City Escape: Camping in the Washington Cascades

While hiking is something I'd like to do, right now I'm having to live vicariously through the wilderness adventures of friends. My good friend Claire, and her husband Justin (remember their New Year's Eve wedding?) give us a peek at their hike in The Enchantments in Claire's words...

All the hype around The Enchantments may seem a little excessive and overstated when there are countless beautiful areas in Washington – but believe it, this place is top notch.

The Enchantments is an area outside of Leavenworth, WA within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The area is comprised of five camping zones that are part of an 18-mile loop that enters through the Snow Zone and exits through the Stuart Zone, or vice versa. All of the zones require overnight permits, which are strictly enforced by rangers. Hikers are free to pass through on a day hike without a permit, but don’t try to pull a fast one with your tent because you will either be asked to leave or you will be banned from the area for five years by a ranger monitoring the area. With that said, getting a permit is a feat in itself. The Enchantments is easily the most sought after hike in Washington and getting a permit may take years of agonizing attempts. I had been trying to snag a permit for five years. Check out these links for more information on permits and getting to the trailhead: here and here.

We headed for the Enchantments with another couple on a 5 day overnight permit for the Snow Lake Zone. We left Seattle around 8am but somehow didn’t get on the trail until 130pm. We had to make a stop at the pharmacy to get Advil, drive around the shops at Leavenworth, get slushies, etc. Although the ice cold beverages were worth it, we strapped on our packs under a 102 degree sun in the parking lot. Ouch! I would recommend starting around 7 or 8am before the heat strikes if you attempt this hike in the summer.

We walked along a flat trail for about 100m from the parking lot and then we started going up –and up. In fact, we walked uphill for hours on a hefty incline along an exposed mountainside. I won’t get technical with numbers but most will say this is the most challenging hike in Washington and around 3pm we witnessed a few hikers heading back because they knew they wouldn’t make it to the first camp. Just know, this hike is not for the faint of heart and requires a few steep areas of climbing a rebar ladder on an edge without being roped in, which might be a little nerve-racking on tired legs with a backpack. This guy had the courage to take out his camera while on the rebar and take a picture of his standing (?!) friend.

After the climb to camp you reach alpine paradise, complete with a glass lake. We camped next to Upper Snow Lake for all five nights but were only two miles from the Core Zone which was perfect for day hikes. When the sun rose I would slip on my running shoes and go for a short trail run to wake up. When I returned to camp we would all sit next to the lake and sip coffee and enjoy a freeze dried breakfast scramble. Then we would spend the day hiking in the Core Zone. The Core Zone lakes are a collection of flawless blue pools that rest under staggering granite formations. The area is simply unbelievable. Being there in late July was ideal because we took intermittent dips in the lakes. I have heard that hiking in late September is also ideal because the change in colors of the Lark trees creates breathtaking scenery. Either way – you can’t go wrong!

After camping for five serene days we were all enchanted by the experience (sorry, horrible pun). Our outdoor high was stifled soon after on our way down when we all nearly crawled through the parking lot to the car on another 100 degree plus day. We were certainly spent, but the experience was well worth it. If you’re up for the challenge it is an unforgettable experience. I highly recommend putting it on a life list for hiking adventures outside of Seattle!

March Madness: Go Zags!

You may have picked up that I'm not much of a sports enthusiast (actually, that's kind of an understatement). But in our house, I end up learning a lot about sports through osmosis because Patrick is a fan of pretty much every type of sporting/competitive activity this fine country has to offer. Mostly I just tolerate athletics but my two favorite sporting events are the Olympics and March Madness. Both of them require very little knowledge prior to beginning, have very specific start/end dates, and it's easy to root for your home team!

In the case of March Madness this year, my hometown team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs of Spokane, WA are a #1 pick for the first time ever! I have definitely never been this excited about basketball -- Go Zags!

My friend Andrew organizes a wonderful bracket every year that funds kids school fees in the village of Limilunga, Zambia. This year the goal is to fund 68 students (that's the number of schools in the NCAA tournament) for a full year of tuition. Let me know if you're interested in joining the fun, it's a great way to give back and root for your favorite team-- Win-win!

 Kids from the Limilunga Community School, photographed by Jenny & Jason in 2008 (via jkoephoto.com)

Winter Workouts?

