trip report — Blog — Seattle Bred

Fired up from my Glacier Peak C2C attempt and looking for a longer run I had the required skills to complete, I set my sights on a solo push of Jade Lake and Dip Top Gap. I wanted a trail I was familiar with so route finding wouldn’t suck up a lot of my time on the trail. I backpacked at Jade Lake in the fall a few years go and chickened out of doing Dip Top Gap since the snow looked super icy from far away and I didn’t have much experience with steep snow at the time. It’s been high on my list of places to see ever since so I decided it was finally time!

Climbing Glacier Peak in a Day via the Disappointment Peak Scramble

I had no idea if I was even capable of climbing Glacier Peak in a day. My longest day in the mountains so far was around 20 miles with around 4,000 feet of gain. The Disappointment Peak scramble route we were looking at had us clocking in 34-36 miles with over 10,000 feet of gain. COVID lockdowns had also given me an unreasonable amount of anxiety surrounding technical objectives for the 2020 climbing season. My anxiety was so bad, I had all but given up on a major summit in 2020. I finally hit a point where I was so frustrated with myself that I decided to just give it a shot.

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.

Backpacking Wedgemount Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park

Wedgemount Lake is an out and back hike in Garibaldi Provincial Park rated as difficult. The trail is 7.5 miles round trip with 3800 feet of gain. In order to camp at the lake you need permits which can be booked here. Permits for all of Garibaldi Provincial Park open up four months before your planned date. We camped in July, so we booked our permits in April.

Climbing Mount Baker via the Easton Glacier Route

Mount Baker rises 10,781 feet above sea level in the North Cascade Mountains in Washington State. The Lummi Tribe call it Koma Kulshan which means, “white sentinel” Many people choose this mountain for their first technical climb before going on to climb bigger peaks like Rainier and beyond. That doesn’t make this climb easy. There are crevasses the size of school busses and the Roman Wall is a steep and exposed 1000 foot final push before you reach the summit. You need to have appropriate snow travel skills and know crevasse rescue before attempting this climb. Many guide services will teach you these things on a long weekend ending with a climb of Mount Baker, my friends and I learned with a group of women being mentored that I mentioned in my post about climbing Mount Saint Helens.

Overcoming Anxiety Outside: Lessons Learned from Climbing Mount Saint Helens

Mount Saint Helens isn’t a difficult mountain. Don’t get me wrong, people have been seriously injured and died here, but this is usually from getting too close to the cornice and falling into the crater below or not controlling their speed while glissading down and hitting an obstacle. There aren’t crevasses to potentially fall into and it’s nowhere near as steep as other volcanos and mountains in the Cascades. It’s considered a good place to start if you are interested in mountaineering.

Top Five Beginner Backpacking Trips in Washington

Your first backpacking trip doesn’t need to be scary and intimidating. Washington has plenty of low commitment trails where you can test the waters and see if backpacking is right for you. Here are five of my favorites, check them out if you are new to backpacking or want a chill night out in the backcountry without a ton of work.

Mount Dickerman Snow Camping

The window for snow camping on Mount Dickerman is pretty short as they close the Mountain Loop Highway during the winter. You have to hit it when there is enough snow at the summit to snow camp, but not too much snow on the highway so they close it down.

Backpacking Thousand Island Lake near Mammoth, California.

Thousand Island Lake is in the Ansel Adams Wilderness outside of Mammoth, California. You need permits to camp overnight, and there are multiple trails to hike in on. You need to submit for a permit on the trail you plan to hike to reach the lake. You can find more information about the permitting process here. During peak Summer months you also need to take a shuttle to the trailhead. Since we went at the end of September we were able to park at the trailhead.

Backpacking Copper Ridge Loop in North Cascades National Park

Trip report from my three day two night trip backpacking the Copper Ridge Loop in North Cascades National Park of Labor Day Weekend.

Backpacking Garibaldi Lake and Panorama Ridge

If you are taking someone on their first backpacking trip and you aren’t sure how they will feel about it, I recommend Garibaldi Lake. The lake is beautiful and the campground has multiple outhouses and bear shelters for storing and cooking your food. No need to bury your poo in the woods or attempt a bear hang. As far as backpacking goes it doesn’t get much more glamorous than this! This place has been on my to-hike list for a while. After years of drooling over this view, I was able to convince Doris and our boyfriends to come along with me!

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!

Climbing Mount St Helens

A trip report from my recent climb up Mount St Helens in Washington. You can learn what to expect when climbing the mountain in mid-June!