Baby Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

It's been a while! Life happened, and The Squish and I are now flying solo a majority of the time, and there was an almost-8-month stint where we weren't on the trail hardly at all. The Squish has since found his legs, and we are back to exploring together! Here's a double post to count the 2 hikes we did do during that 8 month stagnant time, and what I can still remember about it. January 1 - New Year's Hike HIKE : Rattlesnake Ledge MILEAGE :  4.0 miles roundtrip ELEVATION GAIN : 1160 feet SEASON : Winter PARKING : huge lot, but can fill up easily THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND : This is a very popular trail. No pass required The second half of this hike is the steepest, so save some in the tank the first half! MORE INFO: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/rattlesnake-ledge I was witness to a horrific trail accident on September 21, 2019 where Search & Rescue was involved, and this was my first time setting foot back on a "real" trail. I have ...

HIKE : Little Si MILEAGE :  3.7 miles roundtrip ELEVATION GAIN : 1300 feet SEASON : dog days of Summer PARKING : decent lot, and small overflow lot THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND : This is a very popular trail. There are a lot of trails that you need passes for. You are almost guaranteed to get a ticket without having it at these really popular ones. ( Discover Pass needed for this hike ) At just 1.85 miles one way, and 1300 feet, this is a powerful punch of a workout with a little baby load! MORE INFO : https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/little-si 08.23.2019 The Squish is just shy of being 5 months old + 1 week (23 weeks) Hike #13 I had the day off, as did my friend Bri. (We went hiking previously up Poo Poo Point .) We both needed to get outside, and after a crazy string of events, we got to the trailhead at 3pm. Since we only had 1 pass between our 2 vehicles, Bri parked down the street at Tanner Landing Park (no pass required). I picked her and her dog Hugo up, and t...

HIKE : Snow Lake MILEAGE :  6.2 miles roundtrip We only went to the lookout of the lake, not down to the lake, which would be 7.2 miles roundtrip according to WTA.ORG ELEVATION GAIN : ~1400 feet Again, total for going to the lake would be 1800 feet. SEASON : Summer PARKING : HUGE lot; always full (ha!) We got to the TH (on a cloudy day) at 9am and it was already packed. THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND : This was a trail I've never been on, but have heard so much about. It was a good reminder that trails you always hear about...are always super crowded . Prepare to pull to the side as you're coming down switchbacks to allow others to come up. ( uphill has the right of way ). In this same vein, I ended up feeding The Squish while in the carrier, and when we stopped at the lake lookout point, because there weren't many convenient places to pull to the side to feed/change diapers . It was cloudy for most of our trip, but even if it wasn't, there was decent sun coverage unti...

HIKE : McClellan Butte MILEAGE : 7.5 miles roundtrip (of 9.0 miles roundtrip) ELEVATION GAIN : 3300 feet (of 3700) SEASON : mid-Summer PARKING : decent lot; busy trail THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND : Reading WTA's description will provide you with a lot of needed info, but the highlights are: this hike is not "easy" there is often snow in to July on the trail it is "scrambly" ; exercise caution when carrying children, and monitoring those that can hike themselves. MORE INFO : https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mcclellan-butte 08.04.2019 The Squish is 4.5 months old (20 weeks) Hike #9 Well, this was the first hike we've taken the Squish on, where we had to turn around ! We had a family engagement to get to early afternoon, and overestimated our abilities (or underestimated the trail!) This hike is exactly how it is described -- not easy, steep, and a great alternative to si/mailbox/other training hikes. The nice thing about this hike is it...