Outdoor adventures in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with some occasional reflective storytelling.
With a name like Dirty Harry’s Balcony, I was already suspicious about it. And when Gonza and I attempted it for the first time back in September, I wasn’t a huge fan — but we didn’t make it to the top. I wanted to give it another try though, and I’m glad I did! Dirty…
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It wasn’t the first time I found myself driving south on highway 5 to Olympic National Forest for a particular hike. Back in January, I had an ill-fated adventure in an attempt to visit this exact place: Lower Lena Lake. If I can’t be on top of a mountain with sweeping views, a lake is…
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I headed to Rattlesnake Ledge on a Thursday around 5 pm, shortly after the trail was reopened after being shuttered for about a year due. Historically extremely popular, I was eager to go before the word fully got out that it was open. Nonetheless, there was still a moderate amout of people on the trail.…
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Visiting Deception Pass State Park Camping in March in Washington was totally new territory for me. First, I hadn’t been camping in 6 years, so I definitely felt out of practice. Second, I had only ever planned one camping trip before. Third, the weather in Washington tends to be rainy and unpredictable. What I’d read…
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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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Elizabeth Seeks 