exploring "america's alps" : the north cascades

let's be honest. i was disappointed when mt saint helen's was engulfed in a storm and we decided to go explore elsewhere. and on day one in the north cascades i cried. nerves. bleh.
lesson learned: keep up my backcountry skills (or skiing skills period) before venturing out to the backcountry.

despite my nerves and a bout of crying, the north cascades turned out to be quite spectacular,
and a fantastic experience overall. i was grateful to be with ceej, my brother, and his wife.
a good crew always makes for a good trip. especially when they're just as excited about
ice cream at the end of the day as you are (though my licorice-flavored ice cream turned out to
taste more like cough syrup, and, in a very rare situation, ended up in the trash. what a tragedy!).

another surprise: i was worried about my "mountain lungs" as i thought i may have lost them
while spending ten days in england with voyage magazine...
but my lungs and heart pulled through, and i felt really strong overall. up is easy. down isn't my fave all the time.

this little two-day trip was a nice taste of the north cascades. can't wait to visit this place in summer,
and again in the winter. motivated.


{photos by ceej, my brother (dan), and me}

from one adventure to the next : mt saint helen's this weekend

{images by dan peck}

three days after returning from the uk, i'm off on a plane with ceej to meet up with
my older brother and his wife to ski mount saint helen's in the northwest. feeling pretty positive
despite the fact that i recently spent ten days at sea level--my heart is feeling good.

these photos were taken by my brother, dan, when he and some friends recently
climbed and skied traverse mountain. pretty incredible...and we may find ourselves
in the same weather conditions as there is rain and snow in the forecast.

looking forward to this adventure!

introducing : project mt saint helens

after climbing the grand teton last year...and a couple months later,

i decided i wanted to try another peak.

so, come may i'll be skiing/climbing mount saint helens with ceej

and my older brother. 

i've definitely ramped up my running routine, and have actually

started doing some weight training--yikes. i thought i'd never say that.

i'm mostly excited about it. every now and then a little doubt creeps up,

but i've decided if i bring enough chocolate everything will work out fine.

may is going to be an adventurous month for sure.

Photograph by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel

skiing through our aspen forests

this is why we were desperate to move back to our mountains.
we can escape into the woods before work, in the afternoon,
and all weekend long--while still doing all the necessaries of life.
it really is a unique lifestyle being so close to the backcountry.

i love our backcountry ski dates.
i love feeling my lungs and legs burn.
i love skiing through fresh-fallen snow.
i love seeing the sun peek through aspen branches.
i love watching ceej carve beautiful turns through meadows of snow.
i love stopping to take photos of this beautiful place.

mountains, i hope we never leave you.

we finally took a break from the backcountry and headed to the resort

a couple weeks ago ceej and i took a day off to head up into the mountains for some skiing.
usually we head out to the backcountry, but this year we bought passes at a resort so
that i could improve my skills by going down multiple runs--over and over all day long.

my legs felt it. all that lunging (we telemark ski) left my legs wobbling.
worth it?
of course.

in the afternoon we met up with friends and skied much longer than we had planned.
always a good sign of good snow and good company.

and it all started at the waffle truck.

mountain yurt : the day trip

each year blisters keep me from venturing out of the yurt again...but this year,
with my sister on her first yurt trip, i couldn't pass up the chance to ski around the mountain.
so i painfully slid my ski boots back on after much taping of my toes and heels,
and we headed out into fields of hoar frost. we stopped often to examine this pretty phenomenon.

it sure was nice to have another woman on the trip.
men and women travel differently in the backcountry--i've recognized this for years,
but have rarely had another woman with me who thinks and moves like i do.
grateful for an older and wiser sister to stick with me.

it was also really quite lovely to have my older brother there--
he flew all the way from the puget sound in the northwest to come on the yurt trip.
lucky me. it was bliss to be with ceej and my siblings who taught me how
to enjoy the great outdoors. as the little sister i always wanted to join them
on their outings, but was rarely able to because i was "too little."

i hope we get to have many more adventures together.

A WINTER'S NIGHT : MOUNTAIN YURT

:: annual yurt trip

:: ceej, older brother, older sister, + good friends

:: starry nights

:: warm fire and soup to eat

:: sister turned 40...so there was cake to celebrate

:: blisters on our feet

:: combing maps

:: tea drinking

:: story telling and knee slapping

:: wool sweater

:: cozy resting high in the mountains


...more to come