2/11/2023 Katie and I found ourselves in the land of sunshine, lava rocks, and volcanoes – aka Bend Oregon for the weekend. We had a perfect, cloudless day so ski touring to the top of Mount Bachelor with our friend Patrick was on the menu for the day. After a great “alpine” start that included 10 am brunch in town (shoutout to Sparrow Bakery!) we made the short drive up to the Mount Bachelor parking lot. Among the many great things about Bend is the quick access to outdoor

Snoqualmie Falls : One of the largest and most well-known waterfalls in North America. Water in the Snoqualmie River plunges 268 feet and...

Somehow, I had never been to the Crystal Backcountry, and with the new year that had to change. The goal for these two trips was to check out Bullion Basin and the supposed wealth of backcountry skiing options that radiate out from the basin. 1/1/2023 Katie and I got a late start, so only had time for a quick tour. We started up from the C lot at Crystal and began touring up the Blue Bell Loop, a nice, groomed trail, which took us up to the start of the Bullion Basin Trail sy

12/3/2022 The Cascades had just received their first big snowfall of the year, and it was time to go play in the snow. Katie and I chose to go down to Paradise because of its open skiable terrain and beautiful scenery. It has also become something of an early season tradition to head down that way to knock the rust off before winter begins in earnest. The road from Longmire to Paradise wasn’t set to open until after 10 am, so we had a leisurely morning and were in no rush to

11/20/2022 Western Washington was at the height of shoulder season – snow had fallen in the mountains but nowhere near enough for winter activities to begin in earnest. With a good forecast upon us, Katie and I headed out to the Snoqualmie Pass area for what I hoped to be a perfect adventure given the conditions. Mount Margaret is located just over the pass between Keechelus Lake and Rampart Ridge. The normal summer trailhead is located up the steep Forest Road 4832 at about

10/16/2022 The late summer and early fall of 2022 had been unseasonably hot and smoky throughout the Cascades and Washington state. I had been obsessively checking smoke forecasts trying to make the most of the hot and sunny weather throughout this period, and it looked like there was a small window at Snoqualmie Pass for the weekend. Knowing this, my dad and I set out for a casual day trip to Red Mountain. The PCT north trailhead at Snoqualmie Pass was packed with cars, but

10/1/2022 Western Washington had been plagued by near consistent wildfire smoke during the exceptionally dry September and October of 2022. I had been monitoring the smoke forecasts and was cautiously optimistic about clean air in the Chelan Sawtooths. I figured the larches would be a bit early for peak color but was still excited about the chance to camp at a larchy lake and knock off another Bulger via a seldom-done route. I had heard tales of horrific bushwacking from late

9/24/2022 - 9/25/2022 It had been a goal of mine to sleep in the Three Fingers Lookout for years. It is an iconic and improbably place for a fire lookout with a rugged approach and an exciting finish on old wooden ladders. Eric was in for an epic weekend so we set off early Saturday morning for the "trailhead." Most trips I do to the mountains involve long drives that have trailheads in relatively pristine wilderness areas...this was not the case for Three Fingers. It is a sh

9/22/2022 I'd been eyeing Robinson for years as a fun day-trip Bulger but had never gotten around to it. That would change in September 2022. After a good night's sleep in the back of the car at Ballard "campground" (really just a nice, dispersed camping zone as far as I could tell), Katie and I hit the Robinson Creek Trail at 6:30 am. I always enjoy getting out into the Pasayten, and this trip was no exception. Excitement grew as we travelled along the nice trail until we hi

9/17/2022 The weather in the Cascades was finally starting to feel a little bit like fall. With commitments in Seattle later that day, we drove out to the Snoqualmie Pass area with hopes of a fun, quick hike with multiple peaks. After parking a bit before the trailhead due to some rugged sharp rocks on the road, Katie and I took off on the PCT on a nice brisk morning. We traveled an easy 1.7 miles to where the trail to Silver Peak branches off, which is marked by a giant cai

