This photo is what my year was. Walker at Paradise, at Mt. Rainier, on August 1st. There was still well over 5 feet of snow on the ground behind us. He was so happy, scampering around in it after this photo was taken:

In February with Walker, on a regional trail system at Cougar Mountain:

Mama and Baby out hiking:

On a cold morning hike in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains:

Cold but why waste a sunny day?

Walker is a big boy, I realized that when he went to a back carrier and I was carrying 45 lbs of him and gear!

Even in the late winter/spring the low foothills have their own bleak beauty:

Along the Cedar River in Washington:

Snuggled up warm n’ cozy in his BOB jogger stroller in spring, out on a rail to trail hike:

An overly excited hiking partner

What happens when two outdoor trail cooking mavens hike together and have lunch after hiking (That is Teresa of One Pan Wonders fame):

Along the Green River canyon having a post lunch hike:

On Whidbey Island at Ebey’s Landing with Kirk, going down to the Lagoons and the water:

On a trip out along the Carbon River at Mt. Rainier (when all else fails with snow levels, The Carbon is always pretty!):

Kirk and Walker contemplating a hike at Rainier:

On one of the forks of the Snoqualmie River:

Hiking near the city of Olympia, Washington at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge:

Silver Falls at Mt. Rainier in early summer:

At Sunrise, Mt. Rainier on the 4th of July. The snow was still 7 to 10 feet deep:

Mt. Rainier hid in the clouds in mid-July:

Mt. Rainier from near Chinook Pass in mid-summer:

Along the White River at Mt. Rainier:

Mt. Rainier in August, finally starting to melt out:

Paradise River (a creek these days):

Glacier Basin, at Mt. Rainier. Of all the hiking I did this year it was the hardest. I was about 3 months pregnant and very anemic. The trail had finally been restored, after being wiped out a few years ago, opened up the day before and I didn’t want to miss my chance to hike it. Lynn talked me the whole way, pushing me to do it. And it was worth it – in 2003 I had tried to go to Glacier Basin only to be turned back by deep snow and regretted never going back. We saw a black bear feasting on the way down and while it exhausted me, it was worth the normally easy 7 or so miles!

In September hiking on the Green to Cedar Rivers Trail near where we live, enjoying the easy months

More urban “hiking” with Walker. Moochie ducks and little boys go hand in hand:

In the late fall I took Kirk out for lunch at Salish Lodge – with a certain little one with us. After lunch we walked along the viewpoints for Snoqualmie Falls where someone had way too much fun on the rocks. Oh, it wasn’t “wildernessey” but who cares. He had fun. So did we. And that is all that matters!

But as fall came and got further along I quit hiking, I even quit the gym. Spending my late fall and coming winter just being lazy. Spring will be here soon enough, the trails will melt out and the flowers will come again. And the hiking will start again (as will that pesky gym). For now I fill my time with a lot of Mommy/food blogging on my personal website.

May you all enjoy the Solstice coming up soon and think of the coming spring!

~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

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

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

The weather has finally started warming up and was actually drying out – after the dump-a-thon we had the past couple weeks of snow. Much appreciated! We went out on one of the local rail to trails, The Cedar River Trail, as we had Walker in his jogger stroller.

As we strolled along I could smell spring coming – and the birds are coming back as well. We stopped on one of the trestle bridges and I was rambling about how great it would be to hike to the end and Kirk said “go, I’ll pick you up.” So at this view we parted ways and Walker and I continued on. Kirk hiked back to the van and then drove around to the terminus of the trail.

I am not sure when I last hiked this section. Ford and I used to often walk it in off season. It might have been 2008 or 2009, not sure. Change had happened though. Bridges had been rebuilt, some access to the river has now been prohibited (not a bad thing, the area was near one trestle bridge and was pretty abused by people partying and tearing up the area). Along one pretty area on the river a picnic table sits now with a view.

One of the small brackish lakes along the rail grade:

Walker dozed part of the way and then watched as we walked. He has a sunroof on his jogger stroller’s canopy and was watching the sun flitter through the trees.

The moss is usually the one thing that stands out in winter. Deep, popping green it coats everything, especially the maples. Soon though the trees will be back in bloom.

We headed down the final grade (or would that be up? Yeah, more like up!) and rounded the final bend to the terminus of the trail at Landsburg where Kirk was waiting for us. Digging through the van I discovered a stale granola bar that Ford had missed so had a snack

So I survived 5 ¾ miles with 18 ounces of water, no snacks and wearing a near complete outfit of cotton. It was epic I tell you! Of course had I been truly starving I could have eaten Walker’s large supply of formula and baby food and made a jacket out of his spare diapers if it had started raining – super absorbent UL jacket in no time!

