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A Year of Inspiration

January 7, 2016August 7, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

On New Years Day I went for a hike to Lily Lake. The territory was a bit unfamiliar to me and full of unexpected obstacles. I literally had to dodge clumps of snow falling from the trees above me, and there was much more snow on the trail than I anticipated. It was also more beautiful than expected. The low hanging sun filtered through the trees lighting up the snow in orange. Every branch was topped with a thick layer of snow giving them a magical quality. I felt like I crossed into Narnia. When I reached the lake I found it completely frozen over and I wandered out onto it feeling brave while examining the exquisite jagged crystals of hoar frost that covered everything in sight.

Much like my journey to Lily Lake, my first year of writing and sharing stories on Alpine Lily has been an unexpected adventure. Before I started the blog I was feeling low and stressed out at work. My company was downsizing and my mentors and long time coworkers were leaving while I was left with more work. I was struggling and felt like I was just getting by each day, surviving. This caused a serious case of wanderlust. I counted down the hours to the weekend so that I could escape and get out to explore and replenish my energy. I hiked every weekend and racked up the miles as I checked off the trails off in my guide books. I always felt great in the mountains but no matter how many miles I logged, I still dreaded Monday morning.

So then I got the idea to start Alpine Lily. I wanted to do something completely different from my day job (engineering) that was fulfilling and creative and completely for my own pleasure and joy. I was filled with a rush of excitement and purpose. I made a list of books I’ve read and adventures I’ve been on that I wanted to write about and, more importantly, made a list of new adventures and books to read so that I could write about them. I found myself taking short walks outside at work when I got frustrated, and instead of thinking about work while I walked, I thought about what I would write on the blog. Instead of just filling up the week with thinking about what trails to check off, I started reading inspiring books and planning fulfilling adventures. The wanderlust that was only making me dislike my job more morphed into a sense of purpose and inspiration.

Over the past year I quit my job and found a better one. I volunteered for trail work five times for the Washington Trail Association and earned my very own hardhat. I spent a weekend camping with my sister in California and another in Oregon with my other sister discovering waterfalls. I tried sketching and painting on my hikes and went clamming and foraging for the first time. I took my friends backpacking and hiked with strangers that became friends. My husband and I revisited Green Mountain, the first peak we attempted to climb in Washington, after the trail was closed for nine years and finally made it to the top. We also revisited our home states back east and shared our favorite childhood outdoor places with each other and our families. I read so many books! I didn’t get in the number of miles that I was hoping for, but the quality of the miles more than made up for it.

I completed most of the goals that I set last year, but I am taking a different approach this year. I have only one goal for the year- to go into the outdoors as much as possible with my loved ones and with purpose. In addition, I came up with a Life List- experiences I want to have sometime in my life with no specific end date. These are things that are near and dear to my heart, not just places and trails to check off a list. Here are some of them in hopes of inspiring you to do the same.

Spend a night in a lookout and/or lighthouse
Find an Alpine Lily flower in the wild
Start an outdoor book club
Backpack solo
Hear wolves howling at the moon
Night kayaking
Snow camping
See the northern lights
Climb all the volcanoes in Washington with my husband
Visit the Three Sisters Wilderness in Oregon with my two sisters
Visit an active volcano
Hot air balloon ride

I wish you a very Happy New Year filled with lots of inspiration and quality time on the trails!

Hikes featured in this post:
Lily Lake

Outdoor Life

Trail Work

October 19, 2015July 30, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

I’ve hiked many years in the Cascades and have been a member of the Washington Trail Association for just as long. I happily paid my dues every year and felt warm and fuzzy about helping out my local trail maintenance organization. I’ve belted out, “Thank you, WTA!” while hiking through a trail team’s working area many times and took pride in knowing that I was helping them out through my donations. But deep down I had that feeling that I should be doing more. Besides, I’m an engineer, and I always wondered how they build the trails and bridges and how on earth did they build those giant rock steps? So this year I decided I would find out and volunteer for trail work. And not only that, but I was going to earn my very own hard hat by joining in five outings.

Lesson 1: Breaking Trail

There are many ferns in the forest.

