All the strange things
They come and go as early warnings
Stranded starfish have no place to hide
Still waiting for the swollen Easter tide
- Peter Gabriel

#10 & #11
11.5 miles/18.5km
850ft

"Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth." - Lao Tsu

Time to be like a waterfall.

#6: Mima Falls
10.6 miles/17km
960ft

“It’s not the weight you carry
but how you carry it–
books, bricks, grief–
it’s all in the way
you embrace it, balance it, carry it
when you cannot, and would not,
put it down.”
-Mary Oliver

#5: Fragrance Lake along the Two Dollar Trail
11.6km/7.2miles
1,015ft EG

"More than this, you know there's nothing"

Another incredible day snowshoeing up to Artist Point, featuring Komo Kushan (Mt. Baker), Mt Shuksan, and the North Cascades. Truly a winter wonderland!

#4
6k (3.8 miles)
903ft EG

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy.
For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me,
within me, there’s something stronger-
something better, pushing right back."
- Albert Camus

Same mountain, only from 80km away this time and with special guests, the Olympics. And another perfect January day: clear, sunny skies and 30F/-1C.

Somehow managed to get to the TH early enough to have Debbie's View mostly to myself for a good half hour.

#3
14.5km/9m
1,828ft EG

January blue bird day on Mazama Ridge! Views like these make all that elevation gain in the first couple of kilometers worth it.

#2
6km/3.8m
922ft EG

Every new beginning is some other beginning's end. Definitely true for this hike, which closed out a year of hiking in January 2023 and is now kicking off a new year's adventures on trail.

#1
12km (7.6 miles)
2,020ft EG