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Thursday, October 11, 2012 12:30 AM

Bay View State Park

Usually by now the weather is cool and rainy and it would stay that way through next spring. We’re still completely dry (dryest Aug-Sept on record and second dryest July-Sept!) so Tyla’s parents decided to take advantage of the bonus sunshine and go camping...
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Friday, September 07, 2012 12:30 AM

Hiking Crystal Mountain

My parents were out over Labor Day for their annual visit. I’ll have a couple posts about our activities from the weekend, and this first one is about our trip to Crystal Mountain. I don’t get down there in the summer very often since we usually drive...
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Monday, September 03, 2012 12:30 AM

La Conner Camping

We headed out for a last minute camping trip to La Conner, WA with Tyla’s family a couple weekends ago. We’ve been to that campground once before, but the last time it was cold and rainy the whole time. This was a quick trip, but the weather was good...
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012 12:30 AM

Climbing Mt. St. Helens

Mt. St. Helens is an amazing National Park. The volcano blew in 1980 and experts thought it would be a complete dead zone for 400 years. Within 3 years, life started reappearing in the desolation. Science has rarely had an opportunity to study a spot...
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Friday, July 27, 2012 12:30 AM

Mt. Rainier Hike

Last weekend Tyla and I headed down to the Sunrise visitor’s center on the east side of Mt. Rainier to do a little hiking. The day started off very cloudy/foggy, but the UW weather models said the clouds would clear so we went for it. We took a roundabout...
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Monday, July 23, 2012 12:30 AM

Fall City Camping

Tyla’s family decided at the last minute to take a camping trip. They didn’t want to travel far so they ended up a couple miles from our old condo in at Tall Chief campground in Fall City. I’d driven by it a number of times but never investigated. It...
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Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:30 AM

Wallace Falls

There’s a state park around Gold Bar up Highway 2 towards Stevens Pass called Wallace Falls. It’s mostly known for a hiking trail which leads you past a number of small falls and a bunch of views of three large waterfalls along the river (240 feet, 367...
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Thursday, May 31, 2012 12:30 AM

Lake Chelan

On Memorial Day weekend, Tyla and I headed over to Lake Chelan State Park with her family. It’s on the east side of the mountains, so if you remember your Washington geography, you’ll know that it’s in the desert. The park is more focused...
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Monday, May 14, 2012 12:30 AM

Cleaning Your Camelbak

We gave nephew David a kid sized Camelbak for his 6th birthday, and it reminded me of a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while on how to properly clean a hydration pack. Before I met Tyla, I don’t know if I cleaned mine more than once or twice. Turns...
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Monday, April 23, 2012 12:30 AM

Grace Lakes Snowshoeing

Mom and Dad came out for Easter. Since they have only been out here once in the winter (two Aprils ago for our wedding), we thought it would be fun to head up to the mountains to see some snow. It seemed like a good opportunity to try snowshoeing so I...
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Friday, July 08, 2011 12:30 AM

Alder Lake State Park

I headed out with the Brandt family to Alder Lake State Park for the Fourth of July weekend. It wasn’t our first choice since we got a late start on reservations, but the campground actually was pretty nice. The biggest downside was that it was close...
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011 12:30 AM

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park

We have had quite a few new young couples join our church recently, so we decided to put together a camping trip. Unfortunately I picked a weekend when not a lot of the new people could join us, but we still did get a good crew together for a fun weekend...
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Wednesday, June 01, 2011 12:30 AM

Grand Coulee Dam

It inevitably rains in the Puget Sound area over Memorial Day, so this year we decided to head east of the mountains. For those of you unfamiliar with Washington geography, the Cascade Mountains run down the state and create two very different environments...
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Monday, May 23, 2011 12:30 AM

Lake Serene

At the end of last week, Tim, Andy, Stephanie, Micah and I cobbled together a plan to go hiking on Saturday. Tim suggested Lake Serene up by his house so we grabbed our gear and set forth. This one is hike #35 in your textbooks . The day was a bit wet...
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Thursday, May 19, 2011 12:30 AM

Two Hikes

There won’t be a lot of hikes available for the next couple months as the snow melts so we’re stuck in the lowlands trying to avoid the crowds. A couple weeks ago, Tyla, Micah and I headed out to Squak Mountain. For those of you following along in your...
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