Outdoor adventures in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with some occasional reflective storytelling.
For my 28th birthday, I was determined to spend the day in the outdoors, hiking. Given the friendless-in-Seattle and covid situations as well as my hiking hobby, it seemed like a natural choice. Since my birthday was on a Friday, I took the day off work to enjoy a three-day weekend. And then, the forecast…
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I hit a winter wall last week. It’s interesting: though I lived through a much colder winter last year in Boston, winter in Seattle presents a different challenge. The Boston area was surprisingly sunny even in winter; we never went many days without some serious sunshine. In Seattle, the long dreary grey can really get…
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Twin Falls is actually the very first hike I picked out in Washington–before I knew I was going to move here. We were visiting my sister and her family over the winter holidays. I wanted to plan a hike that we could bring our then 2-year-old nephew along on. Something short, something within a 45…
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Driving up the road, I knew I’d made a miscalculation. On the last 2-mile stretch of National Forest Road 25, I saw snow. In my mid-sized vehicle with no snow chains or cables, I cautiously eked my way forward. There was a car immediately behind me, and nowhere easy to turn around, and a track…
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Mount Storm King is a place you might have seen on social media without even realizing it. It’s a beautiful, breathtaking mountain top overlooking Lake Crescent in the glorious Olympic Peninsula. With such a grand name, it kind of has to be amazing. One of my friends commented that it looked like the Crater Lake…
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For our first weekend back in Seattle after 6 weeks in Ecuador, I wanted a relatively easy hike. To ease back into things, you know? I picked Otter Falls because there was no snow, it was mostly flat, and with a cloudy weather forecast, waterfalls are one of the best (if not the best) options.…
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Some hikes around Washington are super well-known and well-trodden. These are the Lake 22s, Rattlesnake Ledges, Talapus Lakes, and Snow Lakes of the region. They’re popular for a reason–I’ve done several of them, and Snow Lake and Lake 22 remain a couple of my favorite hikes thus far, even with the crowding. But there’s also…
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Ahh, Cotopaxi. The volcano I admired most from my Quito bedroom window since my first day in the country. Snow-capped, majestic, imposing. And, a quick day trip from the city! It doesn’t get any better than this. Jose Rivas Refuge Hike Hiked: mid-December Distance from Quito: 2 hrs Accessibility: Difficult. While the first part of…
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It’s hard to believe, but while I was living in Ecuador for four years, I didn’t do all that much hiking. The main reason was accessibility. Though I lived in the Andes, and there are ample trails within a fairly short radius of Quito, the problem was that you can’t easily bus to many of…
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Lake 22 is a stellar hike. Possibly my favorite trail I’ve had the privilege to hike this fall. It combines all the elements of what I consider to be a “great hike”, and it’s a quick, one hour drive from the city. You’ll want to visit Lake 22 if you haven’t already. Lake 22 Trail…
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Elizabeth Seeks 