Author: Jennie Flaming

You want to go for a hike, but you don’t have a car. Or you drove in Seattle’s epically bad traffic all week and can hardly bear the idea of getting in the car again on the weekend. Guess what? You no longer need a car to hike from...

Planning a visit to Seattle? Newcomer looking for a way to spend your first day off? Family visiting soon? As a lifelong Seattleite, this is my born and raised local’s guide to one day in Seattle! If you’re looking for a day trip from Seattle outside the city, look...

What’s not to love about a short, sunny hike to a winery? The Cowiche Canyon winery hike is a wonderful year round escape for Seattleites (especially in the spring and fall). This is one of my favorite hikes in Washington. It’s in the town of Yakima, about 3 hours...

Looking for some giant, ancient trees? You can find old growth forest in Seattle! Before white people came to the Pacific Northwest, old growth forests were everywhere (before extensive logging to power steam ships and for building). Today there are very few old growth trees left in Washington State...

I looked all over to try to find information about skiing Crystal Springs to Lake Easton on the Iron Horse trail, but there wasn’t much information to be had! I’ve been wanting to try going through this route for awhile, but have been deterred by a lack of information about...

Looking for one of the shorter trails to get to the gorgeous fall larches in the North Cascades? If you’ve already done Cutthroat Lake, or you just want a little more climbing then it’s time for the Blue Lake Larch hike! This hike pairs well with a day or weekend...

The best time to see alpine wildflowers in Mt Rainier National Park is generally late July and early August, a short but spectacular season! Mt Rainier wildflower hikes are the best way to immerse yourself in this fleeting beauty. Mt Rainier’s wildflowers are famous around the world and the park...

It’s crab season in Puget Sound! Crab fishing is fun and in my opinion easier that many other kinds of fishing. There are many great places to get crab in Pike Place Market, many local seafood markets such as Mutual Fish, and most bigger grocery stores. If you’re not...

Summer hiking season is just around the corner (still quite a bit of snow in the high country for another month or so). As Washington’s most popular trail, Mt Si seems an obvious choice. I need to offer the following disclaimer: I have hiked Mt Si many times, with...

2025 Note: State Route 504, the Spirit Lake Highway, experienced a landslide in the Spring 2023 and the road is closed to Johnston Ridge Observatory. I will update this once they announce when the road and Johnston Ridge will reopen. Looking for a fantastic short getaway full of outdoor...