All in all, better than sitting inside and dreaming of summer….

~Sarah

To save Ford’s energy (he had just turned 5 two months before) I brought his jogger stroller and he rode while we walked the closed road (certain people have keys when the road is not slumped due to private in holdings and mines). The road walk was a long one each way so our thought was to preserve his strength for the actual hike. It was somewhere between 4 and 5 miles each way. It wandered through flood plains, high road above the South Fork of the Sauk River and crossed it on a narrow bridge at one point. A side creek had an old bridge, long broken in the middle. We chose fording the creek instead, being so late in the year it wasn’t an issue.

And some sections were downright ugly, logging/clearing scars and a road full of potholes.

Still, it wasn’t a bad walk. At times the trees encroached the road and it was pleasant.

Soon enough we reached the walk in campground and the crossing of the river to enter the ghost town of Monte Cristo. That bridge is no longer there, it blew away in a flood a couple years ago. It was a lovely bridge though. We left the jogger stroller there and headed over on foot.

Kirk on the bridge:

The South Fork of Sauk River is a pretty stream though one to wary of, due to old mines that cover the area. You have to be careful with where you get drinking water up there.

The townsite…how I wish I had taken more photos. Yet…apparently I took one, yes one, lousy photo! And of all things the couple cabins that were near the bridge. The streets were signed as were the buildings left. At one time it was a grand miners town!

As we walked through the townsite we crossed a couple more of the metal/wood bridges and eventually got spit into the woods to a trail junction.

And what seemed like moments later we came out into the open, looking ahead at where we were going:

A ring of jagged peaks, covered in a bit of snow and waterfalls thundering down, all around us. It was an amazing hike. And for Kirk it was even better. Every hike with me had been in the rain until then. So we happily accepted the very cold blue skies and winds at that point.

A young Ford, looking down the valley:

We stopped at the waterfall you can see in the above photos. It was getting very cold the higher we went (it was November and in the mountains….). As we had gotten above the waterfall the steps were getting icier and while immensely pretty it wasn’t worth going on. So I didn’t get to Glacier Basin but it was OK.

Kirk Standing above the waterfall:

We walked slowly back to the trees and back through the town. We picked up the jogger stroller and a tired Ford jumped in. Feeling lazy we strapped our daypacks onto the stroller and enjoyed an easier hike out. Ford fell asleep and as we walked we spent those miles talking.

As we left the townsite I turned back and saw the peaks behind us:

It was an interesting hike. We saw no other hikers, only a lone truck coming out to an in holding. I mean every year to go back and finally see Glacier Basin. But as I looked at those old photos it occurred to me that Ford would love seeing the townsite again. Being a teen and going to a ghost town? Easy to sell I am sure!

~Sarah

After three hikes with the new Deuter pack I am happy with my choice. Walker isn’t light and it has carried well so far. We shall see of course, but so far I am happy.

Since it was a hike with lots of kids I let Ford wear an iPod as we hiked and he was in rock heaven Bribery is a good thing at times. Not easy being a teen and I am sure hanging with Mom isn’t the coolest thing out there.

The trees in some parts of Tiger are quite pretty and often shockingly tall for an area that has been repeatedly logged (and still is actively logged in certain sections). Pockets of forest that if you ignored where you are at you might feel farther out in the Mountains rather than in the Issaquah Alps.

All that be-bopping down the trail put someone in slumber land where he was happily snoozing for much of the hike.

As I mentioned the forests can be very charming – open and well lit.

After going through a number of trails we encountered Round Lake which I had not visited before. Looking up you can see the ridge that forms Tiger, high above. It was tempting I can tell you to go running off for the top.

There is a nice area at the end of the lake with benches to sit and take a break. It was very popular with both humans and woofers to go swimming/chasing sticks. Quite enjoyable stop!

As we circled back to the trailhead we made a stop at the “Old Bus” and of course Ford loved poking through it. What boy doesn’t love doing that?

We finished our hike with a stroll along Tradition Lake:

The weather held the whole hike though near the end it was clouded over and a cold wind coming up. The good weather was nearly gone and as we drove home rain started coming down a bit, going over the low pass back to home even a slushy snow fell. Back to winter? I suppose so. But it was a nice weather streak while it lasted!

~Sarah