendly trails)

Below lies Campbell Lake with its tiny island, beyond is the water of Deception Pass, Cornet Bay’s marina is visible. The tan-ish area to the right is NAS Whidbey, which lies on West Beach. There are many little islands off of Hoypus Point on Whidbey.

Walker and I checking out the views below us. The viewpoints are varied – there are a couple of them, all worth checking out:

Walker hanging out with mom:

Looking across at Whidbey with Campbell Lake, Pass Lake and West Beach stretching in the distance. Across the Strait of Juan De Fuca is the Olympics:

Ford having fun climbing on the rocks:

Just a nice break in our drive before we headed back inland….

~Sarah

Sun-dried Tomato Basil Mozzarella? It is fantastic melted into rice and coating pasta. Really really really GOOD.

Queso Fresco & Chipolte? Spread it on tortillas, then add your rice and beans for an amazing trail burrito! It is mildly spicy, just enough to jazz up a boring dish but not overpower it.

They also added a new Blue Cheese flavor which I haven’t had the chance to try out yet. Hopefully soon, it looks like it would be a great addition to creamy soups.

~Sarah

Another easy to grab snack for your pack from your local Starbucks is Sahale Snacks Pomegranate Cashews. As with the other nuts in their line expect neither an overly sweet nor salty nut. The flavor of the pomegranates is a light flavor. The only downside is we found the cashews to be soft in texture. It seemed that the glaze seeps in, leaving the nuts without the crispy snap that make cashews so irresistible. If I could have the texture of Costco brand lightly salted cashews that are roasted and then covered them with that delicious glaze and pomegranates? It would be perfect.

Still, they are in an easy to pack bag and just enough for 1 to 2 people. No mess, no fuss!

~Sarah

The convenience is having individually wrapped cookies that stay fresh, well worth any extra cost and carrying the empty wrappers out. The cookies are smaller in size, perfect for children. If one wanted less mess they might consider the plain oatmeal version, the chocolate chips tend to melt quickly.

Find these cookies in natural food grocery stores and some well stocked mainstream grocery stores.

~Sarah

A Crystal Light drink mix not full of artificial dyes? Yes indeed! Crystal Light Pure Fitness mix has started recently started showing up on the shelves in the drink mix aisles of grocery stores. It can be hard to find but is well worth the effort.

The taste is different than was expected – I weaned myself off of artificial sweeteners (Nutrasweet© for example) when I was pregnant with Walker and since then I finally can taste the…aftertaste. Pure Fitness though uses a blend of cane juice sugar and Truvia™ (Stevia blend) and isn’t overly sweet. For coloring they used purple carrot and hibiscus flowers in the Strawberry/Kiwi flavor and more shocking…actual dried kiwi juice even for some of the flavor.

I was severely disappointed when I couldn’t find Celestial Seasoning’s Zingers To Go packets anymore, the Crystal Light ones will be a great substitute – and I found I enjoyed them more.As a side bonus the Pure Fitness flavors contain a mild amount of sodium and potassium, acting as a low strength electrolyte drink. The tiny amount of sodium also helps the drink not be as sweet.

~Sarah

The idea for this recipe came to me recently after I had a 1 pound bag o’ organic dried eggs show up. And….a pound of eggs is quite a bit! Adding a couple other ingredients:

Pan frying till browned:

Is it a cookie? A wedge of a scone? Somewhere in the middle…..

Find the recipe here.

~Sarah