In late October, Alex and I went on a trip that I have been dreaming of for years: a flightseeing tour over the North Cascades. I’ve long wanted to go on this flightseeing trip with Snowking Aviation, however, I had specific conditions in mind for our eventual flight. I wanted to fly in fall, after the first couple snowstorms coated the mountainsides in a blanket of snow, but the alpine lakes still remained unfrozen in their basins.
Read MoreLabor Day weekend is usually one of my favorite weekends to head out into the depths of the backcountry. The snow has long since melted, the days are still long and warm, and the bugs usually have declined to manageable levels. While 2020 may have put a damper on many trips, we were still going to make the most of our Labor Day. We planned to complete a four day trip in the Glacier Peak Wilderness that we have been dreaming of doing for years—the Spider Gap - Buck Creek Loop.
Read MoreIn August 2018, Alex and I visited the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and backpacked to the impossibly blue Jade Lake. Unfortunately, during our time in the area, smoke from nearby wildfires blew in overnight and completely shrouded all of the mountains in a dense haze. The views were still beautiful, but we knew that we would have to return one day to see the area without its cloak of smoke.
Read MoreIn 2017 I visited Wrangell-St. Elias for the first time and was blown away by the scenery. The snowy peaks, lush tundra, and stunning glaciers seemed to imprint on me during my time in the park and the trip was cemented as one of the best backcountry trips I have ever been on. I wanted others to have that same transformative experience, so in early 2020 I teamed up with St. Elias Alpine Guides (SEAG) to put together a 5 day Women’s Backpacking trip through the park’s backcountry.
Read MoreOn May 22, after nearly two months of being closed, Olympic National Forest officially opened their trailheads back up to visitors. Alex and I hadn’t left the few mile radius outside our apartment since early March and were looking forward to finally heading to the mountains again.
Read MoreThe Hidden Lake lookout in the North Cascades has been on my radar for years. I’ve always wanted to visit in the summer but the road is rugged—far too rugged for our Sedan—and the lookout is popular, which means you would be hard pressed to find any solitude there on summer weekends. However, in the winter the entire landscape transforms the tough summer hike into a grueling ski tour. The crowds diminish and the chances of getting the lookout to yourself increase (or so we hoped).
Read MoreEarlier this month Alex and I went on a dreamy backcountry ski tour with some friends in the Mt. Baker backcountry. The forecast for the day looked overcast and dreary, and we expected to be in the clouds for most of the day and possibly even snowed on. However, instead what we experienced was a winter wonderland. The clouds were light and airy and transformed the harsh sunlight into a soft golden glow on pillowy snow. We spent the entire day skiing laps in the Artist Point area, stopping often along the way just to stand in awe of the scenery surrounding us.
Read MoreLast month Alex and I finally backpacked a trail we have long been dreaming of: the Kalalau Trail. We got our first taste of the Kalalau Trail when we visited Kauai back in 2015. We had only been backpacking once at that point and the idea of hiking a route that regularly pops up on “the most dangerous trails” lists didn’t seem like the smartest idea, so we only hiked the first two miles to Hanakapi’ai Beach.
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