9/2/2022 - 9/5/2022 Katie and I spent 4 days exploring Lost Creek Ridge over Labor Day weekend. This was an area that had always interested me, and I’d wanted to see Lake Byrne for years. Day 1 Wildfire smoke had started to plague Western Washington, and it was pretty thick on our drive out to the Mountain Loop Highway. I had been tracking the smoke forecast thoroughly and was semi-confident that it would clear out over the course of our trip. Nevertheless, it was a little da

8/22/2022 Took advantage of the long days of summer by doing a quick weekday evening jaunt up Tolmie Peak in Mount Rainier NP The Mowich Lake Road is long and unpaved, but aside from a few washboard sections goes pretty quick. By the time I took off on the Wonderland Trail it was about 5:15 pm and summit of Mount Rainier was in a thick cloud. It seemed like the entire state was under clear blue skies except for the northern aspect of Rainier, and I was pretty pessimistic abou

8/21/2022 Tomyhoi Peak is great Type 1 fun trip off the Mount Baker Highway. Eric and I started from the Yellow Aster Butte Trailhead at a reasonable 7:45 am. I had heard that Yellow Aster Butte was a nice hike, especially with fall colors popping, and I’d always wanted to check it out. We hiked up in a thick, weirdly humid, mist that was forecasted to burn off steadily throughout the day. It wasn’t long before we were bursting out of the woods and into beautiful meadows. We

Summer 2022 My dad and I are on a journey to reach the highest point in every state in the contiguous US. We knocked off 8 of them on a road trip through the Midwest and mid-Atlantic in the summer of 2022. Indiana Our journey to the highest point in Indiana began with a fun stop at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown Indiana – the actual gym in the movie Hoosiers that is still used for Indiana high school basketball today. After shooting some hoops and touring the gym, my mom, dad

7/9/2022 Keyes Peak was a long time coming for me. I had been drawn to it since my first of many trips to Blanca Lake years ago. It also helped that it was the highest point of the Monte Cristo Range, and views down to Blanca and the surrounding area were sure to be spectacular. There is no way around the fact that Keyes is a long day. The stats are big, and travel on the ridge above Virgin Lake is often slow. I’ve heard of parties completely underestimating this peak and hav

The weather for the Fourth of July weekend wasn’t looking too great for western Washington. The saying “summer doesn’t start until July 5th" had never been truer. With that said, it looked like there was an option to squeeze in a short overnight before the weather rolled in and Townsend Mountain fit the bill. Townsend (not to be confused with the much more popular peak of the same name in the Olympics) is a relatively obscure peak in the Wild Sky Wilderness in the vicinity of

6/25/2022 Bulger season was upon us, and that called for a long drive to a remote part of Washington to kick it off. Katie, my dad, and I made the voyage out to the town of Winthrop and camped for the night at a nice campground off Forest Road 5130. The next morning, we drove up the last 10 miles or so of road to the Copper Glance Trailhead. It promised to be a nice day, and we got started at about 8:30 am. The trail was pretty nice, if a bit overgrown, and had only a few b

2/13/2022 Katie, Marissa, and I made the long drive down from Seattle on Saturday evening with nervous anticipation for what was bound to be a fun but challenging adventure the following day. I always seem to forget how far south you need to drive to get to the St. Helen’s climbing routes. We eventually pulled into the Marble Mountain Sno-Park at around 10 pm. The road was perfectly dry and clear all the way to the lot (FYI you need a Sno-Parks Permit to park here in the win

1/29/2022 Humpback Mountain is a solid winter destination close to Snoqualmie Pass. There are two viable approaches in the winter, either the northeast or northwest ridge. My dad and I opted to ascend the northeast ridge because it was closer to the “trailhead.” To get to this “trailhead”, merely take exit 47 on I-90 and park on the shoulder of NF-9034 on the north side of the freeway. To get started, we crossed back over the freeway on the exit 47 overpass and then proceeded

1/22/2022 - 1/23/2022 So, we wanted to go snow camping, and didn't really know where to start. This was the first time either Katie or I had attempted to snow camp in the winter. We were excited but also a touch nervous because winter camping can be much higher consequence than a casual summer backpack. Artist Point seemed like a good choice because it has amazing scenery but is also easy to access and close to the parking lot should something go wrong and the need to bail ar