I thought it would be fitting to break new trail on my first outing with the WTA so I signed up to work on a brand new trail that wasn’t open to the public yet, a new section of the Grand Ridge trail. I would learn the basics of trail building from the very beginning. I showed up that first morning with a spring in my step and found a spot in the circle of a motley crew. There were burly men, old ladies and teenagers that looked like they had better things to do than trail work early on a Saturday morning. I smiled and put on my gloves and hard hat as the crew leader started their briefing. For the first time I heard the WTA’s mantra: “Be safe, get some work done, and have fun.” That seemed easy enough.

Next it was on to the tools. I recognized the shovels and clippers among the piles, but the rest looked like mutants from some kind of hardware freak show. There was the Pulaski, a combination of an ax and a hoe named after the famous fire fighter who invented it. There was the McLeod, also a fire fighting tool that resembled a giant rake with a scrapy side. Even the shovels were modified from the garden variety to perform better on the trails. Then I learned how all those tools get to the work site a mile down the trail: you carry them of course. Now that I was acquainted with the gear, it was time to get to work.

I was assigned a section of “trail” that was not really trail yet. It was cleared of the major obstacles, but it needed some additional work to make it real trail. I was instructed to dig down and remove all the nice dark loamy soil, the stuff that you would kill to have in your garden, and get to the harder, rockier sub soil that would give the trail a solid base. You know you got there when the soil turned a light brown color. So I dug and I scraped and I leveled and I dug some more.

The crew leader came by and said it looked great, except that I should get rid of a sword fern that was just off the trail. I looked at her like she had three heads. What do you mean get rid of the fern? She said to dig around it and pick it up and put it off to the side. They may be able to replant it later. It felt so wrong to dig up a wild fern that was almost as tall as myself and minding it’s own business. But this was trail building and building trail means digging up perfectly happy ferns and other plant life for that matter. So I did it. I struggled for a long time trying to dig up that huge fern and by the time I finally got it out of the ground I was cursing the thing. So this is trail building… I like it.

Lesson 2: Breaking Trail in the Rain

Get better rain gear.

A month later I signed up for another work day, this time at Tiger Mountain. When I saw that the weather prediction was rain I was kind of happy. After all, I didn’t want to waste a good weather day on trail work. And like all Pacific Northwesterners, I knew full well that a little rain never hurt anybody. So I put on my boots and rain jacket and headed to the trail. I was incredibly sore after my last outing but it was a good sore. It felt good to break trail and I wanted to do it some more. So I volunteered to work on re-routing a section of trail. This time we were starting from scratch with only a few orange flags showing where the trail would be. We moved sticks, logs and rocks out of the way by flinging them as far off trail as possible. And I got rid of ferns, many ferns, and every one of them was easier than the last. I was catching on.

It was raining while we worked, but the forecast didn’t call for much so we assumed it would taper off any minute. I wasn’t as prepared for the rain as I should have been. I forgot my backpack cover and I was wearing non-waterproof boots with running pants. My gloves were soaked through and they sloshed as I shoveled. I was getting tired but every time I stopped to take a break I was instantly chilled. So I dug and I scraped and I leveled and I dug some more. We skipped lunch on account of the rain and by the time we called it quits I was totally beat. The rain never quit. It only rained harder and I was miserable. I envied the people shedding their rain pants before getting into their cars. My pants were soaked through with a slick layer of mud on the entire front of my body. My boots were so thick with mud I couldn’t see the laces. I tried not to touch anything in the car on the way home. When I got home I took a long, hot bath and the next day I hung up my muddy clothes and sprayed them down with the hose. I decided I must get rain pants.

Lesson 3: Building Bridges

Measure twice, or thrice, or four times. Cut once.

On my next outing I smartened up a bit and volunteered for a more interesting job. Breaking trail is great and all, but it’s back-breaking work and I began to realize that the more seasoned green hats were volunteering for the special projects. So when the crew leader, Jen, asked me if I wanted to try something new, I jumped at the chance to build a bridge. I was so looking forward to not using a shovel or grub hoe and I would get to learn about bridge building. The goal for the day was to attach the stringers (the longest boards that run the span of the bridge) to the bulkheads (the ends of the bridge).

The large bridge stringers were already near the bridge location but we had to move one to it’s proper place across the creek. Eight of us lined up on either side of the board and used straps to lift the stringer and move it to it’s new home. We would be working with Pete, a long time trail worker and bridge builder, and his daughter Jane. Pete was a great bridge builder because he knew what he was doing and he meticulously checked and rechecked everything before drilling holes for the fasteners. We lined up the bulkheads and made sure everything was square at least four times. Then every time something was a tiny bit off we would start all over again. By the end of the day Jane was beginning to lose her patience with her dad checking and re-checking, but by golly that bridge is as square as square can be.

