Kirk and I took the boys out for a quick family hike this afternoon. It was still blue skies aplenty but threatening to change…so not a day to waste! It got down to around 23° last night and was still definitely chilly out all day. We decided on the close in Nolte State Park which [...]
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My friend HikerMama had emailed me last night wondering if I was free today. The good weather was on the wane but the first half of the day looked to be decent enough. Three hikes in three days? Oh sure, it had been way too long since I got to pull that off (2009? Before [...]
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Walker has mastered walking and gone from toddling to showing off his sporty new shoes and marching everywhere – he isn’t quite down with wooden dirt paths. The only way to get little ones out is to well, take them outside! He was fascinated by the moss and stones – and a zillion little toddler [...]
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A combination of a Meet-Up group for moms, friends of friends and a few more ended up with 8 moms and 8 babies (good thing we were not on a wilderness trail!) meeting up this morning for a hike. Considering it was decently nice (and by that I mean no rain) and my other option [...]
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Saturday Kirk and I took our two youngest up to Mt. Rainier for an easy hike to Bench and Snow Lakes. I hadn’t done the trail since 2003 (our oldest was 6 then) and Kirk hadn’t hiked it before. Having two small ones has encouraged me to find shorter hikes once again….and in a way, [...]
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Monday Kirk had a rare weekday off, so we took all the boys up to Sunrise at Mt. Rainier NP for an easy day of hiking. We hadn’t been up there since last summer and last year the snow was deep. This was so much better – barely any snow left made for easy hiking. The weather [...]
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Considering I started 2012 off at about 33 weeks pregnant, I wasn’t feeling very outdoorsy. Until as soon as our 3rd son showed up. Then I was missing being out there! When Alistaire was ready for the jogger stroller, him and Walker were bundled up in early spring to enjoy local rail to trails: I’ll be [...]
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My life has changed a lot since the summer of 2009, when I found out I was pregnant with Walker. I knew going into it, that having more children, that my reality would shift and it was OK the first year, we got out and hiked a lot, after Walker was born in March of [...]
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Of late, with the fall weather, Walker (our middle son, who is now 3.5), has been asking more often to go for hikes with me. After our good hike the weekend before, I mulled over where to take him that was legal to be in. Cause you know…maybe I could hide from Ranger No-Fun at […]
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The previous weekend we took the boys to one of our favorite winter spots, Kalaloch Lodge, on the Olympic Peninsula. After having fantastic storms all weekend, it cleared Sunday morning for a few hours and we ventured out to Ruby Beach before we headed home. Ruby Beach is one of my favorite beaches. It sits […]
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With a few hours of gorgeous sun between two days of pelting rain, I took the chance of a quick hike with all of my boys over the past weekend, at our local Arboretum. Ford wasn’t too thrilled that I made him come along, but the two youngest were thrilled as always. Having an older […]
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Yesterday I took a big step for me. I took all 3 boys hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail, without my backup of having Kirk along with me. We met up with my friend Jennifer, who writes at The Hiker Mama, and her two children. Back in the day, I hiked with her when her […]
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Sometimes plans don’t go the way you hope, but I found us something to do that was fun. Our plan had been to go backpacking – the three boys and me. But alas, Sunrise at Mount Rainier National Park didn’t open till late afternoon. There is a missing hiker, and they needed to stage the […]
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Monday seems to slowly become my go-to day for taking the boys hiking this summer. The weekend is over, crowds are gone and Kirk can use some quiet time to work. This week we went up to Sunrise, at Mount Rainier National Park. As we crested the top, at 6400 feet, it was 48°, 50° […]
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Sometimes life gets in the way, and I wake up and know that I need to go to the mountains. Monday was one of those days. Kirk had been in Asia for a week, for work, and then my brother came over and got Kirk sick. With finally everyone mostly well, I was twitching and […]
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I realized yesterday that I have become that hiker. The one with no plans, who wakes up and putzes around, looks outside and decides around, oh, 10 am, that hiking would be great! Once the kids are dressed, van is packed, gassed up and said kids fed, mom has coffee and a picnic lunch is […]
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Saturday I was well on my way to a typical morning: farmers market, prepping produce and canning. Yes, I can. A lot. Saturday was Spiced Strawberry Jam. I was half-way through when Kirk asked if I wanted to get out of the house. OK! So I finished up as quickly as I could and we […]
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Living on a trail can have its benefits: All I have to do is walk out my door, and in a few minutes I am deep into green: On Sunday, life was hectic but I wanted to get out, so I took Walker and Alistaire for a one-way hike on the Green to Cedar Rivers […]
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Every year I have meant to share the Mowich Area at Mount Rainier National Park with Kirk. And I realized I had not taken Walker or Alistaire up there yet as well. So Sunday morning seemed perfect, especiually with coolwer weather forecasted. But while Mowich is incredibly close to us as the crow flies, it […]
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Yesterday I took a family friend up to Mount Rainier for a hike at Sunrise. The weather wasn’t slated to be good, but Kelly was OK with it. She is from the East Coast so doesn’t get out here very often. There is something to be said for 44° at 6400 feet on September 2nd. […]
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