Rich Drinks -

Trail Mochas

Pudding Cocoa

Breakfast -

Cranberry Pan Biscuits

Sarah’s Fattening Coconut Blueberry Oatmeal

Cheesy Bacon Grits

Lunches -

Pecan Cranberry Ranch Chicken Salad

Savory Tuna Salad

Veghead Couscous Pilaf

Dinner -

Lemon Tuna Spaghetti

Italianish Double Cheese Taters

Dessert -

Pina Colada Mini Pies

Huckleberry Donuts

Snacks/Bars -

Chocolate Energy Balls

Triple Chocolate Cherry Fudge

Peanut Butter Granola Cups

Easy Nut and Chocolate Truffles

~Sarah

They have two options, Velcro closure and drawstring. Both work great but I found that the Velcro one would be superior for using in hiking.

The sandwich bags have a pleat on the bottom.

If anyone has looked for a reusable and washable bag for carrying food items (obviously not wet food, dry only) take a look. The interior is lined with a nylon material, cotton on the outside. There is a tiny gap on the closure that would allow small items to fall through  (the drawstring bag would work better in that way) but used for bars, nuts, candy, etc this is a nice option for the food bag.

I don’t have a weight for the bags – my office is packed up currently as we are remodeling and my scale is tucked away – the bags are feather weight though, no heavier than a shy ounce for the larger bag.

~Sarah

The morning started nice – we passed a huge Elk herd as we drove to the trailhead:

The highlight of the hike is the bridge over the river, where the waterfalls occur:

Walker and I (and wow, that is a way too bright pink top!)

Looking down at one of the waterfalls (there are actually more than two, oh well!)

Walker and I:

Looking upriver:

The ladies took their mid-hike break down at the bridge. Only problem is I was the only one with an active toddler – who no way was I letting out of his backpack to run around there. So he and I went back uphill to where there is a quiet off trail spot and he had lunch and then ran around having way too much fun with my sit pad:

Someone was very happy to get out of his backpack:

Dicentra on the way back:

Heading up the trail – Twin Falls is one of those trails where it goes up and down both directions:

Looking back through the trees to the waterfalls:

The river on the way back:

~Sarah

Kirk and I took Ford and Walker out for a nice hike – especially since we can take Walker in his jogger stroller. Of course, once we have him and our gear loaded on that stroller is somewhere in the 60-70 lb range to push. Still better than wearing that! Walker isn’t a small boy so I take it as a treat to push him – and he loves it. I’d be comfy too being pushed in a plush chariot

“Mmmmmm! Cookies!”

Anyhow, we got to the Carbon early – like before 9 am. How that happened I have no idea. I have gotten bad in the past year or so of getting up early but today was gorgeous. It was sunny and blue skies. With really bad storms predicted for the late afternoon. No way was I missing out on hiking on what has been very rare sunny weekend days! Usually the Carbon is also over run by 10 am – due to little parking. But oddly enough it was actually very sparse with other hikers/bikers – at least past the 1 mile mark.

The Skunk Cabbage was in “bloom” everywhere there was standing water. Gorgeous (although stinky). I also hundreds of Trilliums that had just opened. The little signs that say maybe, just maybe we will get Spring eventually here in the PNW….

Just the typical Carbon walk – road walk, trail walk, road walk, etc through those big trees that make you want to sit down and take a nap. Pull up some moss and snooze.

We came to the trailhead for Ranger Falls/Green Lake and kept going, thinking of stopping at Chenuis Falls for our break/turn around but the always pretty forest/shade at the TH called to me and we turned back. We took our break above the creek. Walker got out and ran around, happy to be free for awhile.

It was the better choice I realized, as the lovely Chenuis Falls break area is in the open sun (although it has picnic tables from back when it was a parking area/picnic wayside/view over the river).

Daddy and Walker heading up the “real” trail – OK, he didn’t get far but next year he will This was Walker’s second trip out on the Carbon. Last year we took him for his 1 month celebration and only went a mile or so each way. This year we took him for a lot more of it – which in certain sections while the “trail” is quite walkable taking a jogger stroller is a workout for the pusher – it is huge river rocks to clear. Walker was loving it, snort! Bouncy, bouncy!