What do you do to stay fit in the winter? I don't have a lot of motivation to go jogging in the dark/rain so I'm trying to find alternatives to my regular routine for the winter months. In the past I've done Julianne Hough's dance workout DVD's and used the Nike App for my iPhone (which are both good but you really have to be self motivated!). Any recommendations for other indoor workout programs that don't involve expensive gym memberships? I used to call my gym membership a donation because I never went. :/

I tend to be far more motivated to keep up with my yoga in the winter though. The warm, low-lit studio calls to me and it's great to have someone else motivate me through a routine. Also, my yoga "guru," Melina Meza, has a fabulous series of books and a DVD that have actually gotten me to do a bit of a home practice in the fall/winter over the years. Check her out, she's great!



(Top photo and Melina)

Back to Yoga

Well, autumn seems to have officially settled in and I'm starting to feel that dreary depression that comes with the cold, dark and rainy days.

Yoga is one of the many things Teresa discovered before me. She was pretty committed to yoga in college. I remember wondering why she went to all the trouble, and then I tried it and got hooked. The endorphins that come from the exercise and having an hour and a half to be away from the rest of life (email, phone, work, stress, etc.) is just the pick me up I need.  

I'm not super great at yoga. I'm fairly flexible, so I get excited when I can stretch farther than the more experienced people in my class, but anything that requires balance has me falling all over the place.

What do you do to avoid going crazy in winter months?

Another way I stay sane, trips to sunny places! I'm in LA, just for the day, gonna see Ellen! More on that later this week.

Seattle Sailing Adventure

I've been working to check items off my summer bucket list and one of them recently came to fruition when my dad and I took a weekend-long sailing class through the Seattle Sailing Club. Our instructor Steve (below right) was fabulous and we had a great time learning all the lingo and getting the hang of using the wind to power the boat. And we are now certified to crew a boat through the American Sailing Association! If we take Sailing 103 we'll be able to skipper a boat under 27 feet and 104 will enable us to skipper boats under 50 feet (eek!).

I've been trying to make effort lately to do things that are very "Seattle-ish" and embrace living in this area. It hasn't been the easiest transition for me moving back from living on the east coast and then abroad and instead of fighting living in the Northwest I'm trying to really get into things that the area is known for, like hiking, going out to the Islands, being in nature, listening to local music, etc. Any suggestions for me?

Helms A'lee!!

The Perfect Game

So I lucked out big when one of the two Mariners games I happened to make it to this season was yesterday when Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game. If you're not a baseball fan, a perfect game is when there aren't any hits, walks or errors and none of the batters on a side make it to first base. In the history of major league baseball, this has only happened 23 times so it's kind of a big deal.

Jason's brother Jeremy, his wife, Stephanie, and their five month old, Gracie, were visiting and it was Gracie's first game! Jason and Jeremy are HUGE baseball fans and grew up stalking baseball players for autographs so naturally they were beyond thrilled to see this. Seriously, I kind of thought one of them might have peed their pants when it happened. Instead, Jason took lots of photos on his iPhone and Jeremy called their dad.

Afterwards, Jason snapped that creepily awesome photo of Gracie peeping out from behind a Felix Hernandez cutout above.

If you want to see how big of a Mariners fan Jason is, here's a music video that Jason directed last year. It's basically his childhood in song. It wasn't hard to find props for this shoot, Jason already owned all of the memorabilia that you see and more. My basement is full of baseball bats.

The Olympics Are Almost Here!

It's almost that time again. We have patiently waited four years and now they are finally upon us, the Summer Olympics! USA, USA! Do you have big plans for watching the games? We'll be in Idaho next week relaxing and playing our own version (more to come on the Priest Lake Olympics).

Here are a few great links from around the web that are getting me into the Olympic Spirit:

An inside look into the Olympic Athletes Village.

I love the US Women's Soccer Team! This video is so silly and fun, can we be friends?

The ESPN "Body Shoot" makes me want to hit the gym right now.

Have you seen the Spanish Olympic uniforms yet??

US athletes to know before the games begin.

William and Kate's official Olympic schedule, can't wait to see Kate in her "dressed down" look.

Kid's Guide to the Olympics (this could also be called Teresa's Guide to the Olympics!)

