After months of anticipation, I have finally tasted the first of my homegrown tomatoes! It started with just a couple each day (all of which I immediately ate) but by midweek, I was harvesting enough cherry tomatoes to make for a delicious pizza. Amazingly, my first tomato harvest wasn't even the high point of the week. I took a couple of much needed days off work, and with the opportunity to hike while avoiding weekend crowds, I met up with a friend to revisit the Dirty Harry's Balcony trail where Andy and I did trail work back in 2017. On a August weekend in a typical year, this hike would probably have felt entirely unremarkable, but this year is far from typical, allowing me to see the magic of the young forest. The fresh earthy scent of the trees energized me, and the soft bed of pine needles muted my steps as our small group climbed up the trail. I pointed out a few spots along the trail I remembered working on in 2017, excited to recognize them so easily. We took our time, hiking at an easy pace to save our breath for conversation, catching up on all that had changed in our lives since we'd last seen each other. It was a short outing, but also perfectly rejuvenating.
Read moreLife: Week 24
Last summer, at one of the several WTA work parties we participated in, we heard rumors of something wonderful at Mt Rainier. You see, WTA partners with the national park on trail maintenance, and last summer they were focused on the Longmire area of the park. The reason everyone we talked to was excited about this is a not-so-secret secret: the Longmire Stewardship Campground. This quiet, mossy campground is available only to volunteers, and for the low cost of one day of volunteering, you get free park entry along with up to two nights camping in this magical spot! When WTA started up their 2019 trail work season in the park early in June, I was overjoyed to see that they'd be operating out of Longmire again, and immediately signed both Andy and myself up for the first weekend we had free. I am happy to report that that Longmire Volunteer Campground fully lived up to the hype. It was a weekend of hard, dirty work in the hot sun and it was one filled with laughter, new friends, and plenty of post-trail work relaxation, and Andy and I are already plotting our return!
Read moreLife: Week 21
Memorial Day Weekend this year was a mix of everything - a cold & stormy Saturday spent in the city drinking tea and lurking in plant stores, contrasted by warm & sunny Sunday spent in the woods volunteering for more trail work with WTA. Life is all about balance, right? This time of year, it sometimes startles me that everything is suddenly so green after what felt like an endless winter, and this was particularly the case in the Sehome Arboretum, where Andy and I spent our Sunday doing trail work. The small patch of forest perched above the Western Washington University campus was absolutely bursting with ferns, maples, and other sun-dappled greenery. One of my favorite things about signing up for trail work with WTA is that it often leads me to discover new trails - ones like Sehome Arboretum that I never would have visited otherwise. Since the trail system is pretty tiny, I don’t know that I’ll return to this particular spot unless I happen to be in Bellingham and have a little time for a short walk, but I’m glad I had an excuse to visit it this once!
Read moreLife: Week 19
This week was uncharacteristically hot and sunny for May. With all the hot weather, I didn’t make it out for lunchtime walks as often as last week because I’m a complete wimp when it comes to heat. Still, on my one midday walk during the week, I managed to discover a park that I drive by every day to get to work, but had somehow never noticed. It looked like a lovely, shady spot to sit outside and eat lunch, and with only a 10 minute walk from the office, totally doable! For the weekend, I had a May Alpine Trails Book Club outing to keep me busy. After the success of last years’ trail work party with Washington Trails Association, our May event was another round of volunteering, this time on Little Mountain in Mt Vernon. Checking the forecast throughout the week, I’d been worried that the heat would make for a tough day, but happily the day was cooler than forecast and a wonderful time was had by all! After our day of hard work, we stopped in Mt Vernon for a well earned beer at Skagit River Brewery before heading home. Since Sunday was Mother’s Day, I joined my mom and sister for an afternoon in Snohomish, mostly so that I could finally visit Retreat - a plant shop that my mom, sister, and several friends have all raved about. It definitely lived up to the hype, and I came home with several new plant babies, including one for my desk at work! My lovely weekend was rounded out with a celebration of my niece’s 4th birthday, including several rounds of Guess Who - one of my gifts for the birthday girl.
Read moreLife: Week 26
On vacation in Oregon, Andy and I decided to start the week off with a hike, so we headed an hour north for Smith Rock State Park, which came highly recommended by several of my friends. After a lovely hike through what felt like a tiny piece of Utah transplanted to Oregon (I'll be writing more about it soon!), we stopped in Bend for beer and lunch. Sadly, since I'd left my wallet back at the rental house I had to make do with iced tea, but according to Andy I wasn't missing much. While their food was smoky and delicious, Goodlife turned out to be his least favorite brewery of the trip. On our last day in Sunriver, we decided to make a trip to the nearby High Desert Museum which turned out to be much larger than we'd expected - almost like a hybrid museum and zoo. Their wildlife exhibits were everyone's favorite, and I was especially excited to see an adorable burrowing owl and an stunning golden eagle. Soon it was time to pack up the car and head home, and after a short work week, Andy and I were signed up for a full weekend of trailwork. After our lovely day spent working with Alpine Trails Book Club (read about that here!), we returned for a second day of trail maintenance in considerably wetter weather. As usual, even with the rain we still had a fantastic time!
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