Goat Rocks Wilderness

I was hiking up to Camp Muir on Mount Rainier last summer when I first heard of the Goat Rocks Wilderness. My friend said, "I think we can see the Goat Rocks from here!" and I have wanted to go ever since. Fast forward to last month, when my friend Brook and I decided to plan a short backpacking trip together. "Let's both research where to go, and talk tomorrow," we agreed.

When I talked to her the next day, she suggested not only Goat Rocks, but the same loop I had in mind! It was meant to be. So we headed out of Seattle when I got off work, around 2pm. We drove through Mount Rainier National Park and toward the town of Randle, then to the Berry Patch trailhead. We got on the trail by 6pm. We crossed rivers and went up switchbacks in the golden evening light. It was beautiful except the crazy amount of mosquitoes.

We hiked in about 4 miles to Snowgrass Flats. We both scoped out campsites and Brook reported finding an amazing one... but still under a couple inches of standing water. Trail reports said Snowgrass was under 6-8 inches of snow just a week or two ago, so it had melted fast. It was dry most places, but would provide even more camping options in a week or two.

We found a great spot to call home, and this was our camp kitchen area. After sleeping in (neither of us wanted to set an alarm on our day off), sipping coffee, and filtering water, we set out down the trail. There are several different ways to go from Snowgrass Flats, and you could easily turn Goat Rocks into  a 4 or 5 day adventure. But our plan was to stick to a mellow 13.5 mile loop.

We eventually got above the tree line and started crossing a ton of little creeks. They were awesome. Rolling, tumbling, cascading, and sometimes with snow, there was an incredible amount of water coming off the mountains.

There were also a bunch of wildflowers blooming, from these avalanche lilies to mountain heather to Indian paintbrush.

Again though, in many places the melt was very recent, and it was clear that there would be a lot more flowers in a couple weeks.

As we got higher, we had a constant and clear view of Mount Adams. Our highest point was Goat Lake, which is at 6,600 feet and was still almost completely frozen. It was just barely starting to melt at bright pockets of pale blue. When the snowfields below the lake are gone, there are a good handful of campsites.

We stopped here for lunch on a sunny rock. Brook suggested we put our feet in the creek, to cool and relax them after our grueling 10:30 start and few miles of hiking. I also enjoyed some red wine with my meal, making it a bona fide backcountry spa lunch and adding to the feel that we were in the Alps.

We continued on down the trail, to more wildflowers, more tumbling creeks, more gorgeous rock formations. Seriously, this hike is stellar.

On descent on trail 95, there are a few great options for camping. We found our spot after passing just a couple other people, the benefit of a mid-week trip. We made dinner then took refuge in the tent from the mosquitoes.

In the morning while taking down the tent, we discovered this little visitor on the tent poles! I have no idea what it is, but it sure was a surprise when we took the rain fly off.

It was all downhill from here, and there is an alternate trail 95A which is definitely worth taking. It will bring you to an overlook where in the same sweeping vista you can see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, AND finally Mount Rainier.

Again, we would have hung out longer but the bugs were crazy. We wanted to stop to pump water but literally couldn't stop long enough to deal with the swarm of mosquitoes, so we pushed on to the car where we had extra water. Besides the bugs, this was one of the most pleasant trips I've done in a long time. Big thanks to Brook for being such a great backpacking buddy!

Bend and Climbing at Smith Rock

I have always wanted to try rock climbing. Even with climber friends and boyfriends, I simply never got around to it. Then in April of this year, my old friend Tegan suggested we go to Bend, Oregon together in June to visit mutual friends and climb at Smith Rock. "You'll have a few months to join a climbing gym and practice!" It was a great idea.

Then I blinked, and suddenly it was the end of June and I still had zero climbing experience. "I don't think it's really worth it for me to go," I lamented to Tegan. I told my roommate Sara of my disappointment and she said, "Smith is a great place to learn! You should just go. I'll give you a crash course tomorrow after work."

