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Naches Peak Loop
Usually the sun finds me on the trail. I’ve chased a few sunsets, but most mornings I just meet the light wherever the climb happens to take me. This time I wanted to be there first, already sitting on the ridge on the east side of the peak when the sun came up, with nothing…
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Sunrise Rim Trail
Some days go to plan. This one went to Plan B, and I’d built it that way on purpose. The road to Sunrise was closed, the season is nearly over, and I wanted another walk up there before the gate shuts for winter. So instead of driving to the top, a friend and I started…
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Upper Crystal Lake
Some mornings I plan for. This one started without me. My flight had gotten in last night, and at four in the morning my body announced the day was already underway, which left me doing arithmetic in the dark with the sunrise still a couple hours out. So I got dressed, found my boots, and…
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Sourdough Gap
I have stopped being surprised by how often I go looking for one thing and come back with another. It happens on trails, and it happens off them. This one started before sunrise, driving toward Chinook Pass with the cold blue sky gathering light behind the mountains, the warm colors yet to arrive, and it…
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Myrtle Falls, Skyline
I still lay everything out the night before a hike, then pack a little more than I know I will need. Old habit. The drive to Paradise started in the dark, headlights reaching only as far as the next bend, a familiar playlist keeping me company the way it always does. Somewhere on that winding…
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Kelly Butte Trail
We don’t always notice the things that shape us. Sometimes it takes a shift to bring them into view. I had time to think about that on my early morning drive, in the dark hours before sunrise, with a familiar playlist keeping me company the way it always does. A song I’ve heard a thousand…
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Crystal Peak
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WA: Some questions arrive loudly. Others just sit quietly and wait. Long before daylight reached Crystal Peak, I travelled familiar roads, through Buckley and Enumclaw, beneath the night sky gently softening into day. Gratitude found me on the drive, the way it usually does. This time it wasn’t tied to something…
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Rampart Ridge
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WA: Dawn was just coloring the horizon pink and gold as I set out for Rampart Ridge, a ritual that fills me with anticipation and gratitude. Just prior, the world was still in darkness, a familiar comfort on my drive that encouraged reflection on gratitude. With each mile, I pondered a…
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Snoquera Falls
MOUNT BAKER-SNOQUALMIE NATIONAL FOREST, WA: Driving toward Snoquera Falls in the early morning darkness, the world outside felt still and serene. Each mile brought a renewed sense of gratitude, especially when I learned that the bridge between Buckley and Enumclaw had reopened, clearing a path without obstacles, making this journey feel a little more special.…
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Skyline to Glacier Vista
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, PARADISE: In the darkness of my early morning drive to Mount Rainier, anticipation kept me wide awake. The sun was still a couple of hours from reaching Paradise, but the morning already felt like something. Each breath of the crisp morning air filled me with gratitude, setting the tone for a…