Lesson 4: Zip Line

Always volunteer for the zip line.

On my next outing at Franklin Falls I volunteered to work the zip line. It was my favorite day of trail work yet. Near our section of trail there is a road and a large pile of gravel was dumped there to use on this busy trail. The road was above the trail on a steep slope so the best way to get the gravel down to the trail was via a zip line in buckets. It was a dual zip line. The first line got the buckets down the steep slope and the next line carried it even farther down the trail. Two of us were stationed at the confluence of the two lines to transfer the buckets from one line to the other.

We worked together at unclipping the buckets and clipping them onto the next rope. It required lifting the full buckets up so that the handles were at head height. We quickly got into a rhythm even though we frequently had to stop to let hikers go by. While transferring the buckets, I used the tops of my thighs as leverage and the edges of the bucket dug into my skin each time. I had so many tiny bruises on my legs that I couldn’t wear a skirt for a week. It sounds crazy, but I was so proud of those bruises.

Lesson 5: Building Rock Steps

It takes a team to move mountains.

My most recent trip was to Annette Lake where I finally got to learn how they make those lovely giant rock steps. Like most things with trail work, it takes a team to do the heavy lifting. We scoured the surrounding areas for large boulders that have a nice flat side then we used a rock bar or our feet to roll them to the trail. If the rock was too heavy to roll we would use a rock net with straps that allow several people to lift the rock at once. These rocks are incredibly heavy and I was amazed at how some of the volunteers could pick them up and roll them by themselves.

Once the big rocks were in place and level we filled in around them with smaller rocks and dirt. It took us all day to get just two large rocks into place. Hikers stopped and thanked us and marveled at the steps. I was proud to be on the other side of the trail now, on the working side, and now with my very own green hat. I’ve learned so much since I first dug up that fern at Grand Ridge back in February. Mostly I’ve learned how much work and care goes into making these trails. Someone took the time and did the work to make every single foot of trail and I know that I will never look at a stretch of tread, bridge or rock steps the same way again. I still have so much to learn and I am just getting started. I look forward to getting some more dirt on my fresh green hat.

Dirt Work by Christine Byl

After graduating from college, Christine decided she wanted an outdoor job. Intent on avoiding the typical 9-5, she wanted a job that was physically demanding and a worthy cause. She decided to work for the Forest Service as a trail worker. As you can imagine this is not a job typical for a young woman and Christine does not shy away from the complexities of being an anomaly in this industry. In true literary fashion (she is a book loving philosopher) she starts each chapter off with an ode to a trail tool. The book is a collection of vignettes of her work over the years from Glacier NP to Denali that come together to create a rich and full story of the unconventional life of a trail dog. Anyone who has volunteered on the trail will appreciate her struggles and triumphs on the trails. I hope this book inspires you, like it did me, to get out and volunteer on your favorite trails.

Hikes featured in this post:
Grand Ridge
Poo Poo Point (Tiger Mountain)
Evans Creek Preserve
Franklin Falls
Annette Lake

Outdoor Life

But, Where Are All The Men?

September 28, 2015August 7, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

Yes, sigh, I was asked this a few weeks ago when I took my lady friends backpacking. We were not in any sort of trouble. We were not lost, injured, hungry, tired or struggling in any way, shape or form. We were just hiking along after a fun and adventurous night in the mountains. No need for men here, we weathered the storm perfectly well on our own, I said. The old man chuckled and I rolled my eyes as I kept on walking. Damsels we most certainly were not, thankyouverymuch.

After a few years of casually mentioning a backpacking trip with my friends, I finally decided to make it happen. I rounded up a few of the adventurous ones and we picked a weekend and a trail: Yellow Aster Butte in August. Some of them hadn’t backpacked since they were younger so we discussed what to bring and what to expect on the trail. I mixed up many dried meals into tiny bags and borrowed a big tent. I pictured group photos at the top of the butte with blue skies and jagged peaks behind us. I could not wait to see their faces as they watched the pink and orange sunset behind Shuksan. Everything was planned. And then I checked the weather.

