Nisqually NWR
Washington Park Arboretum
Stimpson Family Nature Preserve
Hoh River
Bellevue Botanical Garden
Lord Hill Regional Park
Soaring Eagle Regional Park
Paradise Valley Conservation Area
Bench and Snow Lakes, Rainier
Chain Lakes
Bagley Lakes
Heather Lake (Mountain Loop)
Lake 22
Sheep Lake
Naches Loop
Panorama Point
Second Burroughs
Reflection Lakes Loop
On our fourth day in Arizona, we reluctantly said goodbye to our lovely cabin in the woods northwest of Flagstaff, and moved our families south to Tucson. Along the way, we stopped at Montezuma’s Castle National Monument. This park is smaller than the others we’d visit on our trip, but it’s a unique treasure and…… Continue Reading
For our third day in Arizona in April, we spent the day up at the Grand Canyon. We were staying at a house on the north-south road up to the South Rim area of the canyon. This turned out to be a really good spot for getting up to the Canyon early in order to…… Continue Reading
The month of March brought some newly published hiking books across my desk. Take A Walk: Seattle, by Sue Muller Hacking (Fourth Edition, Sasquatch Books) is one that I’m impressed with. I’ve been flipping through this book quite a bit this spring, and am surprised that there are trails near me that I haven’t explored yet.…… Continue Reading
Our friend Cindy and her 4 dogs joined us on Friday for a great hike up Little Si. This knob sits on the side of Mt. Si, and provides a great workout for little legs without the steep slog up the larger peak. You’ll still get wide views and a wild feel, even though you’re…… Continue Reading
On our first day in Arizona, my parents picked us up from the airport, and we drove up to Flagstaff to get groceries before we went to our cabin near Williams. We got quite a surprise when it started snowing in Flagstaff! That was not what drew us to Arizona, after one of the gloomiest,…… Continue Reading
We had an amazing trip to Arizona for Spring Break this year. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be putting up blog posts about all of the places we visited. I also have some book reviews to sprinkle in between that I think you’ll like. This was my second time to Arizona (the first…… Continue Reading
I recently had the chance to drop my kids off with Grandma in the South Sound, and I had the afternoon free to do a hike by myself. Since I was already down there, I thought I should check out a new trail for the website. I picked Tolmie State Park, northwest of Olympia on…… Continue Reading
We recently took an afternoon and drove up to Semiahmoo Spit near Blaine to do some birding and check out a new-to-us trail. Semiahmoo Spit is a long sand spit that protects Drayton Harbor. Historically this area was used by Native Americans for harvesting natural resources, and it became an abundant salmon canning area after…… Continue Reading
Many of you are familiar with Craig Romano, the prolific and energetic guidebook writer for Washington State. We use his books all the time to plan our hikes to wild and scenic locations. But it’s not always easy to get out to true wilderness. With iffy weather, packed schedules, family illnesses – sometimes we need…… Continue Reading
Over the long President’s Day weekend, when we were visiting my brother, we drove up to Hoodoo ski area to do a snowshoe. This huge sno-park has a solid network of ski and snowshoe trails to choose from. We chose a kid-friendly trail to one of the warming huts – the North Loop Trail. We…… Continue Reading
The month of March brought some newly published hiking books across my desk. Take A Walk: Seattle, by Sue Muller Hacking (Fourth Edition, Sasquatch Books) is one that I’m impressed with. I’ve been flipping through this book quite a bit this spring, and am surprised that there are trails near me that I haven’t explored yet.…… Continue Reading
Many of you are familiar with Craig Romano, the prolific and energetic guidebook writer for Washington State. We use his books all the time to plan our hikes to wild and scenic locations. But it’s not always easy to get out to true wilderness. With iffy weather, packed schedules, family illnesses – sometimes we need…… Continue Reading
When I was younger, my biggest dream in life was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I was never able to figure out how to tackle that audacious goal, and life moved on, and I set that dream aside. But now Tami Asars has come out with a unique new book about how to…… Continue Reading
The latest book I’ve reviewed for you is Treecology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Trees and Forests by Monica Russo. [Amazon link here.] This thin paperback is accessible for both parents and teachers. It is packed full of the science to understand all parts of trees and the environments they grow…… Continue Reading
My bookshelf has two rows of various hiking guides, but recently a new guide came out that will have a prominent spot in the first row. Craig Romano has rewritten and updated Harvey Manning and Ira Spring’s original 100 Classic Hikes in Washington book from 1998, including some of the initial hikes, but adding some new…… Continue Reading