Horseshoe Meadow to Looking Glass Lake


It was a daring play: A subalpine hike as early as June that we didn't even start until 6pm. But this time, we lucked out. There wasn’t much snow and the longer day carried us to Horseshoe Meadow in time to build camp, cook dinner, and even make a fire before it was too dark to see. The mosquitoes were bad, but we were so glad to just get out after a few weeks without a hike that even a few bites couldn't dampen the mood.

The following morning, the mosquitoes were out in full force. We ate and packed up quickly, and finished the rest of the lollipop loop that took us by Looking Glass Lake, relying heavily on the GPS to find the unmaintained Graveyard Camp Trail that brought us back to the Pacific Crest Trail.

A note about this hike: we could not find a trail map anywhere, and only one of my many maps even had the Graveyard Camp Trail on it. If we hadn’t taken the time to map the whole thing out in advance, we would have had to turn around and backtrack. So, definitely sit with a few maps before doing this one!

Goat Rocks: Old Snowy, Goat Lake, & Hawkeye Point


This past weekend, we had a memorable adventure in one of the most beautiful places I've been, anywhere: Goat Rocks.

Our overnight backpacking trip took us through 18.4 miles of deep forests, meadows exploding with wildflowers, and vistas that allowed us to see all the way past the Pickett Range and into British Columbia. Along the way, we enjoyed handfuls of delicious wild blueberries (or were they black huckleberries?) and quite a few animal sightings: mountain goats, deer, marmots, pikas, and a bald eagle. The air was cooler than it has been in a while and I noticed that some of the leaves are just starting to change, and the knowledge that we'll likely be ducking puddles and huddling inside in two or three short months made the trip all the more special.

I brought my new "toy" camera (a lightweight Canon Rebel) to put through its paces. It allowed me the use of longer focal lengths, but I definitely wish I'd had a wide-angle for this trip.