We packed up Walker, he settled into his chariot and his little eyes closed and he happily snoozed most of the way back. Ford took off and trail ran to the van where he apparently ate his stock of energy bars while waiting for us. His ipod kept him alive, while blasting the greatest hits of heavy metal. Kind of funny/sad when you realize your oldest is well, old enough to go do that. No toddling with me – he can take care of himself just fine.

I on the other hand enjoyed the walk back smelling the freshly sawed cedar, the warm wind and even the little green native slugs that were out.

And now? It is dumping rain like crazy. Glad I went! It was a nice 6+ miler with the family

~Sarah

A recent pick I found at our local Costco is a great guidebook for hikers in Washington State. The Creaky Knees Guide Washington: The 100 Best Easy Hikes in the State came out in 2009. The author, Seabury Blair, Jr is well known for his local dayhiking books and the Creaky Knees is just as good – I happen to love his sense of humor. The book might be aimed at those feeling a bit gimpy but anyone can use the book. I’d go as far as to call it a great resource for drumming up hike ideas with kids – since most “kid friendly hike” books tend to be on the lamer side. Or for introducing friends to hiking who haven’t walked more than a mile since they were a kid. It covers much of Washington State, making it a great “starter” book for ideas.

The publishing company has also brought out The Creaky Knees Guide Oregon: The 80 Best Easy Hikes by Seabury and coming soon is The Creaky Knees Guide Northern California: The 80 Best Easy Hikes by another author. This is a series of guide books I can get behind!

~Sarah

Kirk and I went up to Whidbey Island to celebrate my brother’s birthday – his birthday gift was watching Ford and Walker for a couple hours while we went hiking. Heh! My brother lives in the area that is covered by the Ebey Preserve, up above Penn Cove (if you have ever eaten Penn Cove mussels you will recognize the name). He lives less than half a mile from Ebey’s Landing, which I often hiked when I lived on The Island (8 years since I left The Island), as Ebey’s is just up the road from where I worked.

We took the ferry over yesterday morning. The water was very calm and there were birds in the water the majority of the way (it was VERY calm!). Mt. Baker in the distance.

Zoom in of Baker, with the Black Buttes covered in white. All of the peaks were visible yesterday, from Baker, the North Cascades, Central Cascades, Rainier and all of the Olympics. It was an amazing mountain day!

Puttering past the other ferry:

After dropping off the kid and baby we headed over to Ebey’s Landing. It was packed but lets put it this way: a busy day there is a lonely day on a trail down where we live. The long drive and or ferry ride/cost keeps people not over running it. We walked up to the top of the bluff to get on the bluff trail. The overlook is the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Port Townsend across the water and the Olympic Mountains floating in the air.

Looking down the trail, down to Ebey’s Reserve and the Landing:

Looking North, along West Beach, far below:

Me, with the Olympic Mountains behind me:

Kirk ahead of me as we walked the Bluff Trail with the lagoon first peeking:

The scenery is always pretty at Ebey, no matter if the wind is howling or it is sunny. The one quirky thing is the rain shadow it sits in – there are cacti that grow here.

The trail ahead of us:

One thing I truly miss about Island Living is the trees. Gnarled from the cold winds they grown stunted and warped:

Looking back, with Fort Casey in the far distance:

Another look back:

The lagoon was very dark and opaque this year:

It was very hazy due to the bright sun but yeah, the Olympics were gorgeous:

Looking up West Beach, towards Ft. Ebey State Park. The trail heads down to the beach and one can hike the beach to Ft. Ebey (Ford and I used to do this often when he was little!):

Kirk ahead of me as we headed down to the beach:

The lagoon just above sea level:

Kirk hopping logs. We took the lagoon trail most of the way (most people take the beach back):

The lagoon trail is usually warmer, the driftwood gives a wind break. It was though quite warm yesterday and the logs were not helping.

