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Chush Falls Hike – Summits and Spray

Best laid plans never pan out, so lately my weekend trips have been a bit more ad-hoc. Snow, snowed-out a camping reservation and unusually cold and wet spring fronts have kept me bundle inside more ready for a book than trek. But when it comes to a long-weekend like Memorial Day, classic Pacific Northwest June-uary

Exploring Colorado’s Mountain Passes: 4 Epic Mile-High Hikes

Over the Labor Day weekend, my husband I traveled to Colorado to compete in the Grand Traverse. A point-to-point ultramarathon, the race runs up and over two mountain passes connecting Crested Butte to Aspen. While the race didn’t go in my favor, the week long trip was not a complete bust – exploring four different

Big Views: Sleeping Beauty Hike

If your calves and quads were snoozing from the car drive to this remote Washington hike, they are bound to wake up as you ascend Sleeping Beauty. Short but steep, this 2.6-mile round-trip hike rapidly gains 1400 feet of elevation to pop out of the tree-tops. Featuring views of four mountain peaks (Adams, Hood, Rainer,

Hiking to God’s Thumb

Somethings are worth getting up early for – and this hike is one of them. With a heat wave rolling through the Pacific Northwest a few weeks ago, I was super lucky to already have a coast weekend on the books. My college friends all converged on Lincoln City for a long 4-day weekend. If

Weekend Warrior Trip: 2-Day Metolius River Camping

If you have trouble sleeping these days like me, power through your work week and book a camp ground along the wild Metolius River. Better than any white-noise machine, the roaring rapids of these crystal-clear waters will sooth you to sleep like a sweet lullaby. Recently, I have been super stressed and my anxiety high,

A Look Back at 2020: Adventures During a Pandemic

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a hell of a year. Looking back on the last 12 months, I feel like it’s all a fog – a blurry merge of months, virtual meetings and happy hours, walks past the same houses, and long, lonely days spent indoors. And unfortunately, the hope

Winter Waterfall Hike: Nick Eaton Falls

With many trails still closed due to the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, it has been tough to find good day hikes in the Columbia Gorge. However, it has forced me to explore some areas I’ve never ventured and revisit old trails to travel a different direction. Today was the latter. Returning to the Herman Creek

Kayaking into the Silent Wilderness of Patagonia

It’s hard to imagine – and even harder to describe – a place like Bernardo O’Higgins National Park. I’ve started and stopped this blog post about fifteen times in two days, trying to find the right words.  It is true undeveloped, wildly remote, vast wilderness. Covering an area of over 8.7 million acres (that’s bigger

4 Hikes to Celebrate Spring in Utah

Say so long to the snow boots, sweaters, and scarves because spring has sprung across Utah. While the ski bums may be sobbing as they watch the snow  melting, for the rest of us, it signals a new season and new sport – it’s hiking season! To warm up your legs hit one or more

Riding “The Wave” at Valley of Fire State Park

The desert can be a deadly and desolate place. However, in the heat and extreme landscape comes surprising beauty. In Nevada’s first state park, the Valley of Fire, rugged formations of bright red Aztec sandstone jut out of the earth; some with rough edges from thousands of years of erosion from the power of the

Scaling to the Summit of Pfeifferhorn Peak

The Pfeifferhorn with its jagged knife-edge traverse is an exciting and challenging hike for a summer weekend in the Wasatch Mountains.

Experiencing the Power of Nature on the Red Castle Lake Trail

As a spider web of lightening illuminated the green and gray rain-fly of our Nemo tent and the rain soaked the ground, my chest tightened in panic. I hope we don’t end up like those 300 dead reindeer in Norway, I thought. The rain continued to fall from the angry sky; the water creeping closer

Canyoning in Sulfur Creek

Water is the lifeline of the desert. It brings vitality to dry earth, allows plants to sprout, and animals to flourish; even when temperatures reach well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. As a hiker (and a north-westerner through and through), I also love water for it’s beauty, refreshing spray, and fun trails. So while visiting Capitol

Dark Skies, Bright Stars: Utah’s National Park’s After Dark

As the campers quiet down and crawl into their sleeping bags, as sizzling fires are snuffed out, and as the crickets start their nightly song, the night’s sky awakens and rolls out a beautiful show of stars. In Utah’s National Parks, the nights are even darker and the show more stunning. From Bryce Canyon to Capital

White Trail, White Peaks, Blanche Lake

After a long winter of skiing in the Wasatch Mountains, my legs needed to stretch – to hit the trail, to tread softly through the trees, to explore. While winter’s white hadn’t quite released its grasp at the higher levels, Lake Blanche proved its name in beauty and color. Located in the center of the Twin

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