The first rain storm was coming after a drought of a summer. I checked the weather everyday that week and every day the prognosis was worse. Chance of showers changed to 60% chance of rain with lows in the 40’s. Ok, fine, we’ll be cold and maybe a little wet. It will be an adventure. By Thursday it was 80% chance of rain and by Friday it was full blown storm’s-a-coming, 3-4 inches of rain and 60 mph winds. And it might even snow. I literally laughed out loud when I saw this. How silly of me to think I had it all planned out.

One out of the group bailed and others seemed hesitant. I wasn’t about to take them into that kind of rain. We would be miserable. I needed a back-up plan. I looked to the drier east side of the mountains. The North Cascades were experiencing unprecedented wildfires and huge areas of National Forest were closed to hikers, so that left few options. It looked like there would be less rain in Leavenworth and I thought maybe we could score a coveted Enchantments permit to some of the lakes in the area. It was a long shot on a weekend but I figured we’d give it a try. My friends were all on board, confident that their leader knew what she doing. They were certainly more confident than I was.

We met up Saturday morning and did last minute prepping. We checked for all the rain gear: jackets, tarp, backpack covers. And warm stuff: hats and fleeces and gloves. Check. We divided up the gear and most importantly, determined how much alcohol we would be sufficient without overloading our packs. We decided, realistically, that we needed very little. Sarah brought us freshly baked blueberry scones to fuel us on the long drive (check out her lovely food blog, Little House Pantry). After all the planning and re-planning, we were finally on our way and I was so excited for my first ever all women backpacking trip! Two hours later we arrived at the Leavenworth ranger station and asked for a permit. They said they only had permits left for Lake Stuart as they eyed us up and down. Have you checked the weather?

The hike started out great. We had sun, rain and clouds all in the first few miles. But we were hardly paying attention as we caught up on what was happening in each others lives. We stopped for a snack and covered our packs when the rain became steadier. Once in a while a big gust of wind would come try to blow us off the trail, reminding us that a storm was brewing. We were stopped by a duo of rangers asking to see our permit. Have you checked the weather? they asked.

We circled the lake until we finally found a camping spot, set up the tent and tarp and devoured a late lunch of turkey and avocado pita sandwiches. It wasn’t raining so we sat by the lake sipping cider with rum and cocoa spiked with peppermint schnapps. Later as it started to get dark we whipped up some backcountry biscuits to warm us up. Then we saw the most spectacular thing. We noticed a strange bright light coming from behind the mountains straight across the lake from us. We were mesmerized by it lighting up the bottom of the clouds. Suddenly the clouds parted just enough to see the top of the super moon cresting over the mountain top. It was so big and bright it felt like you could reach out and touch it.

It was getting cold so we snuggled up in our sleeping bags. It was quiet and there was still little sign of the forecasted storm. The tent was so bright from the moon that we didn’t need our headlamps. Someone said it was eerie and ominous, like the beginning of a horror movie. But we drifted off to sleep anyway. Later I woke up to the roar of the wind coming up the valley. I waited. One, two, three, four, five…it grew louder and then suddenly slammed into us. My eyes shot open to check the deflection of the tent poles. Then it was completely silent. This repeated a few times until the rain came. It rained and blew off and on all night, but we were cozy in our dry tent, the tarp deflecting the water away.

The next morning we took turns going in and out of the tent between rain showers. The wind died down and the rain came and went. We made oatmeal and ate it as we stood in a circle with our rain jackets on. The low clouds lifted enough to expose the tops of the mountains and they had just a touch of fresh overnight snow. We headed back and grabbed lunch in Leavenworth when we found out that the storms were bad in Seattle and that thousands of homes were without power. I was so glad I chose to go to the east side. But most importantly, we all made it through the storm and I am so proud of my friends. They are badass backpackers. They knew it would be an adventure with the weather but they didn’t back out. I think they even preferred the stormy weather since it makes for a better story. And no, we never once wished we had a man around to do something for us. We were perfectly fine on our own.

Backpacker’s Oatmeal Recipe:

1 packet or 1.5 oz instant oatmeal
2 Tbsp dried blueberries or cherries
1 Tbsp slivered almonds
1 Tbsp powdered milk
1 tsp brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in a ziplock bag (the snack bag size works great). On the trail add about 1/2 cup boiling water. Use less if you like a thicker texture and more if you like it soupy.

