Mt. Baker Ski Ascent/Descent- Squak Glacier Route

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Baker Lake 50k

The first 15.5 miles reminded me of why I run.

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Enchantments Scrambling

After I got a taste of the Enchantments a couple weeks ago I was itching to get back. I especially wanted to share those views with Kaytlyn.

So when our friend Kyle offered a couple spots on his camping permit at Snow Lakes, we rearranged plans and made it work. Camping at Snow Lakes and a day full of exploring the Core Enchantments basin? Sign us up!

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Prussik Peak – West Ridge (attempt) and Enchantments Through-Hike

Christian and I are now making the dude-trip an annual thing.
Two years ago we went up Liberty Bell. The following year we tackled Castleton Tower.
This year’s objective: Prussik Peak, in the Enchantments.
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Copper Ridge/Chilliwack River Loop

We first explored the Hannegan Peak and the surrounding area last year, when we took a weekend backpacking trip with Katy’s brother, Mitch.

All three of us were struggling with some injuries back then, and we couldn’t get permits for the entire Chiliwack River loop. While we saw some amazing terrain, we didn’t fully experience it.

As a result Katy and I have had this trip firmly planted on the “to-do” list. However, in the year since we were last here, we started trail running, so naturally this shifted from the “to-backpack” list onto the “to-run” list.

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Seven Lakes Basin/High Divide Loop

Prior to our weekend to Goat Rocks, countless backpacking loops sat on the shelves of my mind collecting dust due to, mostly, lack of vacation days and good weather windows.
However, now that we figured out we can cover a lot more miles by running the loops, Katy and I restarted our tick list of trips to check out here in the PNW.

Given how my legs felt running last time, I figured I should still ease into this, so we chose a popular and beautiful loop in the Olympics. The plan was to do the High Divide Trail (also known as Seven Lakes Basin loop), and camp outside the reservation-only area to split the loop up into two days.
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Fastpacking: Goat Rocks Wilderness

Ever since Katy and I started trail running this past spring, we started thinking about how to combine this with backpacking. A few research articles hinted that this is totally a thing, and suddenly we didn’t feel so weird calling it “fastpacking”.

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Goat Rocks Wilderness – Backpacking

Matt’s an amazing friend and was my roommate at UW-Madison my Junior year.
Among other things, he and his fiance Greta were there when Katy and I first met at Grand Targhee, and we’ve all been snowboard and adventure buddies since. Plus, they definitely helped influence our decision to move to the PNW!
So when it came to planning Matt’s bachelor party weekend, I wanted to make sure we had all the elements that would keep the stoke high all weekend.

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Mount Rainier Attempt – 2014

I’ll start this trip report with a brag: Katy and I have a killer view of Mt. Rainier from our apartment.

Context for the brag: as two people who spend a decent amount of time outdoors and in the mountains, it’s brutal to see that gorgeous mountain on clear days and not be able to say “I’ve been on top.”

Luckily, we have a great crew of friends who feel similarly.  July-4th weekend, 1 year after Katy, Brad, and I climbed Mt. Hood, we added Christian to the mix, packed the car, and started driving south.

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Ross Lake Run

24 miles out and back on the East Bank trail along Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park.

Unbelievable weather, a gorgeous trail, and a beautiful lake. The water was this beautiful alpine-lake blue, fed by cascading creeks off of distant glaciers.

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