V is for Vanessa

Distance: 4.25 Duration: 2.5 hours Elevation Gain: 1160 feet Difficulty: Moderate A week after the snow dumped on Seattle for several days, I was itching to get back out and hit the trails. Since the weather had been so bad, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find any trails that were passable [...]

Distance: 4.25 miles Duration: 2.25 hours Elevation Gain: 1200 feet Difficulty: Moderate Little Si, and Mount Si in whose shadow Little Si sits, is somewhat of a local chestnut in terms of local hikes. I figured, given its popularity, that this would be a good solo hike for a cool winter day. During the summer, [...]

Distance: 9.9 miles Duration: 4.5 hours Elevation Gain: 1400 feet Difficulty: Moderate I went on this hike with a buddy; we had a short-list of trails to try, and only made the choice in the car on the way out. The weather forecast for Wallace Falls was warmer and had a lower chance of snow [...]

This site does not support embedded trip maps. View the trip here instead. Distance: 25.77 miles Duration: 2 hours, 3 minutes Elevation Gain: 854 feet Difficulty: Easy This is a standard ride for me on a day off. The mileage is nice, and the path is in good condition. I start the ride at the [...]

Distance: 9 miles Duration: 6 hours Elevation Gain: 2500 feet Difficulty: Difficult Following a quick day-hike the weekend before, I was inspired to go out again. Unable to find any friends who wanted to go hiking, I found a group hike to Lake Ingalls organized by the Bellevue/Seattle Hiking & Dragon Boat Meetup group.  I [...]

Arrived in Missoula in the wee hours after a white-knuckle ride across Montana in the sometimes rainy dark.  Since I got in so late, I decided not to try and head out early and make it to Seattle in time for dinner.  Instead, I slept until 10, checked out at 11, filled up on gas [...]

Long day. Almost 20 hours on the road. Drive time: 16 hours Distance: 855.5 miles

I’m leaving Interior and the Badlands for Missoula today. Hoping to stop through and see Mt Rushmore and maybe Deadwood on the way. Today’s projected stats: Distance: 794.4 miles Time: 11 hours, 28 minutes

Today was long and much time was spent driving.  I started in Chicago, drove north and then west through Wisconsin, Minnesota and crossed most of South Dakota. I left around 8:30 and arrived at 12:30 (but in the next time zone, so it was more like 1:30). To be fair, I wasted a fair bit [...]

State number four.

Today I drive from Chicago to Interior, South Dakota. My TripTik says the journey will be 829.5 miles and take 11 hours and 57 minutes. I’m just hoping that the ride isn’t too boring or riddled with construction.