As we walked between the sections of the lagoon we finally caved and looked for a break in the driftwood. The smell of the lagoon was er….a bit pungent this year and very cloudy. Pretty, but too late in the year!

Looking back.

In the driftwood this caught my eye:

A tiny fern growing in a pocket with another plant from last year. Finding its own little grow area!

Kirk and I walked the beach back the last half or so mile. The oddest thing was a washed up octopus we saw. Large octopus live in the area but this was my first time seeing one beached. Only the center of it was left, it was large. Seals I have seen before, but not that. Cool and gross all at once!

It was a lovely dayhike and the sun was glorious.

~Sarah

In the late winter and early spring of 2004 Teresa, Tori and I were excited – we had decided we were going to do the Wonderland Trail that coming summer. We were often out, nearly every weekend from the summer of 2003 on. Ford was in kindergarten so it wasn’t a huge issue if I pulled him out of school to play hooky on Fridays. And did we go to so many places. We hiked and backpacked all over Washington, went snowshoeing a bunch and when early spring came we had crazy weekends where we’d drive to Eastern Washington to hike the windy cold plains and the next morning drive down to Oregon and hike on the border. In that one year I put a good 15,000 miles on my Explorer. Gas was cheap and we had all the time in the world. Simple days then to say the least!

These photos are of a couple trips. The pictures are not great, I was shooting on my first digital camera. It was a heavy as a brick Kodak DC3400 that shot in the amazing 2.1 megapixels Kirk had given it to me to get me off of my pocket film camera. It took me awhile to realize that with digital I could shoot nearly all I wanted and to not skimp. But to me those trips were of places I had never seen, I was just happy to be there! The photos slightly blurry and low res but hey, it was a different time.

One weekend Teresa and I headed down to Eagle Creek on the Oregon side of the Columbia. Since then I have gone back many times but it was a real “first” that time. Walking the narrow path that was blasted out of the cliffs was unnerving that first time, especially with Ford with me. It was though a pretty hike.

Teresa crossing a side stream with man made pavers – the trail for the first couple miles is extremely heavily used. It is one of Portland’s favorite hikes. You can get solitude but you have to keep hiking.

Looking down on one of the many waterfalls as we hiked in:

Ford ahead of me and not overly amused to be out hiking that day:

The narrow trail as you approach the high bridge and cross over to the other side:

It is a pretty long straight down to the creek far below. The trail only exists due to the blasting and a couple bridges set over the canyon. There are a few spots near the river though where the walking is level, but not many. Many campsites though!

Another waterfall:

It was a greta backpacking trip. We stayed at I think Wy’East Camp if my memory holds. And had racoons in camp all night, trying to get into our Ursacks! My friend Drew’s snoring apparently scared them off eventually

The Columbia River basin in Eastern Washington is so unlike everywhere else in Washington. It feels like one should be in Utah or parts of Montana.

Ford walking a pooch belonging to a friend. We visited the Gingko petrified forest on that trip:

The next morning we drove down South to Dog Mountain where feeling crazy we hiked up the old trail, straight up until we joined the modern trail.

Teresa on Little Puppy, the shoulder below the summit, that once held a look out tower:

Ford, with the west behind him and the Columbia River below:

The odd nearly alpine summit of Dog Mountain:

Climbing on up:

Looking across at Mt. St. Helens, all white, and looking pretty right before she started spewing again:

Ford and I just below the back side of the summit:

We took the trail down the back side which I found to be the best choice. It wound around and dipped into the woods and was quite pleasant – with few people on it, where the other trails to Dog were very popular:

Until about halfway down we crossed paths with a nearly naked old dude, where upon Ford loudly stated “That man is NAKEY!”. Hahhah, that was rich.

