This week, we finally rolled out of Seattle and onwards to new adventures! It’s been amazing exploring the PNW for the last 2 months, and we’ve ticked some major things off our outdoor bucketlist lately, but all the long mountain trips have also left us missing our little home on wheels and we are definitely ready to hit the road again, this time “for real”. Our plan is to spend the next 1.5 years t[...]
Frequent readers may have noticed that I haven’t published a single “Vanlife diaries” update since we were in the Sawtooths in late June, and that’s because we’ve been back in Washington for the last 2 months, spending as much time out of the van as we have in it— on various mountaineering and backpacking trips, as well as attending family functions and tending to van maintenance. There hasn’t been occ[...]
Stretching 700 miles from southern British Columbia to northern California and comprising more than 3,750 named peaks, the Cascades are undoubtedly one of the continent’s most spectacular mountain ranges— and Washington’s Cascades are the very pinnacle. The summits are taller, the lakes are bluer, the ascents are longer, the glaciers are bigger (the largest outside of Alaska, in fact), and the mountains are ju[...]
Pioneered in 1938 by the Ptarmigan Climbing Club, a group of 4 climbers out of Seattle who summited 12 peaks and put up half as many first assents over just 13 days, the iconic Ptarmigan Traverse represents Washington mountaineering at its very finest. Each day brings high passes, steep glaciers, windy summits, and sparkling lakes, all set against the impossibly picturesque backdrop of the snow-capped North Cascades[...]
Among the most popular photo vantage points in the entire North Cascades, Sahale Glacier Camp is simply breathtaking. After hiking an incredibly gentle trail to Cascade Pass and then continuing through the heather to ascend a much steeper, rockier route to Sahale Arm, the entirety of the range seems to stretch before you, Doubtful Lake acting as a sparkling sapphire centrepiece to the dark granite and bright snowy s[...]
Growing up in the shadow of Mt Rainier, the most glaciated peak in the continental US, it seemed only fitting that this be my first major glacier climb— what I hadn't anticipated was just how incredibly technical, physically exhausting, and mentally demanding it would be. This week, I set out with dad (his third Rainier summit), Eileen (who would be coming to base camp and prepping us for the ascent), and my b[...]
In case you missed it... it's official, I LIVE IN A VAN!! After months of tireless organising, coordinating, packing, selling, and about 60 Amazon parcels, Dan and I hit the road on Wednesday for the first 4-month leg of our 2-year van adventure— we are beyond excited to finally be travelling full-time and even more so by all the amazing opportunities that come from being self-contained. We are also SO in l[...]
Alpine Lakes Wilderness never fails to impress, particularly during the magic of mid-autumn when all the leaves have turned varying shades of orange and the larches glow an otherworldly gold. And just as promised, this protected area within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is a mecca of alpine lakes, each more spectacular than the last. In an effort to escape the dismal, rainy weather forecasted across the[...]
Following an eventful two days on the trail with multiple summits and millions of golden larches, our adventure in the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness continues to Lake Juanita, up Boulder Butte for sunset (day 3), and finally culminates with a brutal 1,800m descent down into Stehekin on day 4. The scenery remains incredibly vibrant and the good weather holds all the way until the end, making for the kind of gol[...]
For only a few spectacular weeks every autumn, the otherwise unremarkable alpine larch trees in the Pacific Northwest turn a vibrant gold before dropping all of their needles for the winter. It’s the small geographical window, as well as the very narrow timeframe (and unpredictable weather this time of year), that makes golden larch season somewhat elusive and therefore incredibly captivating—if you know where t[...]
Following a spectacular day along the Maple Pass Loop trail yesterday, we've left the crowds behind to trek towards (and hopefully summit) Black Peak today, a task whose difficulty is somewhat magnified by the recent snowfall. We are rewarded for our efforts with an almost unbelievable pocket of good weather, though, and the combination of white slopes, blue skies, and golden larches backlight by the morning sun is[...]
As one of the most popular day hikes in Washington, Maple Pass Loop makes nearly every "best of" and "top hikes" list, grabbing my attention fairly instantly with promises of autumn colours and alpine lakes set against the backdrop of the snowy North Cascades. Maple Pass was therefore an early pick during my recent visit to Seattle, endeavouring to cram maximum trail hours into an already overflowing schedule before[...]
Located in the far northeast of Washington State, about 1hr from the Canadian border and just beyond North Cascades National Park, Pasayten Wilderness is a protected mecca of snow-capped alpine peaks and sparkling glacier lakes. Hoping to savour some of the vibrant autumn colours (and possibly even a few elusive golden larches) during my teaching break this week, I travelled up north with dad and Eileen to enjoy som[...]
An indisputable Seattle icon and Washington's best-known peak, the snowy summit of Mt Rainier (originally called Tacoma by native Americans, meaning “the source of nourishment from the many streams coming from the slopes") provides a dramatic backdrop for countless local adventures, international flights, and even the state licence plate. I grew up in the shadows of Rainier, and yet I'm still wildly impressed e[...]
On what would originally have been our penultimate day circumnavigating the Bull's Tooth before returning back to Stevens Pass but has now become our last day on the trail due to nearby bushfires, we hike the short distance to Frosty Pass before descending steeply to Whitepine— not without a final lake swim in picturesque Lake Grace, though! Trail stats: Frosty Pass to Whitepine via Lake Grace Dist[...]