Just keep hiking

mtaratoot · January 8

A few from earlier in the spring; more to follow:

mtaratoot · January 8

mtaratoot · January 8

metaphysicalstudio · January 8

This is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing!

StopWishingStartDoing365 · January 10

Tami, I have been enjoying your photos and stories! I'm in the Fraser Valley, so I have been able to do some of these hikes too. In my area, I like Elk Mountain in Chilliwack and Harrison Grind overlooking Harrison Lake.
Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

LilithReigns · January 18

ahhh I am so excited I found this post. I too decided to stop making excuses and start doing the hikes I have always wanted to do. I have Ohio, Kentucky, and IL trips planned for this summer. I started last spring all the way through fall of 2023 and some of winter going to local spots in IN. I have found strength, joy, peace, and motivation in doing this. I would love to post pictures which I might do after work. If anyone would like to friend me please do and we can swap travel pictures and chat about our adventures. Solo Hiker here

mtaratoot · January 18

Out and about for my "local hike" several times the past week during the ice storm. Each day there would be more trees down across the River Path. It will be a while before they get that cleaned up.

007eiram · February 1

Tami I am so excited I found your post. It has truly inspired me. I am from New Zealand. I walked our local bush with my dog and friends in younger days and thought my tramping days were over. I am now inspired to drop all the excuses and set mini goals to reconnect with nature. I look forward to reading the threads to your post.

mtaratoot · February 2

I had a hike today.

I planned to go with a friend for his first day of retirement. He opted out. It was a gorgeous day, and I still wanted to hike, so I was just going to go anyway.

On the way out of my neighborhood, I ran across two friends. She said trails in the local forests weren't bad. I stopped to get mail, dropped a book at the library, and decided that since I'll go out with my friend next week, I'd go to another local trail that has great views but I had left a few weeks ago because even the trailhead was already in a cloud. That day I hiked another area nearby.

That trail is very short. Just a couple miles. I can add more miles in either direction if I want. But I did something different. On the way up, I saw parking at the trailhead down near the bottom. I stopped there to save the gasoline from driving way up to the upper trailhead. It's a nice trail to the top - a little more than eight miles round trip.

The weather was great. I saw blue sky. I saw native oaks. I saw clowns in the forest (Acorn woodpeckers).

I stopped just before the last little loop to the top to eat an orange in case it was too windy up top to stop. It was. I took in some views and kept walking. I saw rain moving in, so instead of stopping in a sheltered area to enjoy a delicious beverage I brought with me to celebrate the first day after January, I just hiked out. It only rained a little bit. Not enough to even pull out my rain gear. But the sun was still shining from an angle, so I got rainbows.

Yep. Another good day.

iamjoyce1 · February 3

Hike 73/150
One of my absolute favourite hikes is Joffre Lakes, an hour northeast of Whistler BC. It's not a very long hike, only 8KM but the views are incredible. It takes 3 hours to drive there from my house and it's 100% worth it. Hiking up to the glaciers and then sitting on the edge of the lake is such a great reminder of the life I want to live and what I'm working towards. Down 45 pounds now, I'm getting ready to change my goal of losing 50 pounds to 70 but first I want to celebrate hitting 50. I'm no longer squeamish about people taking full body pictures of me and know that in 10 years I'll look back and be glad I had them.
Hoping to do a bigger hike for the half way mark, have to see if I can work my business schedule to co-operate.

Thanks everyone who is following along and I'm loving your added photos!!
quote

Thanks for sharing the breathtaking views!! I absolutely love hiking. Great for the mind and body. Keep on hiking:)

mtaratoot · February 23

I went to visit a friend yesterday and did a hike by his house about 8.3 miles with about 1560 feet of elevation gain. Some nice views. Saw some nice birds. Mostly gravel roads, but some trails. My friend also pointed out some other trails and where they went.

He's been exploring this area since the early or mid '90s. It's the reason he bought the property he lives, and now that he's retired, he can hike around there (and bike) often. When I buy a gravel bike, I'll look forward to getting out there and checking that out too.

Part of the trail is on private industrial forest, and part is on a university research forest.

He said this is his go-to hike/bike trail. Sweet!

Then he gave me some more duck eggs. I'm about to braise one or two of them for breakfast.

sammcc7907 · February 24

Love all your pics. Me taking a break on the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory of Australia. Doesn’t snow there, but need to keep an eye out for the snakes and dingos.

mtaratoot · February 24

I did a 10.5 mile hike yesterday in an amazing state park with large waterfalls. South Falls is 177 feet tall. Double Falls is a foot higher. North Falls is a meager 136 feet high.

It was, all in all, a GREAT day. Best in a long time. I tried to not be too impacted by the litter. There will always be some. It wasn't THAT bad. I want to volunteer to go pick it up once a week....

