Mount Ranier: Pan Handle Gap

This awesome hike was probably one of the best things I've done yet since moving to Washington. Bears, mountain goats, sweeping views~ I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was. Hopefully you can get at least a glimpse from the following pictures...

Summer Sweet

While the globe experienced the hottest July since 1880, the weatherman on my local radio was reporting that only ten days had passed since the beginning of summer when temperatures reached above 70 degrees in Seattle. Blah. And it wasn’t until Labor Day that I experienced my first true sunburn—although I had to hike to a magnificent point of 6750 ft elevation to do such. Two weeks later I’m enjoying a BBQ in the wind and rain at Mukilteo Beach.
But despite Seattle’s somewhat crummy track record for sunny days, I had a pretty awesome summer.

This is me at Lake La Jolla, near Leavenworth. It's frozen. The unexpected snow turned this 10 mile hike into an eight hour adventure. Great company, sunburnt ankles, and beautiful scenery. And a reuben sandwich to top the day off. (^_^)


Here is the Dungeness Crab Spit in Sequim, a 5+ mile long sand bar extending into the Juan De Fuca Strait of the Pacific Ocean. At the very tip of the bar is a light house that we unfortunately didn't make it to because we wanted to catch the ferry before the crazy 4th of July fireworks traffic, (so we were warned).


My friends and I opted out of the Seattle firework show and held our own private showing, complete with blowtorch and mega big Indian reservation explosives - Don't be fooled by the pansy sparklers in hand.


Below is Goat Lake. My companions: 16 year old girls, lots of them! Minus the poor girl who was throwing up nearing the second mile and had to go home, the girls did great! They were much appreciative of my supplies of pringles, chex mix and hi-chews. And after hiking in to find that the guy carrying my dinner had given it to another, I was too.










Late August, my coworker invited me to go for an hour drive and hike up to the Granite Falls ice caves, a short mile hike. Imagine my delight when I saw this:


And this:
















And despite warning signs, we saw the following. Everyone at the bottom of the glacier was pretty freaked out for this crazy person's life.


And the bestest hike of the summer, if not the bestest thing I've ever done in Washington, will have to be a stand alone post, as the pictures are amazing and plentiful. Stay tuned...!

Beauties of Christmas in Idaho

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Merry Christmas!!

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Beauties of Christmas

After a great Thanksgiving holiday, December proved to be just as wonderful. For starters, Janna and I committed ourselves at the beginning of the month to play a Christmas duet on the harp and violin for church - - and - - we actually did it! Despite shaking hands and sweaty palms, (at least on my part), I think we did a great job. Our next up and coming gig is tentatively planned for the local retirement center. Yee-haw!

We enjoyed a lot more sister time as we continued the Lathen Family tradition of making delicious goodies for our friends and neighbors.

My personal favorite were these cute little cake pops, (stick display made possible by Janna’s woodwork cleverness). The classic chocolate peanut butter balls were a close second.

More Christmas beauties to be posted...