(Images from here)

Seattle Summer Bucket List

We have a little joke here in Seattle that summer doesn't start until the 5th of July. This year it came one day early! Yesterday was gorgeous and we have nothing but sunshine in the forecast from here on out-- all I can say is, it's about time. This is my first full summer in Seattle since 2007 so I'm pretty excited to tackle my "summer bucket list" digging into local favorites and playing the tourist in my own town. What are you up to this summer? Seattleites, what must-do's did I leave out?

Head down to the waterfront to check out the new Pier 57 Ferris Wheel

Try out some of Seattle's best rooftop dining: the Pink Door, Madrona's Bottlehouse, & Little Water Cantina on Eastlake  

Catch an outdoor movie at Magnusun Park

Paddleboard Yoga in Ballard!

Watch for Orca whales and go bike riding at the San Juan Islands (I've never been!). Really want to spend the night at this place. 

Buy some produce at the farmboat floating market on Lake Union

Take in the August wildflowers on the Sourdough Ridge Trail at Mt. Rainier

Oyster Happy Hour at Elliot's down on the waterfront. 

Agua Verde's Full Moon Kayak Tour of the Arboretum 

Learn how to crew a sailboat with my Dad (this is already scheduled, so excited!)



























(Photos: wheel, deck, movie, yoga, island, market, mountain, oysters, kayak, sail)

Free People + Yoga = Bliss

Jenny and I were excited to see an email from Free People yesterday announcing their new yoga line! Don't they look super comfy? And as always with FP, most of the pieces have little unique things about them like a frill or cut-out back. Along with the chic shirt above, some of our favorites are below:

                          Jenny                                     Jenny & Teresa                                  Teresa

Trapeze!

Who else, like me, gets very excited to buy a Groupon only to forget about it,  wait months and months and FINALLY use it right before it expires? Well, that's how the trapeze story goes. A year after purchasing a Groupon for an intro trapeze class, I finally went. Teresa got roped in (literally, haha!) since the friend planning on doing it with me is now seven months pregnant.

I LOVED it and after one swing, knew I wanted to sign up for more and somehow managed to convince Teresa to sign up with me. So more trapeze to come for us!

Check out our cool tricks!

Sporty in the Studio: Barre Class Trial

Have you tried a Barre exercise class yet? Jenny and I had heard about the new trendy workout class that combines ballet, yoga and Pilates from a few friends and decided we needed to give it a shot ourselves. We found a deal for newbies to try out three classes for $30 at Barre3 and scooped it up a while back. Since then we found ourselves on Seattle's Capitol Hill awkwardly graciously making our way through three very different classes. 

As you can assume from the name, the class is centered around the ballet barre and mirrors that surround the outsides of the classroom. Each person uses a very sturdy but flexible ball, a strap, 1-3 lb hand weights, and a mat throughout the class. After a brief cardio warm up the bulk of the class involves tiny, 1-2inch, movements of the body while holding the muscles taunt in various positions. Throughout the class you should end up working most major areas of the body with an emphasis on the core.

We went into our first class expecting to get our behinds kicked as neither of us has much experience with ballet or Pilates. Unfortunately, the class was way too easy and not really worth the cash we put out for it. The second class was more challenging and offered some good alternative poses for us beginners. The third class (my favorite), taught be Lindsay, was by far the most sweat-inducing and we definitely couldn’t do all the moves that some of the more experienced Barries (Barristers?) expertly executed. There could have been a few modifications offered for the less experienced but overall we "felt the burn" and it was a great toning workout.

Like its predecessors  Pilates and yoga, Barre isn’t for folks who are trying to get a cardio workout. The class is great for people who want to tone their bodies and build lean muscle while listening to modern music. We suggest that they add “levels” to the class titles as we went to three classes with the same name that varied wildly in their difficulty.

As for Jenny and I, we’ll probably stick to yoga on a regular basis as we like the stretching and meditative elements in that practice that are not found in Barre. But I’d love to swing back by for an occasional work out and to learn some great new moves to use at the gym or after jogging. 

PS. Check out our other "Sporty" posts if you're interested!

(all pictures from the Barre3 blog)

Self Defense 101

Have you ever taken a self defense class? I hadn't until this weekend when my friend Brittany convinced me to join her and about 12 other women at a local martial arts studio to learn about women's safety. Having traveled a bit in some more dangerous cities and countries I have been in a few sticky situations over the years and figured why not learn some basic moves to defend myself in case an unwanted situation ever comes up.