That spring Teresa, Tori, Ford and I piled into the Explorer and drove down to Beacon Rock State Park and spent the weekend there, dayhiking and car camping. The campground was pretty much empty – it was perfect! It is tucked away from the highway, in a cool (temperature) hollow. Two things I remember: One was making fun of poor Tori’s subscription to Backpacker Magazine – Teresa and I were being super catty about it – and Tori was from the Midwest where seeing an issue with Mt. Rainier on it was the Bees Knees. Oopsies! The second thing was I made dinner for us. The one pot meal would eventually come to be Swiss Broccoli Mac & Cheese. We made it often when car camping because it is easy, tasty and fills you up. You have to bring a fresh loaf of bread for all the cheesy sauce! PS: There was a video made of this recipe.

When we got down to the Columbia River we met up with our friend Drew and hiked Hamilton Mountain. It is a pretty wooded hike past waterfalls:

And creeks:

That opens up to open windswept views – where the wind howls near constant.

The mountain itself:

A knob where you can look across to Oregon and the Columbia River far below:

In camp Ford and I took a short trail and checked out these rocks:

The next morning we went up Beacon Rock:

Ford at the summit looking over the view, with Hamilton Mountain in the distance:

Me at the top:

Looking down at Tori and and Ford:

A young Ford ready to hit a greasy spoon diner and a long drive home….

~Sarah

Our first stop was Nolte State Park which was officially open for the season meaning we didn’t have to park along the road (yay). We let the Madsters pick which park and she said Lake. Good choice. Deep Lake and its loop trail is a winner with little ones – and it was my second time in the past few weeks to go out there! Add in that at the end there is not only a nice playground but a kid’s climbing wall and she was even happier.

Teresa’s daughter who is now the same age as when Ford was when I first met Teresa (back in 2003!). Scary seeing her daughter at over 5 now :-O

Teresa spied for both of us our first Trillium of the year. Oh yes! Spring, are you really coming? Did I mention we were hiking at around 500 feet elevation due to the extreme snow this year? Weeeeee!

A nice overcast day where the green just popped.

Teresa ahead of me:

When we came to the inlet creek it was really pouring into the lake. The past 2 weeks it either snowed or rained nearly nonstop.

So as we wrapped around the head of the lake I wasn’t shocked to see how high the lake was -

The lake was over much of the trail at the end.

The graveyard of trees was floating a bit nicely today:

Teresa doing her little happy dance. Something about spring being in the air. I think.

Kiddo hanging out with the many blow downs:

Red Huckleberry:

We checked out the mini nature loop which is a quiet stroll off the main trail -

Thick growth on a nurse log:

After a long and relaxing lunch (and playtime for the kiddo) we headed down the road to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park and checked out the trails on the Green River.

The river was moving very fast and very deep today (again…all that rain has been scary – I do treat the Green River with a lot of respect due to the issues ongoing with the dam above it).

It was loud, pretty and freezing cold!

A very relaxing day out!

~Sarah

An Osprey Verve 10 pack for ladies. What a gorgeous pack! And perfect for biking! The one thing I didn’t have was a hydration pack for biking, talk about perfect timing. Now when the sunny days come soon we can hook up Walker’s bike trailer and go for a ride!

~Sarah

Like staring at Mt. Shuksan from Picture Lake (from a viewpoint nearly anyone can experience!):

Blundering into a hillside popping white with Beargrass:

Or maybe walking in a storm of snow and ice in August:

And hiding from it under large evergreens:

And a couple days later it is hot and sunny and you climb up into alpine tundra:

Ford walking ahead of me as we left a lonely subalpine lake in the central Cascades – a brutal short ascent to get back to the ridgeline where mosquitoes chase you back down to the truck:

You might recognize this photo:

As the sun sets and summer is nearly gone on the wind, the icy coldness of Rainier is there:

When you walk into two edible berries the living is good:

When the sun is up, the walking is easy and the summits are green:

Walking in the Olympic Mountains – always in back but not minding, Kirk and Ford ahead of me:

When you get back to the truck and change into jeans and sandals….ahh!

When it is 8 pm and you are still hiking, trying to outrun darkness:

But most of all….sitting in the shade and smelling the flowers in alpine – there is nothing like that:

~Sarah