Lake Ann: Escape from the Tent City
After our very scenic trip to Chain Lakes last year, we were easily tempted to do another trip to that area. We drove up the Mt. Baker road, parking just below Artist Point, at the Lake Ann trailhead. We had gotten a late start as usual (border delays didn’t help), so we weren’t fazed by the overfull parking lot and long line of cars parked up and down the road. Sure enough, while we had our lunch and geared up, a parking space opened up (“late bird gets the worm?!”). The views soon after we started, Mt. Shuksan This trail is a bit weird, because it starts out by going…
Olympic Discovery Trail: Ending the Summer on a Positive Note
This summer did not start in the best possible way… In early July while making dinner I managed to cut myself pretty badly, cutting 70% of the way through one of the tendons in my right hand. Of course, after the initial shock of first going to the ER followed by a small procedure a couple of days later, my next question was “can I ride my bike”? The intern who did the procedure looked at me like I had just landed from the moon – “of course not”. I kept asking my physiotherapist the same question and her answer was even worse, maybe in 8-10 weeks, like mid September. …
Chain Lakes Loop: The Perfect Trip
For years I’ve had this trail, the Chain Lakes Loop, at the back of my mind. It’s been there for so long that I don’t even remember how it got there. I’ve even recommended it to other people! This trail has so much going for it – easy access to the alpine, a well maintained trail, sweeping views of tall glaciated mountains, a bunch of lakes, great camping, it’s a loop hike, and in September – no bugs and lots of berries. In my head at least, I labelled it as the “Perfect Trip”. It doesn’t get much better than this! The only downside is that the above has been…
Mt. Rainier National Park: Wilderness Behind the Urban Monster
Why? It seems to be the number one question recently when we set off on a trip by car. This time even more so, since crossing the border to the US, especially on a long weekend is brutal. Naively we thought that if we’d cross on Sunday, meaning the middle of the long weekend, the wait wouldn’t be long. We ended up waiting for an hour and a half… The only silver lining in the situation was that the kids miraculously slept through most of the wait. If they would have been awake I’m pretty sure we would have turned around. That would have been unfortunate since that first day…
The Skyline Divide: Big Hike for Short Legs
The first hike of the season is always the hardest. Not only physically, but also mentally. After not doing serious hiking for almost a year the idea of carrying a heavy backpack, getting into the woods and the unknown is a bit scary. In addition, being very busy this summer with work, plus tiredness from being pregnant I guess, did not make it easier. Gili convinced me that it will be fun to get out of the city, and to spend some time in nature. Of course he was right, but a little push was definitely needed. We decided to take a risk and not bring the hiking carrier for…
Looking for America while Cycling in Washington and Idaho (Video)
In May 2017 we went on a two week road trip from our home in Vancouver, British Columbia. We crossed the border to Washington and drove to Clarkston, at the south-eastern corner of Washington. We did two bike trips – a five day trip which we named the Snake River Loop, which was very scenic and included quiet roads, bike paths and small town America in both Washington and Idaho. On the second trip we followed the Centennial Trail from Spokane, Washington to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and back over three days. It was our first trip to the States post Trump and in a way we went to “look for…
Seattle: An Unexpected First Taste of Winter
We decided to head over to Seattle on the first weekend of November. Friends from Israel moved there for a one year sabbatical and we arranged, very last minute, to stay with them for one night. Last minute usually works perfectly for Israelis. We didn’t have big plans for the weekend, just some relaxing, but then another thing worked out. Our apartment was due for a floor replacement and we were told that they could do it on that weekend – perfect. On Friday night we moved all our furniture out of the living room, and on Saturday morning greeted the two guys from the flooring company and off we…
Park Butte Lookout: A Smoky Weekend in the Mountains
It was hazy and smoky in Vancouver for a few days before the BC Day long weekend, but we still decided to go ahead with our weekend plans of hiking around Mt. Baker in the US. We honestly didn’t give too much thought to the smoke and didn’t really think it was a big issue in Vancouver. Maybe we also thought that the smoke would magically disappear once we crossed the border. It turned out however that the smoke in the US was much worse, and that’s not just a a metaphor. We managed to leave reasonably early on Friday and headed east. We originally planned to cross the border…
Washington and Idaho: Hail, Warmshowers and Sunshine
Our trips are known for their rocky starts. So we were not surprised when we were all packed and ready to go on our first four day ride when it started hailing and blowing winds like in the Wizard of Oz. We both looked at each other and we knew that this ride was not going to happen and we should come up with a Plan B. In fact this whole trip was a Plan B. We were actually planning to go to Oregon and cycle some of the Scenic Bikeways we haven’t done already. However, when Gili went to pick up the rental car (we don’t own a car at…
Seattle: Post Election Weekend of Urban Cycling Exploration
It was a stressful week with the US elections taking over everything and everywhere. For some reason, not in my worst nightmares, did I ever think Donald Trump would become the next president. I followed the elections a little bit (because how could you not), and after the second debate I just decided that there was no way this bully was going to win. I guess I am still an optimist inside, but sometimes you just fall on your face. We still decided to go ahead with our plans to go to Seattle for the long weekend. So the atmosphere on the streets wouldn’t be as cheerful as we hoped, but…