We spent three hours learning from experts about the basics of women's self defense and practicing our "moves" on some very kind (and tough!) martial arts experts. It was actually a really good time and although I'm pretty scrawny (ok, really scrawny) I feel much more prepared to stand up for myself should the need arise. 

The lovely Brittany and one of our fabulous instructors, Danny, volunteered to model some of our defense tactics below:

These three moves if someone approaches from the front:

Open-palmed face push with force

Softball-wind crotch hit

Face slap with force, then run

These moves if someone grabs you from the front:

Slap face upward or smack ears hard with cupped hands (to disorient)

Grab hair, neck or shirt and pull down for knee-to-crotch kick

Then pull head to knee for extra facial hit

Way to go Brittany - and thanks Danny for taking some hits for women's safety!

We learned a lot more moves as well, including what to do if someone comes at you from behind or on the ground. The whole thing was well worth my time and I'd highly recommend it! If you're in the Seattle area and interested in taking the class we did, call or email Kym Tuvim, 206.499.9804, kym@kymtuvim.com.

Keep safe out there!

Drooling Over Dutch Bikes

Now that the sun is finally shinning in Seattle I'm ready to get back on my old bike and hit the trails. Up until last summer I hadn't been on a bike in about 10 years. I was inspired to get back on the "saddle" when we traveled to Amsterdam last year. The Dutch really know what's up with biking. In the Netherlands, 27 percent of all daily trips are made by bicycle. The benefits to the environment and individual health are obvious, but it also creates a wonderful, quieter atmosphere in Amsterdam that I haven't experienced anywhere else.

Here are some photos of P and I biking in Amsterdam:

Handsome guy with a beard

Bike trailer next to cool houseboat on one of the canals

So many interesting bikes! People ride with their groceries or kids in the front bucket.

Rows of bikes at the train station

This is the Public Dutch-Style Bike I am drooling over but need to prove I will actually ride before I can buy. They are on sale though!

Awesome video of bikers in Utrecht, Netherlands:

PS. Lessons from the Dutch on how to make biking more mainstream

(all photos mine or from Public Bikes)

Sporty Milestone

Indulge me as I reflect back on the most sporty year of my life. Last February, after discovering my startlingly high resting heart rate (nearly 90 BPM!) at one of those machines in the drug store,  I decided that I was going to become a jogger. Mind you, this was not the first time that I resolved to start running. There was 7th grade cross-country (last place at my first meet, yikes), high school when I took up jogging for about two weeks with my super-fit mom, and college when all of my roommates were jogging and I tried to join them but eventually settled instead on a new-found love for yoga.

So that brings us to last winter when I once again resolved to hit the pavement 3-4 times a week and get my heart in healthy shape. I bought some women’s health magazines, surfed the net for running regimens and made a new jogging play-list on my iPod.

And amazingly, this time, I actually did it. That’s right, I am officially a jogger. It started more as wogging (ahem, walk-jogging) and slowly, slowly (6-8 months) evolved into what I am now proud to say is about a 11 minute mile! Some of you out there may not be too impressed by this, but anyone who knows me is downright shocked by my transformation into a jogger.

Blackrock Park where I started my weekly jogs, Dublin, Ireland

So, you may be asking, what was the difference this time? Why did it stick now and not before? I think the answer is that instead of wanting to become a “runner” or finally be “athletic” I just wanted to get my heart pumping, sweat a little and be more active. Truthfully, I have no idea how fast I run (slow) because I’ve never even timed myself. If I feel gross, I just walk a lot and jog a little. The important thing is I get out there and do it.

Stretching after a run at Lake Hallstatt in the Austrian Alps

One of the highlights of 2011 for me was when I was able to keep up with Patrick as we jogged through the streets of Rotterdam, Prague, Barcelona, and Vienna. We traveled for three weeks together and made a point of getting up early one day in every city and doing a jogging tour around town. We took pics on our phones, took in the empty streets, and had a delicious breakfast at the end as a reward. 

P and I after a long run through Rotterdam, Netherlands

I have no desire to ever run a marathon but I’m hoping to do my first 5k in 2012, and I have to say, I’m feeling great about it.


PS. My other blogs on being sporty: Sporty vs Athletic and Sporty on Skates. How do you keep healthy? Jenny and I are thinking about trying a Barre class soon!