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Driving the North Cascades Highway – Stops to Make Along the Way

Driving the North Cascades Highway – Stops to Make Along the Way

Green Point – Easiest Backpacking Trip in North Cascades NP

Green Point – Easiest Backpacking Trip in North Cascades NP

Lewis Lake in North Cascades: An Epic Spur Trail

Lewis Lake in North Cascades: An Epic Spur Trail

Maple Pass: A Must-Do Hike in North Cascades NP

Maple Pass: A Must-Do Hike in North Cascades NP

Backpacking Thornton Lake in North Cascades NP

Backpacking Thornton Lake in North Cascades NP

Blue Lake – Best Short Hike in North Cascades NP

Blue Lake – Best Short Hike in North Cascades NP

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the latest from instagram

It’s been 1.5 years since I did this hike and it

It’s been 1.5 years since I did this hike and it’s still at the forefront of my mind.

Even on an extremely cloudy day, Summit Lake in Washington is strikingly blue. As I sat at the top of the rocks at over 5600 feet, the landscape would literally change right in front of me with the clouds rolling through. One second I could see the smaller buttes surrounding Summit Lake, the next they would disappear as little pockets of sunlight poked through.

I wrote a new blog post about this short and sweet hike located just north of Mount Rainier. Access it here: bit.ly/3MefAqy or through the link in my bio!

Devil’s Tower ⛰️ I’ve had this place on m

Devil’s Tower ⛰️

I’ve had this place on my summer bucket-list for years and I finally got a chance to visit… in the dead of winter. Devil’s Tower is giant butte that protrudes from the plains of remote Wyoming. Standing at over 1200 feet above the Belle Fourche River, it’s an incredible geological formation. 50 million years ago, the tower was actually 2 miles below Earth’s surface. Over time, magma cooled underground, eroded and forced it upwards into the sky.

Devil’s Tower is protected through its National Monument status, becoming our nation’s first National Monument in 1906. With 5 different trail systems that are all connected through the park, it’s a worthy place to visit in any season.

Learn more about visiting Devil’s Tower in the winter in my new blog post here: bit.ly/40hbp1a or via the link in my bio!

There’s just something about a mountainous backd

There’s just something about a mountainous backdrop meeting the forest and a snow-fed lake all in one photo.

I’m a sucker for scenes like this, which is probably why all of the hikes I have planned for this summer include some sort of wow factor at the end. Truthfully, if it doesn’t have a lake or a panoramic mountain view I usually cross it off the list.

What kind of sceneries do you look for out of a hike? Excited to add more epic treks to y’alls bucket lists this summer!

If you want to learn more about this short and sweet hike to Blue Lake in North Cascades NP go here: bit.ly/3loe7mp

What was different about my last National Park vis

What was different about my last National Park visit compared to all of the others now that I have a baby in tow?

No lengthy-elevated treks deep into the wilderness; we stuck to short nature trails and most of the time didn’t even complete them. Finding time to explore between naps and feeds meant foregoing a lot of trails, mainly because you should never wake a sleeping baby (trust me on this one), especially on a multi-day road trip.

Truthfully, I ventured out into most of the Badlands on my own while my husband waited in the car with the baby. While this type of National Park visit was much different than my others through the years, it allowed me to write a new blog post about how to quickly see the gist of the Badlands while driving the Loop Road through the park. Check it out here: bit.ly/3F7jVr2

Since this is *most likely* my last summer in Mont

Since this is *most likely* my last summer in Montana, I’m already making all of my Glacier plans for the year. Which is a good thing since reservations for July & August opened yesterday!

For the past couple of years, Glacier National Park has required vehicle reservation passes to drive the Going-To-The-Sun Road. The difference this year is that reservations are now also required for my favorite two areas, Two Medicine and Many Glacier.

Since I couldn’t actually snag vehicle reservations, I booked campgrounds at Two Medicine and Many Glacier, which automatically allows you to explore those areas of the park. Other ways to get in the park without a vehicle reservation is to either enter before 6am or after 3pm or book a boat tour, lodging within the park, horseback rides or guided hikes.

Glacier NP is, quite frankly in my opinion, the most beautiful National Park that should be on everyone’s bucket list!

After all of the exploring I’ve done out west, t $After all of the exploring I’ve done out west, the Trona Pinnacles in California are still one of my favorite places. I also love geeking out at geological facts so here’s the gist: Where the Trona Pinnacles stand today was once covered by an ancient lake that actually holds half of all the natural elements known to man. Nearly 100,000 years ago, snow from the Sierra’s melted and flowed into the desert here. Underground hot springs fractured the lake floor and Calcium Carbonate came seeping out of the cracks. Bound with algae, hollow towers known as tufas were created over the next few thousand years. The towers of Trona are the largest of their kind on the North American continent, rising as high as 140 feet! Trona was always my pit stop for the night while driving through to Death Valley. Learn more about visiting and camping out at the Trona Pinnacles here: bit.ly/3m9Myxn$

Speaking of letting go of my old lifestyle, one th

Speaking of letting go of my old lifestyle, one thing I really miss is overnight backpacking into the wilderness. A couple summers back I tackled some of North Cascades NP’s toughest overnighters so I was looking for something much easier to give my legs a rest.

Backpacking to Green Point in North Cascades NP:

🎒2.75 miles one-way
🥾+950 elevation gain
🏔Routed from the Ross Dam Trail, over the dam that crosses the Skagit River
🏕In the summer months, the Ross Lake Resort has cabins along the river and a restaurant to purchase food. We snagged a couple beers from the resort then sat on the banks of the river watching the small planes fly in. I captured one of my favorite shots here, which is actually framed in my house.

Follow the link here to learn more about this overnighter: bit.ly/3YZiqU3

Between Montana’s long harsh winters and becomin

Between Montana’s long harsh winters and becoming a first-time mom, moments like this one here in Death Valley feels like a literal lifetime ago.

Sometimes I find myself grieving my old life, something I think is more common for new parents than we like to admit. I miss spontaneously hopping on the road with no sense of direction. I miss getting lost in the middle of the desert until the sun goes down. I miss being forced to park the car on a random dirt road only to wake up at dawn and be surprised by the landscape in front of me. I miss spending my days and nights aimlessly wandering and discovering nature’s most precious gems.

I often skim back through my instagram posts just to feel a sense of nostalgia and to take me back to the best moments of my life. I know one day that will be my reality again so in the meantime I’ll keep skimming and remembering what it felt like to live that life.

Posts of the Past

Posts of the Past

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