Typically, when planning an Alpine Trails Book Club outing, I start with the book, then wrack my brain to come up with the best possible trail to pair with it. To start off 2018, for once I knew exactly where I wanted to go: a short snowshoe around Gold Creek Pond paired with a stop at my nearby family cabin would be the perfect way to ease out of the holiday season. I envisioned a laid-back morning of snacking, hot beverages, and meandering conversation. The trouble was I couldn't come up with a fitting book, but when Ashley suggested reading The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, I knew we'd found the perfect combination. I'd already unintentionally planned the perfect hyggelig day for our meeting!
Read moreLife: Week 3
This week was busy with planning and preparation for the January meeting of the Alpine Trails Book Club. We were spending a long weekend at my parents cabin up in the mountains, so every night was spent making large batches of soups and sauces to freeze in preparation for our weekend. After all the busy preparation, arriving at the peaceful cabin was a relief. Friday, we spent a quiet evening watching movies while snow fell outside. Saturday morning, we woke up to several inches of new snow, just enough to decorate the trees and hide our tracks from the hike in. By the afternoon, our group expanded with the addition of Ashley and her little one. After some snowy exploration around the cabin, we settled in for another quiet night of card games and puzzles. We ended the weekend with our perfectly hygge January Alpine Trails Book Club hike, which I'll be sharing soon!
Read moreLife: Week 2
After a quiet, rainy work week, our annual mid-winter spring preview arrived just in time for the weekend! Perfect timing too, since I signed up for my first winter work party with the Washington Trails Association on Saturday. It was a good thing we lucked into dry weather, because our work site conditions were anything but. Our task for the day was building several puncheon structures (those boardwalks you see on particularly muddy stretches of trail) through a literal mud pit. As usual, it was enormously rewarding and so much fun! After working so hard on Saturday, I spent Sunday relaxing and catching up with one of my oldest friends at her new lakefront cabin home out in the country. With such an unseasonably lovely day, we decided to row around the lake to soak up the sunshine before returning to her patio for a lunch cooked over a fire. It was the perfect break from the doom and gloom of winter, the memory of which may have to last the next several months until the sun returns to stay!
Read moreLife: Week 1
I've never been one for resolutions, but this week I have found myself making plans and setting goals. There's snow in the mountains to play in, but also plenty to keep me indoors for the winter - between the tempting knitting projects I keep finding and my every expanding tower of books to read, I could easily not leave home until summer! It feels like I ended 2017 in a rut, spending much less time outdoors than I need to maintain my sanity. One of my biggest obstacles to getting outside over the year was literally getting out of bed, since working from home allows me to sleep in much later that I used to. A 5 AM wake up call feels a lot earlier when you've become used to getting out of bed at 7:30! For 2018, I'm also trying to cut back on my indoor hobbies to make more time for the outdoor adventures I love so much. I even mentioned to Andy that I'd like to take a break from knitting for at least a few months (after I finish my current project of course), and he not-so-jokingly bet I wouldn't make it three days. I'm nearly finished, so I guess we'll see if he's right!
Read moreLife: Week 52
Thanks to the winter wonderland that magically descended on Puget Sound on Christmas Eve, Andy and I got a late start getting to my parents on Christmas Day. By the time we made it there, my two-year-old niece was anxious to break into the huge pile of presents under the tree. Happily, one of her presents was perfect for the snowy day - her first pair of skis! After opening gifts, we dashed outside for some easy skiing and general frolicking in the snow. Since I had December 26th off as well, I got a bonus day off to enjoy the winter wonderland before it all melted away. I took advantage of the day with a long walk on the Powerline Trail, brilliant in its snowy glory.
Read more