Mt Pilchcuck with JJ

i am ashamed to say this was my first ever trip up mt pilchuck! 

met up with this rad new friend JJ, a fellow PNW hiker babe!! we set out at 5am to conquer Gothic basin. there was a nasty storm the night before and due to many trees and fallen powerless blocking the road we had to turn back.

stoked that we would make it up for Pilchuck for sunrise we plowed up the mountain by only the light of headlamps. a whole new perspective to me. thankfully JJ is very familiar with the trail because the darkness can be deceiving. 

5.4 miles with 2300 ft elevation gain it is a steep quick gain up the mountain. 

we made it in great time through the two major boulder fields and ultimately reaching the top around 7 am as the sky got light. thick fog socked in and crushed all hopes of views promised. the final rock scramble up to the lookout was intense to say the least.. the rocks were coated with a half inch layer of ice and nothing much to grip on to. we crawled and yoga stretched and strained our way carefully up and over each. the ladder to the look out had a thick sheath of ice coated over each metal rung. once getting up and into the lookout we were wet and cold and doubting our ability to get back down. 

the wind was whipping from up at the lookout. i had stupidly only worn leggings and forgot my snow pants in the car. my leggings were wet from climbing over the icy rocks and freezing from the upper winds! we camped out inside for a long time sipping hot chocolate and huddling under my sleeping bag to warm up. 

JJ had a stylish poncho that she wrapped me in to give some sort of barrier to the icy rocks on the way down. 

while sitting inside it began to snow! though no view was available it was a beautiful site all around. we took a ton of pictures (mainly JJ and all her fancy equipment)  and then began the descent. a fresh dusting of snow made a tremendous difference in traction getting down. also tested out my new micro spikes! 

really looking forward to doing this hike many more times. on a clear day. in different seasons to fully experience her beauty! 

Annette Lake with Riley

SNOW DAY!! with my bff Riley :)

headed out to Annette Lake in search of snow.

7.5 miles and 1400 ft elevation gain. it was a comfortable laid back hike.

directly off i90 and easy to access without 4 wheel drive.

lots of beautiful stream crossings.

thick open slopes of snow at the top which were easy to navigate thanks to previous hikers.

we made it to the lake where the frigid icy wind was blowing. 

the coolest thing was hearing the wind icy water crackle and freeze over a little bit more each time a gust of wind blew in. 

 We ate a quick lunch and paused to take it all in before descending back to the warmth of our car. 

November 17th : Becker Peak with Riley

My favorite hiking buddy ms. riley and i set out on a beautiful winter day for some mountain top views! we chose Beckler peak and were pleased to know that it is not featured in many guide books or the WTA so its kind of a hidden treasure.

7.4 miles with 2260 ft elevation gain.

a moderate and scenic hike!! 

we took our time and enjoyed all the views. it was so frustrating because the sun was shining so bright our pictures do not do it justice. Rainier was gleaming in full beauty.

we had a quick lunch and headed back down because the icy wind was at full strength. definitely one i would do again!! 

Roesiger Falls & Ice Caves with Dan

Dan drove over Friday night and was a lazy bum so we didnt get up in time to go out to blanca lake Saturday.. instead I took him around to see a few of my favorite places in the PNW.

detouring through the back roads because traffic on why two was all stopped up we ventured out to the lake resigner waterfall! a place i had heard much about but actually never been! it was may bigger and more impressive than i had ever imagined. an old logging road makes up most of the trail so an easy walk through the woods. 

we found by climbing up under the falls that there is an awesome little cave that tempted exploration. the rocks were too slippery and we had no gear to be able to do that.

maybe next time :)

Next on the list a quick trip to the Big 4 Ice Caves! Dan was so excited and really impressed. I always love the ice caves, nothing quite like it. they are always changing and always a different scene.

Blanca lake with Daniel

T'was a beautiful September day and Daniel and I set out early for a beautiful day hiking up to Blanca Lake! The most challenging hike I have ever done. 

7.5 miles round trip with a whopping 3300 ft elevation gain, my knees were knocking by the end.

we got a later start than planned and even with the warning of my sister who had previously hiked it, the sheer steepness of the switchbacks caused out trip in to be longer than anticipated.

But it could not have worked out more perfectly. we hiked up and up and  through meadows of wild flowers and wild be berries, then dropped into the lake (thinking the whole time we descended that we were gonna have to climb back out after we reach the lake) quite a few people on the trail. had lunch at the lake and explored around a bit! 

the crystal blue alpine water was breath takingly beautiful. I had never seen anything quite like it. 

after relaxing for a bit and dipping our feet in the water we started the trek down knowing that it would be a race to sunset.

we stopped in the meadows and picked a full nalgene bottle of wild blue berries that i savored for a week afterwards. better than candy! store blue berries don't taste anything like mountain blue berries. the sun was starting to set and all the creatures were out. I learned what a Pikka was. These cute little rock dwelling gerbils were chirping and playing along as we walked. we were talking about bears and arguing whether or not WA has grizzlies because i was sure that in fact we did..when all of a sudden a black berry appeared on the hill top in front of us! it was the coolest site. so surreal. he spotted us and before we could even whip out our cameras he took off back over the hill.

the hike down was a long process and luckily we had headlamps to use for the last hour.

exhausting but totally and completely worth it!!