On our most recent road trip, we traveled along the coast of Oregon with the goal of visiting tide pools. A combination of luck and planning made this such a successful adventure!
Continue readingVisiting Tide Pools in Oregon
Category Archives: nature
Colorado Hiking: Mad Creek Trail to the Barn
Interested in more hiking posts? You can find more of our Colorado hikes here.
Come along on this short, fun, and extremely kid-friendly hike!
Continue readingSee the Larches at Blue Lake + Washington Pass Lookout – North Cascades
We often detail day hikes – check out our full archive here.
If you live in Washington, it’s time to pencil in a weekend to see the larches! If you’re not familiar with larches, they’re the bright yellow pine trees in the photo above. Larches are deciduous conifers meaning they have needles instead of leaves and although they are conifers, larches are deciduous trees that lose their needles during autumn. Pretty neat!
I hadn’t seen a larch until I moved to Washington state. They are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south. Larches are among the dominant plants in the boreal forests of Siberia and Canada. In the U.S., you can find larches in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, here in Washington. In Washington, you can typically count on larches being in bloom at the end of September and the beginning of October. The vibrant color varies each year and is different depending on the time and elevation, so your best bet is to get out there early and often. Larches can grow to be big boys – sometimes reaching 150 feet tall.
If you’re looking for a nice walk with bright autumn color, any old hike will do ya, but I highly recommend hiking to Blue Lake. Note there are at least six lakes named ‘Blue Lake’ in Washington (and another Blue Lake that Kate visited in Colorado!). I’m referring to the one just off of Highway 20 in the North Cascades. Blue Lake is an amazing Seattle weekend getaway destination. This beautiful 4.5 mile out and back hike features towering granite peaks, evergreen forests, meadows and slide areas with wildflowers and foliage, and of course the most beautiful blue mountain lake.
If you’re traveling from Seattle, it will take you about two hours and forty minutes to Blue Lake. Blue Lake is a sparkly gem surrounded by sheer granite peaks and it would not be a stretch to say it’s the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen and way up there on my short list of best hikes. That’s no giveaway coming from someone who has been hiking and backpacking since the age of eight. Someone who has hiked across mountain ranges in Nepal and through jungles in Thailand, this hike was freaking amaze balls. If you’re within a three-hour radius, grab your boots, drive to Blue Lake, and start walking.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say we also caught Blue Lake at the best possible time of year. Before setting out on this hike (back in 2018!), I had no idea the larches were in bloom. I actually had no idea what larches were, but now I plan weekend adventures around these beauties. You have to catch them when they change color before the needles fall. You’ll be ooing and aahing every step of the way. Just for reference, this hike to Blue Lake was during the last weekend in September, on the 29th to be exact.
Waste Less Wednesdays: Repurpose Those Plastic Bags
Many Wednesdays this year we’re checking in to share how we’re reducing our environmental impact. Some of these ideas are big and require a bit of effort. Others are super small and simple, like this one. But we believe that they all make a difference.
Ready for today’s suggestion? This one may make you laugh.
Continue readingNature-Focused Poetry Books for Kids
April is National Poetry month. Admittedly, I don’t think of myself as needing a special month to wax poetic (wink wink) about the nature-inspired poetry books that we love. But apparently I AM the type of person that needs a national initiative because I hadn’t put together a post sharing this collection until now.
There’s a wide variety of subjects on our list of favorites. Insectlopedia that focus on insects to Old Elm Speaks that highlights trees. One of my absolute favorites is When Green Becomes Tomatoes. But I also get so excited when someone will read Joyful Noise with me. Every poem in that book is written for two readers making one poem. It’s just a pile of beautiful poetry.
- Insectlopedia
- Winter Bees
- When Green Becomes Tomatoes
- Sing a Song of Seasons
- Joyful Noise
- Leaf Litter Critters
- Firefly July
- Old Elm Speaks
It’s supposed to snow in Colorado this week, so let’s dream of summer.
Just Add Traction for an Awesome Winter Hike!
Hiking is definitely one of our favorite outdoor activities, and I happen to have two kids that are always up for a hike. We love our weekday hikes the best. The trails are relatively empty and we feel carefree to move along the trail at whatever pace feels good, even coming to a complete stop when we find spy a treasure worth investigating.
Continue readingMLK Day Idea
Happy Monday! Do you have the day off? If so, we have an idea for you. Continue reading
Our Favorite Phone Camera Accessory (Macro Lens!)
Want more photography posts? Here’s a Photography 101 course from Sarah. You can find her favorite equipment here, and here’s what I use when not pulling out my phone’s camera.
I’m not going to claim that this post is going to change the world, BUT maybe if some people looked at things from a different perspective… I don’t know. Maybe we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in?
Click on through for my favorite way to change my photography perspective.
Continue readingRead with Me: Overstory
If you have some young tree-lovers in the house, check out our tree-themed recommendations for kids.
Among all of the nature-focused books I’ve been reading, I finally indulged in one that’s a work of fiction.
Field Trip : Botanic Gardens
*This post was originally published in October of 2017. We’re republishing it today as a reminder to everyone that botanic gardens are a great space for relaxation and inspiration.*
Have you ever been to a botanic garden? If not, it’s time to find one in your neck of the woods. You may be lucky enough to have one in your city or town, or you may want to visit one the next time you’re on vacation. Trust us, this is a field trip that’s equally entertaining for both adults and kiddos.