Two in the Wild by Susan Fox Rogers

Solo journeys are great and I believe much needed, but sometimes you just want the company of a good friend. This book is a collection of essays about spending our valued outdoor time with others. There are stories of adventures with old friends, new friends, mothers, daughters and even ghosts. There are stories of finding friendship in unlikely places and encouraging each other to be brave. Anyone who has enjoyed the company of others on an outdoor journey will appreciate this book.

Hikes featured in this post:
Lake Stuart

Outdoor Life

Hiking with Strangers

August 21, 2015August 7, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

One of my goals for 2015 was to hike with a stranger and I did it! Ok, I cheated a little bit. I didn’t go hiking with a complete stranger, but rather some of my fellow Northwest bloggers. I put out a call to see who wanted to meet up for a hike and much to my surprise I got some responses. I was thrilled, not only because technically these three lovely ladies were strangers, but because they are my kind of people: smart, outdoor-loving and inspiring.

I chose Snow Lake as our destination because it is easy to get to, not terribly difficult and just plain beautiful. I also chose it because it’s one of the first trails that I hiked alone. I hiked it back in July of 2009 when Nali was just a puppy. In fact, it was the first hike I took Nali on by myself. She had so much energy that we ran up most of the switchbacks and then kept going and going until we got all the way to Gem Lake, the next lake up the trail. I ate my lunch there and sat far away from other people because she was so whiny about stopping. She just wanted to keep going. She’s six now and hasn’t changed much really.

My original intention was to find a hiking buddy through an online forum where people post wanted-type ads for hiking partners like NWHikers.net. But as I started finding other blogs and started my instagram and twitter accounts, I found that there is such a generous and supportive community of writers, bloggers and outdoor-loving people online, I just never realized they were there. So I thought why not meet up with these great people that I already kind of know?

I met Jill, Laura and Lainey at the resort-sized parking lot of the Snow Lake trailhead. We were early enough to get good parking and there was a coolness to the air that was much appreciated by all in this relentlessly hot summer. As true Seattleites we relished in the distant clingy fog, yellowing foliage and the thick smell of autumn in the air. We discussed knitting projects, favorite baked goods, books and trails, all my favorite topics.

By the time we reached the top of the ridge you would have thought we’ve been hiking together for years. Jill showed us a gorgeous lookout spot on top of a giant rock where we lined up in a row to take photos. Later we would all stop to admire the drops of dew on the leaves lit by the morning sun. We reached the lake and after getting chilly in the shade, we basked in the warm sunshine. I brought banana bread to share and we chatted for a long time. But the temperature was rising, the trail was getting busier and we had to climb back up the ridge, so we made our way back to the trail. The conversation never skipped a beat.

I thought that after this meet up it would be clear which I like better, hiking alone or with others. But the truth is that both fulfill different needs for me. I crave alone time so I can think clearly. But I also thrive on meeting new people, learning from them and being inspired. I can go further and faster on my own but then I miss out on the tiny beautiful moments like stopping to find a squeaking pika or as Lainey so elegantly described it on her blog, “pass[ing] through fields of nearly-spent fireweed that were busy sending their seeds aloft on silky threads; the downy clusters ascending straight into that blue sky as though they were stars racing to claim their place in the heavens.”

I am so thrilled with the new friendships I gained at Snow Lake and I hope to make more. I will continue to organize meet up hikes for whoever is interested and maybe we can expand our lovely group. Maybe even start an outdoor book club? A girl can dream. Let me know if you are interested in a meet up and I will start a list. And don’t be afraid to go out there and make new friends on the trails!

My new friends:
Jill – PNW Seasons
Lainey – A Day Without Rain
Laura – Tiny Pines

Banana Bread Recipe (from my sister):
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk

Cream sugar and butter
Add eggs one at a time.
Add banana and vanilla, mix well.
Sift dry ingredients together and stir into batter alternating with milk.
Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 55 min at 350F.

MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche

After getting married and moving to Chicago, Rachel had a great life but felt like she was missing something. She had lots of good friends but they were spread out all over the country. She wanted to find new friends in the city but wasn’t sure how. So set out on a year long mission to go on a “friend date” once a week in hopes of finding a new best friend. The story of her quest is a hilarious, charming and satisfying read as she meets an array of characters. But what is important is her message that making new friends, much like dating, means you sometimes have to put yourself out there in ways that can be uncomfortable. This book showed me that there are many people out there looking for friendship and encouraged me to find them.