As I approached the start of the trail, where it's closest to the parking so more busy, I heard some amplified sound. I wondered if maybe there was an interpretive presentation. Nope. As I got closer, I realized it was two adults with a small child and a speaker blasting sound out to people who may or may not have wanted to share. Totally inappropriate.

I channeled my inner nine-year-old and looked them right in the face and said, "REALLY?" They said "Really what?" I said, "You're in the *kitten* forest, turn off the *kitten* *kitten* radio and listen to the sounds of nature." They packed up and left, which was good for the people still up there. I walked off shaking my head.

But really - best February day for me in YEARS. It was sunny out. My little 2011 RAV4 is actually fun to drive, and there wasn't much traffic. I took a back route that is about three miles longer but eliminates several miles on an interstate and more miles on a state highway - instead I took scenic county roads through the country and across rivers and through some small towns. The radio was boring me, so I turned on the CD. When the John Lee Hooker CD was done, "Dead Letter Office" from REM came on. The sunroof was open. It was just great. In the moment I realized how good I felt, I was crossing a river and looked to my left to see a pair of bald eagles in a tree. Oh yeah. Then I really needed to find a restroom. I crossed another river and saw a boat launch with a vault toilet. It was clean and just in time. Even though the trails were more crowded than I expected, there was plenty of parking pretty close in. I bought an annual parking pass for state parks, and this is one of the few that charge a fee. I'll probably go back when it's not so nice weather and thus fewer people - no way will I go in summer on a weekend. But yesterday was just fantastic.

This large park includes the "Trail of Ten Falls." The trail is officially about 7.2 miles of "moderate" hiking. There are a few falls you have to hike a bit more to see - I decided to go see them all. The main trail is along two tributaries of a creek. These creeks have been cutting their way through the rocks for 26 million years. The resistant rock is from the Columbia River Basalt flows, and between those layers is a layer of about 20 feet of sand and silt laid down by a stream between flows. The thick layers of lava are resistant to weathering, so they are what makes the large falls when the layers below them gets weathered away. You can actually see charred remains of tree casts in the in-between layers if you look closely along your walk. Really a marvelous place. I was sad to see some litter. I was happy how well maintained the trails are. I was surprised how many people there were, but it was a beautiful warm sunny day. I bet some people took Friday off to make a long weekend. Heck - some people might have taken the week of if they already got last Monday off for President's Day.

There are dozens of miles of back-country trails to explore too. I am a little curious about those, but being among the large falls is pretty nice just as a way to spend a day.

Oh. Here's some pictures (I have fun videos, but not sure a good way to share them):

enlightenme3 · February 26

@mtaratoot - I'm surprised you encountered that many people at this time of year. We did the "Trail of Ten Falls" this past September on a Sunday and it was jammed pack. Unfortunately, it was the only day we had available since we were also going to see friends who lived nearby in Silverton that day. Other than all the people, the park was beautiful, facilities were nice and the hiking was nice and moderate after having done some strenuous hikes the couple weeks before in Olympia, Rainier and Mt. Hood areas.

SbetaK · February 27

I grew up in Oregon, hiked the Silver Falls trails just about every year. @mtaratoot I recognized the falls in your pictures before I read your post, now I want to hike it again next time I go home. I love the trails were I am now, but always a good idea to have a friend or 2 along, and a dog, to keep our eyes out for our Kodiak grizzly bears. @sammcc7907, not sure whether I'd like to run into a bear here, or your snakes and dingos!

rlpomeroy · February 27

I have really enjoyed reading through this thread and it's getting me excited to do some more hiking myself. I am in Minnesota and have done several miles of the Superior Trail, but not all of it. Thank you for inspiring me to get back out there!!

sammcc7907 · February 27

SbetaK wrote: »

I grew up in Oregon, hiked the Silver Falls trails just about every year. @mtaratoot I recognized the falls in your pictures before I read your post, now I want to hike it again next time I go home. I love the trails were I am now, but always a good idea to have a friend or 2 along, and a dog, to keep our eyes out for our Kodiak grizzly bears. @sammcc7907, not sure whether I'd like to run into a bear here, or your snakes and dingos!

Eek, snakes and dingos any day over bears

TamiVsTheTrail · March 15

@sammcc7907 Love the backpack! What a great view. No dingos here but definitely bears and cougars, I've only run into a couple of bears. The snakes are harmless, I think your snakes would point and laugh at ours.

TamiVsTheTrail · March 15

@mtaratoot Looks like a great place to get out and explore! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

TamiVsTheTrail · March 15

This year I had planned on doing less hikes and work more on other cardio but here's the problem, I need my nature therapy. I love my indoor gym and weights but hiking resets me and keeps me focused. This week I moved work around and made time to get out for a snow hike. We may be at the end of winter but we finally got a cold snap here that gave us a winter wonderland. The Ravens and Whiskey Jacks hung around seeing what snacks there were and followed us along the trail. At the top the we got above the clouds, it was so peaceful!

Just keep hiking

Replies

Categories