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

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

A Winter Waterfall Walk to Donut Falls

It’s never too snowy to check out a waterfall – and when it’s 60 degrees and sunny in Salt Lake City, it’s hiking time. While sipping a cup of coffee, I starred out the window of my new duplex apartment at the Wasatch Mountains topped with white peaks and blue skies.Winter surprised me in December when

Zion to Park City: Evergreen in Utah

My desk chair and I are currently in an argument. Its squeaky wheels and my bouncing knee fight for attention. I sit on the floor, my emails stack up. I rock in my chair, my back screams. I peek out the window, my mind races off elsewhere. Problem: I’m not good at sitting still. Luckily

Starting the New Year on Table Mountain

I hope my first hike of the year isn’t a sign of things to come in 2014…or maybe I do? Beautiful yet grueling, Table Mountain from the Bonneville Dam Trailhead stretches your endurance along 15.8 miles of weaving paths and tests your resolve to make it to the top with 3350-feet elevation gain. With some

Triple the Beauty at Triple Falls

The holidays can be a tough. Too much food, too much family-fun and too much sitting around. While some may enjoy relaxing on the couch, for me the lethargy can be all too consuming. My mind starts to wander, the hours slip by and my body enters a sugar coma that’s as addictive as the

A Hidden Gem: Elowah Falls

Hidden just a few hundred feet off of one of Oregon’s busiest interstates, Elowah Falls cascades 213 feet into a beautiful, serene amphitheater.  Enjoy this short 1.3 mile round trip hike on your way to Hood River from Portland on I-84 to briefly escape the noise of road and stretch your legs.

Ape Caves and Lava Canyon

Crawling over boulders 100 feet below the earth’s surface, I was consumed by excitement and pitch black. A damp chill clung to the walls of the lava tube and any exposed skin. The only light, the one I carried. Behind the shadow of the south rim of Mt. St. Helens, ancient lava tubes known as

Return to Rainier Sweepstakes

Originally posted on ESCAPE YOUR EVERYDAY:
From the snow-white peak of Mt. Rainier to the lush, green rainforests on the Olympic Peninsula, the National Parks are finally back open! Can you hear the corks popping and our team getting out our hiking boots? This week we’re returning to Oregon and Washington’s parks on our regular,…