Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year to hike. The days may be getting shorter, colder, and often wetter, but the mountains are packed with color that rivals any spring meadow. It certainly doesn't hurt that the cold and shorter days seem to deter crowds! Andy and I had hiked to Melakwa Lake once before, on a hot July day a few years back with friends that were in much better shape than us. By the time we reached the lake, we immediately dropped to the ground and sat gasping by outlet of the lake. By the time we'd recovered and wolfed down our lunches, our friends were ready to head back down the trail. On that first visit, the lake didn't make as much of an impression as the heat and the relentless climbing of the trail.
Read moreLife: Week 52
The last week of 2016 was filled with snow, sunshine, family, and sweets! Most of it was spent in Wenatchee, celebrating a belated Christmas with Andy's family. After the hectic scramble leading up to Christmas this year, this was the perfect way to end the year, and start off 2017. We spent hours playing with new games and toys and reading new books with our niece and nephew. We drank hard cider made by my father-in-law from the apples on Vashon and limoncello made by my brother-in-law from the lemon tree in their backyard. We ate far too much delicious food, as we usually do when we visit Andy's dad. We stayed up late playing cards and dice, and catching up on life. We went on several snowy adventures, including two snowshoeing treks, with hot cocoa - or hot rum cider! - to warm us up after. Sadly like all good things, it had to end, but with 2017 off to such a good start, I'm optimistic about the year to come!
Read more2016 in Hikes
Breathtaking views from the Sauk Mountain trail on a cloudless July day!
2016 turned out to be a great year for hiking, even if Andy and I had to cancel plans for the hike I was most looking forward to! We covered a lot of trail this year, and spent more time camping and backpacking in one year than we have since we started dating! We also volunteered for our first trail work party with Washington Trails Association, and I joined the Alpine Trails Book Club, which combines hiking with another of my favorite pastimes - reading. 2017 is already off to a good start, but some of the adventures we had in 2016 will be hard to beat!
Read moreLife: Week 51
The week of Christmas is always so busy! All the time spent with family, baking loaves and loaves of pulla, the last minute scramble to finish all my knit projects before Christmas. I'm still wrapping up some last minute projects for the final gift exchange we'll have over New Year's weekend, but after months of knitting, it's wonderful to start passing my knits along to the recipients. The sweater I knit as a surprise for my niece, based on a favorite sweater of mine and my sister's turned out perfectly - a relief, since it was the first improvised sweater I'd ever made! My mom and sister both loved it, and it matched the original almost perfectly! It's dark so early these days, but light takes other forms in December - whether it be stunning winter sunsets, twinkling Christmas lights, or neon signs lighting shops in the city. During the shortest days of the year, these glimmers of light keep me sane!
Read moreLife: Week 50
Now that work has (finally!) slowed down for the holidays, I've had more time for mid-day walks and evening baking sessions. It's continued to be cold and overcast, but sadly there's been no more snow around home since the dusting I missed last week. It's been years since we last had a good snow around here, and now that I'm working from home, I wouldn't mind a few snowy days one bit! Luckily, we had plans to spend a lovely weekend in snowy Bellingham visiting friends who recently moved north. I'd thought it had been cold at home, but when we got into town Friday evening we discovered we were terribly under-dressed for the 18° temperatures! We didn't have to suffer too long, since there wasn't much walking to do, but the cold was certainly a shock! Saturday morning, we had a delicious brunch followed by a peaceful walk around Lake Whatcom. After a few hours relaxing at our friends hours, we spent the evening bar hopping in the city. Andy and I have become major homebodies since the summer, and it was a nice change of pace to get out so much.
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