Travel — Blog — Seattle Bred

Should you Hire a Guide or Trek Independently to Everest Base Camp?

When I first started planning my trip to Nepal, I had a lot of questions about whether I should hire a guide or trek independently. After a lot of research, I decided to trek with a guide. I am extremely happy with that decision, and spoiler alert, my recommendation is to definitely hire a guide if you plan on doing the Everest Base Camp trek. But with that recommendation in mind, not all guided trips are the same. In order to make the right decision for you, you need to decide on your budget, and what kind of experience you are hoping for.

What it's like to get Acute Mountain Sickness on the Everest Base Camp Trek

Acute mountain sickness or altitude sickness commonly occurs for people on the Everest Base Camp trek, so I figured it would be easy to identify if I got sick. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Learn about my experience with AMS and how to avoid my mistakes on your own high altitude trek.

Guide to Backpacking the Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park

If you haven’t heard of Berg Lake, you have most likely seen photos of the iconic scene. Mount Robson towers over Berg Lake and the Berg Glacier tumbles down the side of the mountain to meet with the turquoise waters of the lake. It’s an infamous photo and seeing it so many times on Instagram I started to wonder if it could actually be that beautiful in real life. Spoiler alert—it was.

Three Days in Yosemite National Park

When someone tells you they scored camping reservations in Yosemite Valley and invites you along, you drop everything you are doing, buy a plane ticket, and show up. At least that is what I did when Doris got reservations and asked me if I wanted to come along on her Fourth of July trip to Yosemite!

Backpacking the Chelan Lakeshore Trail

Have you ever hiked 22 miles for a famous cinnamon roll? This Memorial Day weekend I did exactly that!

Nestled on the northern shore of Lake Chelan lies the town Stehekin. Unreachable by car, the only way to reach it is either by a four hour ferry ride or float plane. A fun third option? Take the Lady of the Lake ferry to the Prince Creek stop and backpack 17 miles on the Chelan Lakeshore Trail into town!

Adventuring in California’s Alabama Hills

While you may not know about the Alabama Hills by name chances are you have seen it in a TV show or movie, it’s an extremely popular Hollywood filming location. The road your drive down to reach the campsites is even called, “Movie Road” Before white settlers and eventually Hollywood stumbled across this location the Paiute Tribe called this land home and you can even find pictographs in the rock formations. Now Alabama Hills is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, which means there is free dispersed camping. There are some rules in place surrounding this so double check the BLM site before planning your trip!

My Boyfriend Hates Hiking

I think a lot of people that follow me assume I am single. I am always out and about on hikes and adventures with close lady friends and you don’t see much of my boyfriend on my Instagram feed. I also wonder if people that know Brian exists see the lack of him on social media and assume we are on the verge of breaking up, that's also not true.

Snow Camping at Mount Rainier National Park

When my friend Doris asked me if I would want to sign up for the snow camping event with her, I must admit, I was super on the fence. We had car camped in the North Cascades in October and I spent a miserable night freezing in my car in 19-degree temps. My initial thoughts were, why would I willingly sign up to cry in a sleeping bag again…? Doris assured me she would help me figure out a better sleeping system and that it would be fun so we reserved our spots (these events fill up super quickly!) and I anxiously awaited the arrival of this weekend.

Ten Things to know Before Traveling to Costa Rica

When it comes to traveling I am either an extreme over planner, or more of a laid back, “we will figure it out when we get there” type of person. When I found out I would be visiting Costa Rica with family I decided to opt for option B. Not everyone enjoys my tight schedules going from location to location so I decided not to drive my family insane and try to go with the flow a little more for this trip. I basically did no research other than finding a couple of spots I wanted to visit.

I love how our trip turned out, but there were definitely some things I wish I had known before I traveled down there!

Travel, VacationKaelee ButnerFebruary 18, 2018Costa Rica, Travel, Playa Flamingo, Vacation, Pura Vida Comments

Whidbey Island Weekend Getaway

After spending more weekends than I can count running around in the snow and mountains I found myself exhausted and needing some rest. Brian wanted to get our condo painted which meant we needed to spend a weekend elsewhere. The stars all aligned and we were able to get away to Whidbey Island with our pup and some close friends for some much needed relaxation.

Travel, Hiking, trip reportKaelee ButnerJanuary 19, 2018travel, whidbey island, whidbey island weekend getaway, winter on whidbey islandComment

Three Days in Havasupai

The third part in my blog series on my road trip through the American Southwest! A look into what it’s like to camp at Havasupai and the intense permitting process.

Exploring Page, Arizona

The first part in my blog series on my road trip through the American Southwest. On this day we saw all the sites in and around Page, Arizona including a secret slot canyon that isn’t Antelope Canyon!

How to Spend 24 Hours in Zion National Park

The first part in my blog series on my road trip through the American Southwest. An in depth look of the 24 hours I spent in Zion National Park and all of the activities I was able to fit into such a short time frame!

Hong Kong Hiking: Dragon's Back

Travel, Vacation, trip reportKaelee ButnerNovember 7, 2016Hiking the Dragon's Back in Hong Kong, Hiking in Hong Kog, hiking in Hong KongComment