Somehow, miraculously, we had a second weekend of February sunshine this year! Usually in the PNW, especially in the winter, all our sunshine is dispersed throughout the week, with little left over for the weekend. This time the sunshine arrived just in time for our February Alpine Trails Book Club meeting! The day started off stormy, and my drive into Seattle for our morning with The Falconer was a little hectic. Over the course of several hours, we had the opportunity to meet several of John's bird, and even take his birds onto the glove ourselves. Even with a heavy leather glove for protection, I was initially intimidated by the idea of handling the huge predatory birds, but it was incredible to experience the birds from up close. While we sat inside, the stormy weather calmed and the sun broke through the clouds. After our morning with the birds, we had a quiet, sunny hike through Seward Park, sharing thoughts on the book we'd read and swapping favorite hikes as we walked. With sunshine on Sunday as well, after a lazy morning at home, Andy and I decided on a short hike through the Paradise Valley Conservation Area before heading to my parents for our weekly family dinner.
Read moreLife: Week 6
A sunny weekend in February is a rare and marvelous thing. After a week of grey skies and cold, damp weather Andy and I absolutely had to get outside to make the most of the glorious weather! We spent Saturday catching up on all the boring errands adult life entails, but Sunday morning, we headed out for some hiking. Rather than brave the crowds that would surely be swarming every snowshoeing route in the mountains, we decided to hike the nearby Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. Our strategy worked surprisingly well, and we saw only a handful of other hikers as we followed a lovely trail through sunny, frozen forest. The hilight of the day for me was finding hair ice in multiple places along the trail. After reading about hair ice in a WTA article late last year, I'd been on the hunt for this strange and uncommon phenomenon. Now that I know this is a good trail for spotting hair ice, I'll definitely be returning for more cold weather hikes in the future!
Read moreLife: Week 5
Early February is an odd time in the PNW. It doesn't quite feel like winter anymore, but it's also definitely not quite spring. Right now the days still feel too short, especially during the week. February gets hated on a lot around here, and some years I hate it too. As usual, I've been longing for the drawn out evenings of summer, but this year I'm finding a lot to enjoy in the shortest month of the year. There's so much promise, so many green things just beginning to bud and sprout and poke up through the soil.
Read moreLife: Week 4
This was a week of wet & stormy weather. Andy and I started the week by leaving behind the snowy peace of my parent's cabin. Returning to real-life after the hygge atmosphere of a cabin is always hard, so I was thankful for my shortened work week. I also appreciated the loaf of pulla left over from our weekend - a much tastier way to ease into my morning than my typical breakfast of coffee and a hard boiled egg. Because of the novelty of our new espresso machine, I've been drinking too many lattes, so this week, I started drinking more tea. I love a good latte, but hadn't realized how much I missed my morning cup of tea. I think for me a latte is better as an occasional treat rather than an everyday drink.
Read moreLife: Week 3
This week was busy with planning and preparation for the January meeting of the Alpine Trails Book Club. We were spending a long weekend at my parents cabin up in the mountains, so every night was spent making large batches of soups and sauces to freeze in preparation for our weekend. After all the busy preparation, arriving at the peaceful cabin was a relief. Friday, we spent a quiet evening watching movies while snow fell outside. Saturday morning, we woke up to several inches of new snow, just enough to decorate the trees and hide our tracks from the hike in. By the afternoon, our group expanded with the addition of Ashley and her little one. After some snowy exploration around the cabin, we settled in for another quiet night of card games and puzzles. We ended the weekend with our perfectly hygge January Alpine Trails Book Club hike, which I'll be sharing soon!
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