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Thursday, September 02, 2010 12:30 AM

Camp Muir Timelapse Video

I’ve been playing around with a lot of time lapse ideas lately. I took some pictures for part of the return trip from Potholes which you’ll see soon, but on the hike up to Muir, I distracted myself by thinking how I could combine all the various...
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Wednesday, September 01, 2010 12:30 AM

Camp Muir

I’ll tell you up front that this is probably going to be a long post, but I want to record every minute of this trip. When I moved to Seattle, I thought, “I should climb Rainier.” I still remember the first day that the clouds parted...
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 12:30 AM

Potholes Camping Trip

On one of the hottest weekends of the year, we headed to eastern Washington (where it’s even hotter) to camp in the Potholes area. There is a state park nearby but we weren’t inside the park. We were actually inside the larger Columbia National Wildlife...
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Monday, August 23, 2010 12:30 AM

REI Flash 50 Backpack Review

My main backpack for hiking is a Camelbak Snoblast . It’s a good size for day hikes. It holds all of my first aid gear, an extra piece of clothing and the three liter water bladder. It gets a bit small though in the early and late season when I...
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010 12:30 AM

Crystal Mountain Outfitters Review

We awoke at the Heathman Hotel for day 2 of Tyla’s birthday extravaganza. We started off with a delicious breakfast at the Trellis restaurant, snagged our car from the valet and then headed south. As we were packing up the room, Tyla finally guessed...
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Monday, August 09, 2010 12:30 AM

Birch Bay State Park Camping

This is the fourth annual big summer camping trip where Matt, Laura, Andy, Stephanie, Tim, Chelsea, Tyla and I head out to a state park for a weekend. We make the reservations around Christmas time to make sure we can claim a weekend on everyone’s busy...
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Wednesday, August 04, 2010 12:30 AM

How to Find Due South Without a Compass

Let’s say you’re lost in the woods and you didn’t pack a compass. Now what? There are ways to determine direction based on the way trees grow and moss growing on trees but there are various situations where those aren’t available or reliable. What then...
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Monday, August 02, 2010 12:30 AM

Cable Line Trail

I’m going to be making an attempt to make it up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier (elevation 10,000 feet) so I feel the need to get some training hikes in. Last Monday, AndyM and I hiked up the cable line trail on Tiger Mountain. It’s not really...
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Friday, July 23, 2010 12:30 AM

Talapus and Olallie Lakes

Last Saturday, Tyla and I decided to take a hike to Talapus and Olallie Lakes (hike #21 in Beyond Mt Si.) It’s a pretty easy and well-traveled hike so we got there early to avoid the crowds. We got to Talapus Lake very quickly, walked down to the...
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:30 AM

Hiking 101: Your First Hikes In the Seattle Area

Your pack is full and you’ve been looking through hikes . If you’re looking for some advice, I recommend that you try these 4 in order. Once you complete these then you’ll have a good range of hikes under your belt and a good idea of...
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010 12:30 AM

Hiking 101: Picking a Hike

Now you’ve got your pack ready . How do you know where to start hiking? If you want a good, consistent experience for comparing hikes, I recommend two books: Beyond Mt. Si or Day Hiking Snoqualmie Region . I have the former but it’s getting...
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Monday, July 19, 2010 12:30 AM

Hiking 101: What to Bring

So you want to start hiking? Tyla and I were chatting about this on a recent hike, and I decided to make three posts about it. The first will be tips things you should consider carrying with you, the second is how to pick out a hike, and the third is...
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010 12:30 AM

Snoqualmie Lake

On Saturday, Tim and I set out to do the longest hike yet. It starts with a 12 mile drive down a dirt road and then you hike 7.5 miles into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to Snoqualmie Lake. For those of you playing along at home, it’s hike #18 from Beyond...
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Tuesday, July 13, 2010 12:30 AM

Thunder Knob

Tyla and I headed up to Concrete, WA to camp with her family for the Fourth of July weekend. Photos from our weekend include shots of a hike to Diablo Lake and Gorge Dam, making fire with flint, mini golf, and blowing my new vuvuzella at the parade. And...
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Tuesday, July 06, 2010 12:30 AM

I Have Made Fire!

A couple years ago, Tim bought a flint and magnesium stick from REI and we tried to make a fire on a camping trip. We never got much more than a spark. Luckily Tim carries a butane torch to coax campfires to life so we weren’t left in the dark. On this...
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