Heather Lake

My first time to Heather Lake. the beginning of the trail goes through newer forest, with big ass tree stumps. the second part of the trail is in old growth. the lake is pretty sweet! 4 miles round trip; half hike, half snowshoe. 

Central Washington Rocks!

Chris and I discovered a whole new world in Central Washington. It was amazing! I had no idea how diverse this state's geography is. This is Dry Falls. CLick on this picture to see more!

I love Washington!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My mom's 50th birthday surprise party, a visit with tim, a visit with sarah, and some snowy geocaching

My mom and I posing at her surprise party. She is officially old now, 50. She was totally surprised. It was so much fun. 

Rainy Snowshoe to Kachess Lake

Again, rain won't keep us away. Since this trail was basically on a road, we took the umbrellas for extra comfort :) 

Sculpture Garden

The new Olympic Sculpture Garden is neat. Not sure how often I will be going there... as I must admit, I don't appreciate huge pieces of metal as much as some. But it was a gorgeous day and fun to check out at least once. :) 

Rain won't keep us away from camping!

That's right, on this very rainy weekend, Chris and I went camping anyway, to Comana Island, the magical Rain Shadow. Chris put up this killer tarp jsut in case though :) 

We decided to check out Port Townsend and Hurricane Ridge this weekend

Chris is in the fort at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. A very cool place. The biggest fort ever. Lots of exploring. Plus you are on the coast AND Olympic National Park's Hurrican Ridge is right up the road! Sweet! 

Port Townsend

Port Townsend is awesome. There are a couple state parks to check out. Really neat forst to explore, great ocean beaches ad views... camping!

Click on the door to enter if you dare... the forts were really creepy!

Geocaching in the Arboretum

I went geocaching with the Seattle Hiking Group, led by Evan of course. It was super fun. Didn't find all that we were looking for, but did spot this Blue Heron! 

snow shed snow shoe

Chris took me to one of his favorite spots... the snow shed. 

SNOW DAY!

This was the 8th snow day, and really the only true SNOW day for me this year! Crazy. It was the best though, because Chris didn't have to work either. So we went to Gas Works Park this morning and I treid sledding down the hill on my frisbee! Fun! We also had a delicious breakfast at the Rusty Pelican and then I got to make my own snowman in my front yard. Awesome snow day! It reminds me of home :) :) :) Click on this picture for a slideshow! 

Death Valley and the Alabama Hills

After Xmas (and Chris day with the flu) we headed north to Death Valley. I had neverbeen there... not sure I ever need to go back really. It is big.

Then we headed north some more and stopeed to camp in the Alabama Hills at the base of Mt Whitney. This was a random stop... but it was soooo freakin cool. The rock formation, the dirt roads you can drive all around on, the views of the mountains ... it was just amazing. I would go back there, for sure! 

Xmas in San Diego

Chris and I drove to San Diego for Xmas. I got to meet his mom and dad, his brother and sister in-law, and his nephew. He has a really great family! It was so nice being there for the holiday adn see where my man grew up. Here we are on the La Jolla coast near the seals. 

Gold Creek Snowshoe

Chris and I got new snowshoes! We took them out right away for a field test. I love mine, except for one thing - they flip snow back at me with every step... i got covered! Not good. We had fun though! Gold Creek is a great first time location, very low key and pretty. Clock on this picture to see the photo album! 

a Coastal Thanksgiving

Chris and I decided to head to the beach for our long weekend. We stayed on the Long Beach penninsula and checked out some parks. It was gorgeous. Quite different from our usual travels, as we actualy stayed at a resort and had a couch and fireplace and kitchen! Cooking Thankgiving dinner went well. I had never done it before, and am really not much of a cook anyway, so the timing was quite off, but it was good. THe pumpkin roll and peanut bon bons were my favorite. Still have lots of turkey leftovers! Ugh!

Click on this picture for more pictures from the trip!

My mom came to visit me for Halloween and we went hiking!

My mom and I went hiking and canoeing. Took her to the Arboretum, a pond and a waterfall. Lots of mushrooms this time of year! 

Pumpkin Carving Party

Here are all the pumpkins that were left at my house after this year's pumpkin carving party. Pretty sweet! Click on this picture for more pictures from the party!

Spring and Summer 06 - Kick Ass!

i am having such a good time! hiking, backpacking, camping, and visiting all over. seattle and its surrounding areas kick so much ass. let me recap for you the awesomeness of my year so far, just because i want to see how much fun i have had written out myself :)
~Robin and Tuck Lakes 4 day/3 night backpack
~JT's wedding in northern Idaho
~eastern Washington desert drive to an abandonded ranch and a huge canyon
~Point of the Arches on the olympic coast backpack
~visit to NH, MA and VT
~The Narrows (Virgin River) 16 mile overnight hike in Zion National Park
~Half Dome 16 mile day hike in Yosemite National Park
~Rachel and Rampart Lakes day hike
~Mt Forgotten meadows day hike and car camping on the river
~Lake Serene day hike
~Mt Rainier/Spray Park wildflower day hike
~Lake Melakwa day hike
~Tiget Mountain evening hike
~car camping in Elwha area in the Olympics
~visit with Steph (and wrote showdown for love)
~Dirty Harry's Balcony day hike
~random car camping on a logging road near Lake Kachess
~awesome 30th birthday party
~Tubal Cain Mine and Buckhorn Pass backpack
~8 Mile Lake backpack
~Goldmyer Hotsprings backapck
~sock puppet party
~Doe Bay/Orcas island retreat
~Rialto Beach backpack
~Big Burn Canyon backpack
~Lake Twenty Two day hike
~visit home for memere and pepere's 50th anniversary

and more... MAN - life is good! :) :) :)

Showdown For Love

My very awesome friend, Steph, and I wrote a song when she visited me in April. The song is so random, I love it. Then my friend, Evan, offered to let me use his recording studio in his home to record the song so I could surprise Steph with it! Now Evan has sooo kindly hosted the song on his server, for a limited time - so go here if you would like to hear the Western Ballad, Showdown For Love. Good times!

http://home.comcast.net/~jazzman70/music/Showdown_for_Love.mp3

I am singing and playing the guitar, while Evan added some fun effects to make it snazzy. :)

Robin Lake 3 night backpack

My first mountain goat sighting! So cool.

Chris and I went on a 4 day, 3 night excursion to Tuck and Robin Lakes this Labor Day weekend. What a tough stEEp hike! Man! It was really tough with a backpack on! So worth it though. Beautiful area, with lots of places to explore.

and mountain goats!

Click on this pic for the photo album.