Hikes featured in this Post:
Snow Lake

Outdoor Life

Goals for 2015

January 2, 2015March 1, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

Every year I come up with some hiking goals to hike x amount of miles or hike some specific trails. This year I’m doing something different. I’ve talked about how I want to bring more of the inspiration of the outdoors into my everyday life, so I came up with some goals to do just that. None of these goals are big specific challenges like 30 by 30, but rather they are all part of a broader mission to get myself out there trying new things and contributing to the outdoors community. In some ways I am more nervous about this quest, mostly because it requires me to interact with people (not my strong suit), but also because I have no idea where all this will take me. I’m so looking forward to a fresh start, happy 2015!

1. Hike blah blah miles, complete at least one blah blah mile backpack, climb blah blah peaks- ok, I literally just said I wasn’t going to do this. BUT, I’m a numbers person and I can’t help myself. I blah blah’d the actual numbers for you because it’s not important, right? Right. Moving on…

2. Earn WTA hard hat by volunteering for trail work 5 times- to be honest I don’t know about this one. I can hike trails all day long (as long as they are graded, leveled, and clear of debris, rocks and blowdowns), but actually doing real work on those trails? Ugh, that sounds hard.

3. Hike with a stranger- wait, what? That sounds dangerous. Nah, I just want to go for a hike with a new friend I meet on the internet. Nothing bad can come from this.

4. Encourage a young person to discover the outdoors- not sure how to do this, maybe by volunteering for an organization that takes kids out in the wilderness? Again, nothing can possibly go wrong here.

5. Solo Backpack- I think I’m going to give my father a heart attack with this one.

6. Be kind, say hello to every single person I see on the trails- ok, nothing dangerous sounding here, just spreading some trail-loving cheer.

7. Try a new outdoorsy activity- maybe cross country skiing or outdoor rock climbing? We’re creeping back into the danger zone…

8. Organize a backpacking trip with my lady friends- something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but haven’t done yet. This seriously may be the most dangerous goal on my list.

9. Bring the outdoors into my home- maybe take an outdoors painting class, go mushroom hunting, grow some wildflowers, adopt a wild baby animal, the possibilities are endless!

10. Say thank you to those who inspire me- it was so heartbreaking to read in the WTA magazine that before she died, Karen Sykes felt that she no longer had an impact on the outdoors community as she was aging. Nothing could be farther from the truth. After reading that I vowed to say thank you to all the people who have inspired me in the outdoors.

Outdoor Life

Setting Goals: 30 by 30

December 11, 2014August 7, 2018
by Ashley Gossens

I’m not sure that I am considered a true adventurer. I haven’t hiked 2000 miles on the PCT or trekked the Himalayas. I don’t run marathons on the weekends. I don’t think I’ve ever felt completely guilt-free about downing a carrot cake flavored Clif bar like I’ve actually exerted enough energy to deserve all those calories. On nights before a hike I pack everything and put it by the door so I can roll out of bed and straight into the car. I actually look forward to the hour plus drive to the mountains as it’s extra time to wake up. Does this sound like the makings of a adventurer? What exactly does it mean to be an adventurer? Is there a list out there of places a person must visit? Is there a required number of miles hiked or peaks climbed? Or is just feeling like an adventurer good enough?

In 2012 I decided I wanted to do something special for my 30th birthday. I was lounging around on a beautiful summer day feeling guilty about not being outside (this is a common phenomenon in the Pacific Northwest) and thinking about what makes me happy. One answer was hiking, specifically climbing peaks. I had an idea. What if I climb 30 peaks by my 30th birthday? I immediately started planning. I looked at the calendar, I had a year and one month to complete my goal. I was already busy planning my wedding and honeymoon so I thought maybe I was taking on too big a task. I looked back through my hiking log (I keep a record of every hike I do in a spreadsheet, this very much satisfies my inner nerd) and I counted up the peaks I had climbed already. I had twelve, almost halfway to 30. I decided to build off the list of peaks I already climbed. That left 18 peaks to climb in a little over a year. I could do this.

Not only did I accomplish my goal, but I pushed myself to do things I had dreamed of doing but was too hesitant to initiate on my own. When a friend offered a permit to climb Mt Whitney with her. I said, um, which Mt Whitney, like the Mt Whitney? There was no way I could refuse. Then my husband suggested that we should climb Glacier Peak on my 30th birthday as the grand finale. I had never roped up for a climb before. I was pumped. This would be the perfect finale for my 30.

