After two weekends in a row spent at home, this week I was determined to spend at least one day on the trail this week. A week of late nights at work meant I had no time for a post-work walk, so even though it rained a lot over the weekend, I managed to convince Andy to go for a long walk through the Paradise Valley Conservation Area. While we lucked out and managed to schedule our walk for the few hours the downpour decided to let up, there was plenty of mud to negotiate on the trail. I never mind a little mud though, and the new spring vegetation covered in jewel-like droplets of rain made for an especially magical walk. Giant trillium blooms littered the forest floor in dense clusters, and we spotted the occasional pink of budding salmonberry. Before I know it, summer will be here and those flowers will have turned into trailside snacks!
Read moreLife: Week 12
Spring has officially arrived, and with it an new color palette filled with the pinks and greens of new growth. On sunny days, the sweet smell of tiny pink and white blooms perfumes the breeze. With the longer days, even as work has been increasingly busy, I managed to fit in a much needed midweek walk on the Powerline Trail! This time of year, as different plants begin to bud and flower, the trail changes drastically from week to week, so hopefully I'll find the time for another evening walk soon to mark the progress of the season. Over the weekend, after a quiet (and rainy) Saturday sent indoors, Andy and were out on the trail Sunday morning, joining the Alpine Trails Book Club for our March hike. It may have been chilly, but we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with mostly sunny weather for the day. Without rain to dampen our spirits, our group was able to linger over lunch and spend plenty of time discussing the complexity of our March book - Reclaimers. You can read more about the book & hike in my post here.
Read moreMiddle Fork Snoqualmie River
Until very recently, I hiked almost exclusively in the summer. Happily, thanks to monthly hikes with the Alpine Trails Book Club, I've had reason to do a lot more hiking year round, and I've found my favorite times to hike are during the transition between seasons. Hiking outside summer has also led me to discover all kinds of new trails, including the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River. The trail a perfect meandering riverside hike that I was happy to share with the Alpine Trails Book Club. It also turned out to be a meaningful trail to pair with our book selection of Reclaimers in ways I hadn't expected.
Read moreLife: Week 13
Woah! The last week and a half hit me hard. Between work suddenly getting overwhelmingly busy and catching a nasty cold that left me feeling perpetually exhausted, I was struggling. I'm finally feeling better, but needless to say, I've got some catching up to do around here. You can expect to see a few new posts from me in the next couple days!
Read moreLife: Week 11
Every year in early spring, I find myself surprised by the return of birds, and the constant music of their chirps, squawks, and trills, especially on rainy mornings. Along with unpredictable weather and the scent of early blooms in the air, it's one of the sings of spring that I've come to enjoy the most. After not hiking for several weeks in a row, I was determined that Andy and I would manage to fit in a hike this weekend. With unstable snow conditions in the mountains, I decided on a nearby lower elevation trail. Built in 2017, the trail to Heybrook Ridge is still pretty new, and this was our first visit. On a misty Sunday morning, we were one of only three cars parked at the trailhead, and we only passed a handful of people on our short hike. After an easy climb up to the ridge, we even had the viewpoint to ourselves! Even if the tops of the surrounding peaks were obscured by a blanket of grey clouds, this was level of solitude on such an easily accessible trail was astonishing. I'm sure this trail would be packed on a sunnier day, but this is definitely a hike I'll want to revisit in the future!
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