So thanks to her encouragement, I decided not to be deterred. She loaned me a harness and shoes and taught me how to belay in our living room, and told me what safety things I needed to know. Then we went to Vertical World and I took the belay test and then climbed a few routes. I climbed a few routes! I had this perception that I needed super human strength and special techniques to climb anything, but I pleasantly surprised to find that in the beginning, you mostly just have to do it.

Then Tegan and I loaded up the car with snacks and drove first to Portland, where we picked up another friend of Tegan's. Lindsay is an awesome all-around outdoor lady, and would be our lead climber at Smith. When we got to Bend that evening, the air was still thick and warm. We were greeted graciously by our hosts before all walking down the block for a delicious dinner at Spork.

The next day we awoke earlyish, theoretically wanting to beat the heat but also wanting to be on vacation. We drove to Smith Rock, and here is the view as we started the hike in. Smith is made up of a handful of big tuff and basalt rock walls with the Crooked River winding through the valley.

The first day we went to the Dihedrals, where I had my second climbing experience ever, and first time outdoors. Both Lindsay and Tegan were super supportive, never in a hurry, and helpfully coaching me on technique. Oh, and it was really HOT. I don't think gym climbing can prepare you for being on the hot, sharp rocks.

See this boulder to the left? That honestly might have been the hardest part of the route! It took me a bit to get over it, but after that I had a lot of fun picking my way up the route.

This was our view across the river. We were on a south-facing wall baking in the sun, so we made a note that this rock was east and north facing and shaded, maybe a good climb for tomorrow.

We headed back to our friends' house in the afternoon, happy with our climbs of the day but worn out from the heat. What better cure for that than a river float?! We piled in our friend's circus van and did a car shuttle to a couple points on the Deschutes River. 

The green, cool water was such a nice foil to the dry, rocky climbing of the morning.

We went to bed early and got up a little earlier the next day. Our hosts came with us which was great, making us a party of 5. We loaded up a ton of water bottles and a cooler hiked in to climb a very classic and recognizable Smith route.

It's called 5 Gallon Buckets, and full of these big holes or huecos. When we first got there, a family was just finishing the route with their son who looked about 8 years old. Anytime I started to lament my short height, I just thought of that little boy, monkeying his way up the wall.

It worked out great that there was a harder route right next to it, so with an extra lead climber, we were able to constantly have 2 people climbing, 2 belaying, and one resting, which was perfect. We got to all hang out together and challenge different ability levels. At one point Tegan and Jessica ended up at the same hueco on the two different routes, and they did a little synchronized dance.

It was another super hot day, in the high 90's. Remember that view across the river from yesterday? We went there in the afternoon, and lo and behold were in the shade! After lunch we picked this shady spot with two routes next to each other again. Here's Lindsay and I with the Dihedrals in the background.

After we all felt like we had climbed enough or were too hot, we decided to head out. We got invited to our host's parents' house in Bend for dinner that night which was really sweet. We offered to bring beer to contribute, but in this town, don't bother picking up a 6-pack. No, in Bend they have growler fill stations! I've only ever seen growlers filled at the home brewery, where you are limited to that one brewer. But here, at a place like Growler Phil's, you have over 30 choices, almost all from craft Oregon breweries. Mark my words, we will start to see this in Seattle soon! We sampled a bunch of different beers and left very satisfied with our selections.

It was a quintessential summer dinner that night- BBQ'ed beef, salmon, and veggie burgers, potato salad, corn, fresh fruit. By the time the sky was turning purple, we were pretty tired from our day of climbing and decided to call it a night.

The plan was to leave in the morning. But first we made a big house breakfast, including coffee and fresh cream. Yes, they had just gotten milk from a farm down the road, from a cow named Josephine, and here's Lindsay scraping the cream off for our coffee. SO GOOD.

We got back on the road to Seattle, sore and tan with full bellies. A big thanks to our friends for hosting us, and to Tegan and Lindsay for being climbing mentors. I seriously couldn't ask for anything more.

