The Olympic National Park is known for its wilderness and staggering beauty. The park is huge, encompassing much of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The South Olympic Coast is just a small portion of the Park. Not many realize, though, that the park is not continuous. One portion of the park contains the Hoh Rainforest,…
Living on the Kitsap Penninsula has its perks. There are several cities with ferries into downtown Seattle, which makes commuting for work or accessing extra amenities easy. The cost of living is better than most of the great Seattle-Tacoma metro area. Most importantly, though, is the easy access to Washington’s amazing nature. After living in…
Every beginner backpacker should learn the “Ten Essentials.” With these ten essentials covered, any new backpacker should be comfortable along the trail. In this post, I’ll cover why the ten essentials exist, who created this list, and what the list includes. Why Ten Essentials for Backpacking? Beginner backpackers tend to overpack or underpack. They don’t…
When heat hits the Pacific Northwest, people flock to the lakes and higher elevations. Most homes do not have air conditioning – nor have they needed it, until recent climate change. That’s why we escaped Bremerton to backpack in the Olympic National Forest at the end of June. We chose the Gray Wolf trail for…
Over Memorial Day Weekend, we backpacked for the first time on the Upper Dungeness Trail. The trail was absolutely stunning and not overly crowded, making it a great getaway for the weekend. Last weekend, I wrote up a post about exploring the Olympic Penninsula, check it out here. Trail Difficulty Alltrails.com lists the Upper Dungeness…
Life Pro Tip: If you plan on doing anything outdoors during the summer in the Pacific Northwest, be sure to book your AirBnb, Hotel, camping permit, or anything else requiring reservations, FAR FAR in advance, especially on the Olympic Peninsula. Even though we remembered to take vacation time for an extended Memorial Day, Phil and…
Silverdale has a wonderful network of trails, centered around the Clear Creek Trail. The Clear Creek Trail follows the Clear Creek, which is a habitat for many species of salmon. Various entities have come together to create storm water control systems, build and maintain the trails, and restore precious habitat. The main trail is about…
Don’t let the impression of just a few miles sound like an easy hike; Mount Walker is a steep, 2000′ elevation gain hike that is rated as moderate by the rangers and by All Trails. To be fair, the trail is well maintained, easy to follow, and pretty smooth. However, the slope is relentless. During…
There is nothing like wandering around a grand, dark forest to feel in tune with nature. With towering trees above you, the gentle patter of rain, and the rush of wind, you can feel lost in the untamed wilderness from the safety of the trail. We had the fortune of escaping into the Olympic National…
My husband and I recently made the decision to move from Southern California to just outside of Seattle, partially driven by circumstances surrounding COVID-19. While developing our game plan for moving, we investigated different options for a cross country move. Even though we haven’t landed on a final decision, we developed our own pros and…