Exploring Nature with Fresh Eyes: A Hike to Talapus Lake with my Three-Year-Old Nephew

This weekend, I hiked to Talapus Lake with my 3-year-old nephew Ben, my brother Jonathan and my sister-in-law Sarabeth. Talapus is one of many stunning lakes that gives the Alpine Lakes Wilderness its name. The lake is accessible by a short and gently-sloped path – which makes it a very popular trail for hikers of all ages and abilities. The trail became increasingly crowded the longer we stayed but I found it to be more manageable than some of the other more popular Seattle-area trails.

Getting our Rock On! Adventures on Granite Mountain

Granite Mountain has been on my bucket list for a long time. Located just west of Snoqualmie Pass, the mountain is famed for amazing 360-degree views of Mt. Rainier to the south and Mt. Baker to the north. It’s also one of the few hikes in the area to feature a lookout tower at the summit. The Granite Mountain trail is off-limits most of the year due to extreme avalanche danger. Now that summer has arrived, the snow has finally melted out – except for the last mile or so which crosses a snowfield.

Achievement Unlocked! Tiger Mountain Trail Through-Hike

I love hiking long trails. What I don’t love about long-distance hiking, however, is being away from my family for extended periods of time. Luckily for me, there are lots of shorter “long trails” in my area to explore. The Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT) is one of those trails. Traversing the entire length of the Tiger Mountain State Forest, the TMT is rugged and wild and attracts a fraction of the crowds that flock to more popular trails with big views.

A Morning Ramble through San Francisco’s Presidio Park

I recently flew to San Francisco with my family for a quick weekend getaway. In between touristy shenanigans, I snuck in an early morning hike of The Presidio along the San Francisco Bay. With over 24 miles of trails, the Presidio is a former U.S. military fort that was added to the U.S. Register of National Historic Places in 1966. The park is conveniently located only minutes from downtown – I called a Lyft and arrived 20 minutes later.

Meandering the Trails at Warren G. Magnuson Park

I spent a pleasant afternoon this past Sunday wandering the trails at Magnuson Park. I’ve been to the park before and was already familiar with individual areas such as the dog park and kite hill, but this time I focused on exploring the entire park’s trails. I parked at the E1 parking lot in the Southeast corner of the park with the intention of walking along the Beachwalk Trail, and instead found myself exploring the wooded trails of Promontory Point.