Sometimes life gets busy. Busier than you ever thought possible, where you suddenly find that you're putting all of your energy into just keeping up. The consensus of advice seems to always involve giving yourself small breaks, but it can be hard to figure out what that actually looks like for you as an individual. My greatest success with this as of late has been what I would call ...
Hiking
The High Divide
My parents have always been great adventurers. They backpacked all over the Olympic National Park in the 70's before I was born, and I always enjoy looking through the photo albums of all the places they explored. This is one of my favorite photos of them on the High Divide looking out at Mt. Olympus and the headwaters of the Hoh River. My Dad asked me to needlefelt the photo for my Mom's ...
Clear Lake on a Cloudy Day
On the weekend after Thanksgiving, we decided to take a break from building the chicken coop and get out on a hike. I had been seeing everyone's amazing pictures for #Optoutside on Black Friday, and was feeling a little jealous while I was stuck inside working. I had always wanted to explore the trail around Clear Lake, the headwaters of the McKenzie River. Aside from admiring photography other ...
Backpacking Ostrander Lake
When visiting National Parks, I have found that spending some time in the backcountry is the way to go for many reasons. Having heard all kinds of things about Yosemite's crowds and campgrounds you need to reserve a year or more ahead, I planned our time in the park around backpacking. Even though I made the backcountry reservation several months ahead, things were already pretty filled up ...
An Elwha Without A Dam is Like a Fish Without a Bicycle
Growing up on the North Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, I spent a lot of time around the Elwha River. Whether it was hiking in the Olympic National Park on the Elwha River Trail, fishing on Lake Mills, collecting rocks on gravel bars at the various river access points, or stopping on the way up to Olympic Hot Springs, it was always a special place to visit. As a result, I think of the Elwha ...
Day Hiking the North Fork Quinault River Trail
Every once in a while, it's good to visit our home ground and stay in touch with our roots. Making trips up to Washington's Olympic Peninsula has been a regular thing for me over the last decade of living in Oregon, and I find I start to really miss it if I go too long. This time, I was itching to spend some time up the Quinault River, and even had grand plans to backpack up to the Enchanted ...
Hiking Tenas Lakes
The Central Oregon Cascades are scattered with a multitude of high mountain lakes, and with our close proximity up the McKenzie, I have been enjoying getting out there and exploring them. This last Sunday we were on our way across the mountains for some live music in Bend, and since the show wasn't until later evening, we decided to do a hike along the way. I hadn't been up the old McKenzie Pass ...
Hiking Canyon Creek Meadows
For those of you who have older editions of William Sullivan's Book, 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades, you are probably familiar with the very beautiful scene on the cover, promising all kinds of amazing nature experiences if you get out on the hikes in the guide. As it turns out, this completely real place is called Canyon Creek Meadows, and it is every bit as cool as it seems. We've ...
Hiking Iron Mountain
In search of a good Sunday hike with our friends, we decided to explore the Iron Mountain Trail in the Willamette National Forest. We haven't been getting out hiking quite as often over the past year, with plenty to keep us busy around the homestead on the weekends, but I am making a concerted effort to remind myself that homestead projects will always be there, and time needs to be made for ...
Hiking Quaking Aspen Swamp
It's good to take a break every once in a while from all the things that need doing in life, and just get out in nature to re-charge. We decided we were due for such a break this weekend, and after hearing about a local Quaking Aspen Swamp for some time, I was intrigued. First of all, we don't see many quaking aspens around here, so I wanted to know what that was all about. I had heard ...