Karen and Tom Wanderings

I (Tom) had hopes of a fall hike to see the golden larch trees after my return to Seattle from the East Coast.  Weather reports indicated only a 1-day window before the onset of winter-like weather.  So, despite wanting a bit of time to rest up from the East Coast trip, I knew what had to be done.  A quick check of the trip reports confirmed that the larches were at their peak in the North Cascades (Rainy Pass area), but also that some snow would likely be encountered on the trail.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find Brian's micro-spikes (for snow/ice traction while hiking), so the 3 hour drive each way seemed a bit much with the uncertainty of being able to reach the larches.  Instead, I opted to stay closer to home ... Granite Mountain for a final fall hurrah.  There wouldn't be larches, but there would likely be lots of colors on the open slopes.  However, those pesky larches continued to tug on my brain, so I took a chance and drove over towards the...

In late September, we connected with Tom's mom and our daughter, Kelsey, for a 3-generation trip to Maine.  Our primary objective was Acadia National Park (and daily seafood), but we also saw some gorgeous places en route.  The first surprise was Cape Elizabeth.  It's 10 miles south of Portland, and we hopped down there shortly after our flight arrived, mostly to visit the lobster shack.  But, what a beautiful piece of coast ... and the waves were pounding in pretty good, as a result of Hurricane Maria activity out at sea ... just as the sun was setting!  Our mostly rural drive up to Acadia wasn't quite as "coastal" as we had thought, but there were some quintessential Maine towns, a very cool bridge (Penobscott Narrows Bridge), and some nice views from Mt Battie (near Camden).  The Penobscott Narrows Bridge was stunning, but its ultra-modern lines seemed very out-of-place in the old-time Maine countryside.  Perhaps that contrast was part of the plan...

After returning from the Tetons and resting for a day, we realized that cold, wintry weather was on its way ... so we had a couple of days to cram in perhaps our last backpacking of the season.  Our options were somewhat limited, due to the smoke from ongoing fires.  The Mt. Baker area looked like the best chance of avoiding the smoke, so off we went to Yellow Aster Butte.  We had visited this area several years ago, but had taken the old and longer trail (due to trusting a 1980's guidebook).  We had actually made it up to the camping basin, but had turned around without exploring due to the very cloudy conditions. This time, however, we scored big.  Perfect weather and drop-dead views of Mt Shuksan and Mt Baker.  And some fall colors, to boot!  On paper, the hike looks like a breeze (3+ miles, 2200' gain),  but seemed a bit longer.  Perhaps it's the fairly steep pitch of the trail as it climbs.  Regardless, we dropped into the basin a...

Ah, the summer of smoke!  As Labor Day approached, our planned trip to Glacier National Park was looking bleaker and bleaker due to the massive fires there.  But, following our MO of avoiding bad weather and smoke (perhaps to a fault), we looked elsewhere.  The Sawtooths in Idaho looked pretty good, despite the large number of fires in the northern part of the state... until the wind changed.  But, with heavy smoke expected to flow into Seattle, we had to do something.  Wyoming and Colorado didn't look too bad, until the departure day approached.  But we headed off anyway to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, with our fingers crossed (and our noses plugged), but not expecting much.  Truth be told, there was a bit of an unspoken undertone of "why the hell are we doing this ... driving for a couple of days to hike in the smoke."  And sure enough, within a half hour of leaving town, we hit smoke ... and it stayed with us the entire way to the Te...