Summer Solstice Weekend

Happy Solstice y'all! That long-awaited longest day of the year was on Friday and the whole weekend shaped up to be awesomely summery.

Off work at noon on Friday, I had some time to work in the garden at home. It was a sunny day and I weeded, battling the mutant-fast growing morning glory and dandelions. Here's the garden, with kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, (bolted) spinach, favas, potatoes, tomatoes, nasturtium, garlic, beets, carrots, snap peas, arugula, and mixed salad greens. I harvested what I could- some peas, strawberries, greens, and nasturtium flowers.

I also added more soil to my barrel potatoes. If you haven't heard of this method, it's a good way to container garden with potatoes when you have limited space. You can use any kind of bin, barrel, or sack as long as there are drainage holes in the bottom. Earlier in the spring, I filled it with about 8 inches of soil and compost and planted potatoes. Here they are just starting to grow in the bottom.

As the leaves grow, you keep adding soil to the base of the plants, and they keep growing up and creating more tubers below the surface. Here were the potatoes on Friday!

Later in the afternoon I headed to my neighborhood farmer's market on Phinney Ridge. I couldn't pass up getting some Rainier cherries in the glory of their season, and some heirloom tomatoes from Yakima.

That evening I went to a backyard BBQ and let myself have my first summer ale. I'm very particular about not drinking seasonal beers out of their intended season, though in the stores there will be a lot of overlap. I also tried a cocktail with cynar for my first time, sipping it by a fire while a huge moon rose over Woodland Park. The actual Supermoon was a couple days later, but it was the biggest moon I saw over the weekend. 

On Saturday my sweetie made coffee and cooked me some eggs with veggie sausage and I had a much-needed relaxing morning. It's funny how much 7:30 feels like sleeping in when you are used to getting up at 5. Then I hopped on my bike and rode to a family lunch/belated baby shower in Magnolia. The plan was to go straight from there to the Fremont Solstice Parade. I didn't want to worry about trying to catch a crowded bus, or park 30 blocks away, so biking seemed like the easiest option. I crossed the Fremont bridge and apparently had forgotten just how incredibly many people go to the fair. I could hardly find a place to park my bike! 

Then I realized I needed to cross the street to get to where my friends were... but it was completely impossible to cross the street. There was a wall of parade spectators about 5 people deep for dozens of blocks. I ended up having to walk to the very beginning of the parade to get around the crowds and then back down. I finally found my friends and still caught a good chunk of the colorful parade.

The whole event is pretty crazy with the sheer number of people in the streets. I couldn't handle something like that very often, but for special occasions I absolutely love soaking in the vibrant urban feel. There was so much to see and do, with people-watching, costumes, local vendors, food trucks, people eating at tables and patches of grass on the canal, buskers, official music stages, laughter from the beer garden. It was another sunny day, even hotter than the day before. We ate Thai food and grabbed a cold beer with some friends before.

In the evening we rode down to Honkfest at Gasworks Park. Tons of music and people dancing and hanging out outside in the warm evening air.

We sat on top of the hill and watched the sun reflecting off the buildings and the sky change colors. I fell in love with Seattle even a little bit more.

After an unusually warm last few days, Sunday was grey and wet. It was a good day to be inside and get odds and ends done. We weren't going to let a little drizzle dampen our summer spirits though. We had a BBQ with some friends in the evening, cooking homemade pizzas on the outdoor grill. We originally were going to make pizzas outside, but decided to move the operation into the basement, which worked out well.

The pizzas were delicious, with toppings from olives to burrata to chopped garlic scapes to pesto to fresh arugula. There were homemade desserts like cake with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry sauce, peach pie, and lemon bundt cake. Other homemade drinks showed up like hibiscus-pennyroyal soda and homebrewed Belgian-style beer. It dried up for awhile, and we were able to hang out in the yard.

When it stared raining again, we just stood by the fire and made sure to cover the important items.

The rain stopped long enough for people to roast some marshmallows, and then it waited to start pouring until everyone had left. 

If the weekend is any indication of how the whole summer will be, I think some good months are ahead!