30 Peaks by 30:

1. Mt Pilchuck (5340′) North Cascades, WA, 8/29/07

2. Mt Si (3980′) Central Cascades, WA, 7/13/08

3. The Wedge & the Ramp (5240′) Chugach Mountains, AK, 8/3/08

4. Mt Forgotten (6005′) North Cascades, WA, 8/10/08

5. Granite Mountain (5629′) Central Cascades, WA, 9/26/09

6. Bald Mountain (4209′) North Cascades, WA, 10/3/09

7. Dog Mountain (2948′) Columbia River Gorge, WA, 5/30/10

8. Dirty Harry Peak (4650′) Central Cascades, WA, 6/13/10

9. Bandera Mountain (5200′) Central Cascades, WA, 7/10/10

10. Mt St Helens (8365′) South Cascades, WA, 8/28/11

11. Benchmark Mountain (5816′) North Cascades, WA, 9/3/11

12. Mt Defiance (5584′) Central Cascades, WA, 10/15/11

13. Mt Townsend (6280′) Olympic Mountains, WA, 7/14/12

14. Beckler Peak (5063′) North Cascades, WA, 7/21/12

15. Iron Peak (6510′) Teanaway, WA, 7/27/12

16. Rock Mountain (6852′) North Cascades, WA, 8/3/12

17. Stawamus Chief (2303′) Coast Mountains, BC, 8/23/12

18. Panorama Ridge Point (6700′) Coast Mountains, BC, 8/25/12

19. Mt Whitney (14,505′) Sierra Nevada, CA, 9/26/12

20. Hamilton Mountain (2438′) Columbia River Gorge, WA, 1/19/13

21. Mailbox Peak (4841′) Central Cascades, WA, 6/1/13

22. Mt Muller (3748′) Olympic Mountains, WA, 6/9/13

23. Navaho Peak (7162′) Teanaway, WA, 6/15/13

24. Thorp Mountain (5856′) Central Cascades, WA, 6/29/13

25. Silver Star Mountain (4380′) South Cascades, WA, 7/4/13

26. Mt Dickerman (5723′) North Cascades, WA, 7/27/13

27. Sourdough Mountain (5985′) North Cascades, WA, 7/28/13

28. Mt Ellinor (5944′) Olympic Mountains, WA, 8/3/13

29. Sauk Mountain (5537′) North Cascades, WA, 8/4/13

30. Glacier Peak (10,525′) North Cascades, WA, 8/11/13

I personally think of an adventurer as someone who sets a goal to do something they are passionate about and then pursues that goal. The goal could simply be to go for a walk around the neighborhood once a week or making a life list of wildflowers to find along the trail. It could be to bag the tallest peak in your state or to climb all the fourteeners in Colorado. It could be a mission that you will complete in one summer or in thirty years. If the quest feels like an adventure to you and you’ve gotten out of your comfort zone on your way to accomplishing it, then you are an adventurer in my book. As 2014 comes to a close, I encourage everyone to find their inner adventurer and make a goal in 2015 to get out and try something new.

The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau

If you read this book there is a really good chance that you will soon embark on an epic quest. This is a culmination of Chris’ inspiring vignettes of visiting every country on the planet, incredible stories of amazing people on their own missions and a how-to guide to planning and pursuing your own ultimate quest. This book inspired to make a ‘Life List’ and set new goals every year to continue to pursue a sense of accomplishment.

Halfway to Heaven by Mark Obmascik

I really love this book. I read it a month before I completed my 30 by 30 and it felt like I made a friend on a similar (and much more difficult) journey. Mark is no stranger to embarking on quests, he is the author of The Big Year about his competition with other birders to spy the most bird species in a year. He was forty-four, overweight and father of three when his son convinced him to climb a 14,000-foot peak for the first time. He struggled on the way to the top, but something about that climb launched Mark into his year long mission to summit all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains. Mark’s lighthearted and honest account of his quest is a fun and inspiring read. In the book he passed on a piece of advice that would become invaluable on my own journey: how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Read more about my quest on Chris Guillebeau’s website:
30 Peaks Before Age 30: Ashley Gossens’ Quest

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