The Hiker Mama

Category: Trip Report

  • Spring Break Road Trip to the Redwoods – April 2018

    Spring Break Road Trip to the Redwoods – April 2018

    My family has been itching for a road trip (well, some of us…), and this year we were able to get away for Spring Break. The weather is always tricky in April, but we got lucky and were able to time our trip for a brief window of good weather. We split the drive down […]

  • Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Trip Report

    Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Trip Report

    Swimming snakes! Exploding cattails! Dabbling ducks! Croaking frogs! Sunning seals! This hike had it all. We enjoyed a day of record spring temperatures by walking at Nisqually with my mother-in-law. Spring is just getting started at Nisqually, with Indian plum being one of the few shrubs leafing out. The frogs are loudly croaking now, though […]

  • SEA Discovery Center and Point No Point – Trip Report 3/9/18

    SEA Discovery Center and Point No Point – Trip Report 3/9/18

    Yesterday I took Annika and two of her friends on a fun outing over to the Kitsap Peninsula. We took the ferry over from Edmonds to Kingston, and from there it was a quick 20-minute drive to Poulsbo. Our destination was a small aquarium, the SEA Discovery Center, right on the water of Liberty Bay. […]

  • Snowshoeing Wrap-up, January and February

    Snowshoeing Wrap-up, January and February

    I’ve done a couple of snowshoe trips since the New Year, and fully intended to write up a trip report for each, but decided that since time is passing away so quickly, I’ll just write up a blurb about our trips. Kachess Dam Road This is an easily-accessed area, just off the freeway in Easton […]

  • Hazel Wolf Wetlands, Trip Report, 12/8/17

    Hazel Wolf Wetlands, Trip Report, 12/8/17

    Edited to add: I wrote this back in December, but forgot to post it. Here it is! It’s still a lovely park to wander around, winter or summer. You may have noticed it’s been pretty quiet here on this blog. I’ve been dealing with my chronic foot and ankle issues, and have not been allowed […]

  • Great American Eclipse – Trip Report, August 2017

    Great American Eclipse – Trip Report, August 2017

    The Great American Eclipse of last August is probably fading in your memories, but I wanted to document our trip to Central Oregon to see it. A lot of planning, ruminating, advice-getting, worrying, gear purchasing, and refining packing lists over and over went into this trip. Aaron elected to stay home to save his vacation […]

  • Cutthroat Lake, Trip Report, 9/30/17

    Cutthroat Lake, Trip Report, 9/30/17

    With my kids getting older, our schedules are getting fuller, and it’s more challenging to get an entire day for hiking out in the wilderness. But we were able to squeeze in a “quick” trip up to the North Cascades to see the larches turning colors a few weeks ago. We were not excited about […]

  • Blue Lake (Mt. Baker) – Trip report, 9/16/17

    Blue Lake (Mt. Baker) – Trip report, 9/16/17

    After a summer of little hiking, I have been feeling ready to get back out on the trails. I’ve been wanting to go to Blue Lake for a few years now, ever since we were stymied by my car breaking down on the road up there back in 2014. This is one of those hikes […]

  • Super Quick BC Road Trip to Banff – July, 2017

    Super Quick BC Road Trip to Banff – July, 2017

    Our kids were at camp together for a whole week in July, so we thought we’d take a little trip without them. Aaron had a doctor appointment he had to go to, and one that would be difficult to reschedule, so we didn’t get out of town until 7:30 Monday evening. We made it smoothly […]

  • Fragrance Lake Hike TR – June, 2017

    Fragrance Lake Hike TR – June, 2017

    I’m trying to fill in the gaps of kid-friendly trails we haven’t hiked on, and wanted to do something with an easy drive a couple of weeks ago. We slept in late on this beautiful morning, and it turned out Annika’s shoes were too small – once again, I had forgotten to get her new […]