Category: Washington

Long Beach Washington Weekend: Year round fun!

A Long Beach, Washington weekend is the perfect getaway from Seattle, Tacoma or Portland any time of year. It’s a low key, outdoor oriented place with tasty food and drink, cozy lodging and miles of walking and biking opportunities, not to mention the beach! It’s probably obvious that the...

Cutthroat Lake Hike in North Cascades: Easier Larches

Looking for a relatively easy hike to see the gorgeous orange larch trees of North Central Washington? Similar to Blue Lake, Cutthroat lake is a mellow 4 miles round trip with just 400 feet of elevation gain, this one is easier and in the same area along the North...

Visit Chief Seattle’s Grave by Bike or Car

Did you know that Seattle is the only major city in the United States named for a Native American? When white people came to this area, they called him Seattle because they were unable to pronounce is name, Si’ahl. He is buried near Seattle in Suquamish, which is about...

Snoqualmie Tunnel Bike Ride or Hike

The Snoqualmie Tunnel is an interesting and weird phenomenon to visit! I want to make sure it’s clear that riding a bike is NOT necessary to check it out. However, even though I’m not that big of a cyclist, I find biking to be the most enjoyable way to...

Tolmie Peak Lookout Hike: Big Views of Mt Rainier

Imagine the best views around of Mt Rainier, two alpine lakes and incredible wildflowers and you’ve got the Tolmie Peak Lookout hike. At close to 8 miles round trip and 1100 feet of elevation gain, it’s a moderate day hike. A long gravel road and being located on the...

McClellan Butte Hike: Super hard and rewarding

By now you likely know that I don’t normally write about hard hikes, since I like to keep things low key. I do enjoy a super hard hike now and then, (check out my Mt St Helens summit climb guide here) I like to include them in case you’d...

Deception Pass Day Trip or Weekend Adventure

Deception Pass State Park is the most popular state park in Washington and it’s easy to see why. Close to our major populations center (about two hours from Seattle) and with ocean beaches, lakes and forest, spectacular sunsets, an iconic historic bridge and endless recreation opportunities, it’s a wonderful...

Talapus Lake Hike near Snoqualmie Pass

The very popular Talapus lake hike is a 4 mile round trip with a bit under 1000 feet of elevation gain mellow hike to a lake within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, which is awesome for summer! You have the option of adding another mile and a bit more uphill...

Naches Peak Loop Hike: Summer wildflowers, fall colors, epic views

The Naches Peak Loop hike is one of my favorite hikes in Mt Rainier National Park and even in all of Washington State! I’ve written about it before, including in my post about Mt Rainier wildflower hikes and my post for a day trip to Mt Rainier. This hike...

Talus Loop hike: something different on Mt Si

I’ve written before about reasons NOT to hike the Mt Si trail, but recently I set out to explore a few of the other trails from that same trailhead, now that the trailhead direct bus service serves it. The Talus loop hike is a terrific alternative to Mt Si,...