Been off the grid…

If you’ve been wondering why we haven’t posted a new blog in over two weeks, it’s because we’ve spent most of that time in the backcountry of the North Cascades and Olympic national parks without our laptop or internet access. We have mostly backpacked, but we also managed to use our kayaks to get to a campsite on Diablo Lake in the North Cascades that is only accessible by water. We will share our thoughts about these adventures at some point, but for now I’ll just say that getting farther from the beaten path is even better!

We had hoped to backpack on the shoulder of Mt Rainier this week but got smoked out by nearby forest fires. Instead, we hiked the Enchanted Valley of Olympic National Park because it is farther from the fires. Even still, the sky was hazy, which diminished the views of this amazing landscape. We were sad to learn today of the fires in Glacier National Park and that the historic backcountry Sperry Chalet burned down. Fires have been a major factor in the west this year. 

We will be taking a bit of a pause these next few weeks as I meet my close friend Matt to go biking in northern Italy then visit my parents in Florida while my mom recovers from knee replacement surgery. Lorrie will be kayaking in British Colombia with our good friend Helen, then visiting other friends in Washington state until I get back at the end of the month. Then we’ll continue south in pursuit of warmer weather in Oregon and California. 

Here’s a picture of us sitting on the knees of the world’s largest Sitka spruce, nearly 60 feet in circumference!