Hiking Near Baker: A Photo Journal

I've spent so much time exploring elsewhere and so little time exploring my own backyard. I'm working on changing that. Thirteen years ago I climbed Mt Baker, but I'd never hiked any of its nearby trails...until last week.

Shrouded Mt Shuskan, from Huntoon Point.

Our Stay in Coyhaique

Monday, February 29th through Thursday, March 10th

If Coyhaique was a record, and if the record player's needle was stuck on the particular moment shown below such that the moment was endlessly played over-and-over again, I would never tire of it.

Coyhaique kitty & me.

What exactly is Coyhaique, you ask?

Pavlovian Conditioning at Pratt Lake

The Pavlovian conditioning was cemented after my last backpacking trip (see Backpacking, Hunkering Down, & Bookreading).

The stimulus: the desire to read a book.
The response: the need to head to the mountains for a solo backpacking trip.

Backpacking, hunkering down, & book reading...again.

My desire to head to the mountains coincided with the long Labor Day weekend. Knowing that holiday weekends are synonymous with an exodus to the mountains, I decided it best to begin my trip early Friday morning and to return to Seattle Saturday afternoon.

Backpacking, Hunkering Down, & Bookreading

I've always wanted to backpack somewhere beautiful to hunker down and read a book.

Backpacking to somewhere beautiful and hunkering down...

...to read a book.

That's what I've wanted to do, and so that's what I did.

Days 11-13: Manchester State Park to Seattle

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Written by guest blogger, Craig Skiles. (Posts 12-14 of 14)
Originally posted here, here, and here.
Commentary [in green] provided by yours truly.
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Day 11: Manchester State Park to Seattle
Wednesday June 17, 2015, 32 miles (51 km) - Total so far: 582 miles (937 km)

Another beautiful morning in a beautiful city. Just a dream-like ride along the water.

[Sarah: And with that, we are back in Seattle!]

Sarah is an amazing woman. When she has made up her mind to do something, there is no stopping her. I mentioned that I might like to ship my bike home instead of checking it as luggage. She immediately started calling bike shops and found a shop just a few blocks from our Warmshowers host that would pack and ship my bike for $45 plus the Fedex shipping of $70. Deal!

Day 6: Hiking the Ozette Loop

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Written by guest blogger, Craig Skiles. (Post 7 of 14)
Originally posted here.
Commentary [in green] provided by yours truly.
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Friday June 12, 2015

We took a leisurely morning and slowly got ready to go hike the Lake Ozette Loop hiking trail. This trail is about nine miles long -- three miles to Cape Alava on a trail made of cedar planks, three miles on the beach to Sand Point, then another three miles of cedar from Sand Point back to the Lake Ozette Campground.

When I volunteered here so many years ago, I had hiked this loop dozens of times and was surprised to see that the trail had changed but little. Some of the planks looked to be old enough to have been installed by me in the 1980s.

Sarah hikes through the dry rain forest.

Backpacking in Hell's Canyon

This, my friends, is Hell...

Hell.
(Photo courtesy of Paul's camera.)

Well, to be more exact, this is technically "Hell's Canyon." Maybe you're thinking what I'm thinking. "If this is Hell, I wonder what Heaven looks like!"

We'll come back to Hell in a second. For now, let's rewind a few months...

A Three-Day Trek Along the Lycian Way

Shortly after Mom left Turkey, Ferit and I headed out on a three-day trek along the Lycian Way.

The Lycian Way, which stretches 509 km along the southwest coast of Turkey, is commonly referred to as one of the best trekking routes in the world.

I don't know about you, but I had never heard of the Lycian Way before traveling to Turkey. I had, however, heard of the Camino de Santiago, made famous by the movie, "The Way" (a great movie starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez). In essence, the Lycian Way is Turkey's version of The Camino.

Me and Ferit, at the official start of the Lycian Way.

As our trek was only three days in length, and as we aren't superhumans, we experienced just a taste of the route -- approximately 35 km, from Fethiye to the Butterfly Valley, in Faralya.

Hiking the Saklıkent Canyon

We spent an afternoon hiking the Saklıkent Canyon. Saklıkent, in Turkish, means "the hidden city."

Located in the Muğla province in Turkey, the Saklıkent Canyon is 11 miles long, though only 2.5 miles of the canyon are open to hikers. With vertical walls of nearly 1,000 feet, it is one of the deepest canyons in the world.

As is always the case with hiking in a canyon, flash floods are a concern. Two months ago, a flash flood swept through this very canyon, injuring eight people and killing two. Fortunately, the forecast showed no rain for the day of our hike.

Signs suggested that we wear helmets on the hike.
As helmets lacking proper adjustment mechanisms and chin straps
are nearly useless, we opted not to wear the helmets.
At least the helmets provided for a good photo op.