After the awesomeness that was the April Alpine Trails Book Club camping trip, our May outing had a lot to live up to. May has always felt to me like an awkward time to plan a hike. Do I stick to the low altitude trails I've been hiking through the winter or contend with potential avalanche danger and the annoyance of postholing in the mountains? Thankfully, the sunny eastern slopes of the Cascades provide a few options for snow-free hiking early in the season. Instead of lowland mud, on our Sunday hike to Icicle Ridge we found a dusty trail lined with ponderosa pines and sprinkled liberally with an assortment of wildflowers.
Read moreLife: Week 19
Right now, work is getting dangerously close to taking over my life. Thankfully, the end of the busy season is in sight, and I know that soon I'll be back to a less hectic schedule. When I wasn't at my desk, I was busy knitting in an attempt to finish a birthday gift for my niece by her party this Saturday. I didn't quite manage it, but I was at least able to get it into a state presentable enough to gift temporarily so my niece could try it on! It was a mostly rainy week, with a couple of particularly intense storms, but by the weekend, it felt like summer had arrived. I even wound up with a sunburn from an afternoon spent in the sunshine catching up with family on my sister's front porch during the previously mentioned birthday party! Before I know it, the long busy days of summer will be here. I'd better start remembering my sunscreen!
Read moreLife: Week 18
I love the transitions between seasons, and one of my favorite changes during the transition from winter to spring is the moment when tiny, brilliantly green leaves being to unfold. Streets lined by bare branches for months will suddenly erupt in a vibrant, pale green. This year, I seem to have missed that transition. After yet another hectic week of work spent almost entirely indoors, it suddenly looks like summer. The shock of green when I walk out the door is still as surprising as ever, but I'm sad to have missed that first splash of new foliage. After spending most of the week indoors, I was happy to get out for some trail work with WTA Saturday morning - even if it did mean getting up early! This time around, I'd signed up for an all-women work party, so for the first time, I left Andy at home for some solo trail work. Since it was on the same trail Andy and I worked on in January, I had a pretty good idea of what I was in for. Last time, we'd spent our day building puncheon through a swampy stretch of trail (aka mud pit). Thankfully, it hadn't rained nearly as much in the week leading up to this work party as it had in January, so the area had dried out. Not to worry though, I still managed to get plenty muddy over the course of the day!
Read moreLife: Week 17
To call this a busy week would be a serious understatement. With everything I did, it felt like at least two weeks, and it was a good two weeks! Early in the week, I celebrated my birthday and was treated to two dinners at my favorite restaurant. On a run to the grocery store to pick up lunch, I even bought some flowers to bring a little sunshine into the apartment. Monday through Thursday, any time that wasn't spent out for a marvelous meal with family was spent trying to get ahead at work to prepare for a Friday off so I could head south with Ashley for the April Alpine Trails Book Club camping trip. Driving east, we quickly left behind the clouds layered over Puget Sound, and by early afternoon, we'd reached the Columbia River and set up camp.
Read moreDalles Mountain Ranch
Confession - I almost didn't make it to the April Alpine Trails Book Club outing. Our destination for the month was Columbia Hills State Park for a weekend of camping, hiking, and other adventures. With such a long drive, going for just one day to join the group for our Sunday hike was out of the question, but spring is always a busy time for me at work, and in years past I've ended up working at least one day each weekend from late April through late May. Thankfully, I not only managed to avoid working through the weekend, but was able to take Friday - all without falling to far behind! Three whole days spent away from my computer, soaking up the glorious sunshine in the company of an inspiring group of women was just what I needed to restore me. Our weekend was filled with all sorts of adventures, but my favorite was definitely our Sunday hike through the wildflowers studded hills at Dalles Mountain Ranch.
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