enchantments

We spent a long-awaited, much anticipated 5 day backpacking trip through the Enchantments located in the Alpine Wilderness of the Central Cascades outside of Leavenworth, WA. We were granted a Snow Zone permit through the Enchantments lottery system and although it wasn’t a coveted Core Zone permit, we made the most of it. After a 2.5 hr drive from Seattle, we left the Snow Lakes trailhead around 7:45am and started the long hike up, stopping at Nada Lake for lunch and eventually reached Upper Snow Lake in the late afternoon where we found the perfect campsite. With sore legs and hips, and tired feet from roughly 7 miles and 4,000 ft of elevation gain, we immediately dove into the cool lake giving our legs a much needed ice bath. The water was cold but swimmable, and felt glorious. After a surprisingly tasty freeze-dried dinner (Backpacker’s Pantry Pad Thai and Cuban Coconut Beans and Rice were the clear winners of the trip), we tied up our food in the trees and headed to our tents to escape the mosquitos for the night. The next day we are were all grateful for how great we felt after our ice baths in the lake the evening before. We hit the trail again, and headed straight up into the Core Zone. It was supposedly about 2 miles with 2,000 ft of elevation gain, but it felt like so much more. Following the sounds of the rushing creek, through the woods, and scrambling up and across granite fields, McClellon Peak and the Temple came into view and after traversing more massive slabs of granite, we finally rounded the bend to see the magnificent Lake Viviane before us. Being first timers in the Enchantments, there is nothing like that first view of the lake - it was breathtaking. After getting our bearings and giggling with excitement, we followed the cairns and continued up more granite walls and through larch trees to Leprechaun Lake. From the shores of the turquoise waters you can see McClellon Peak, Prusik Peak and Enchantment Peak. We continued through Narnia-level beauty, past waterfalls and mountain goats, around Sprite Lake, until we reached Perfection Lake. We ate lunch and soaked our feet in the lake with views of Little Annapurna. It was magical. We finally turned around, making the trek back across the Core, past more creeks and waterfalls and wildflowers and mountain goats, and started the grueling hike back down through granite fields to our campsite. The descent was steep and technical in places so by the time we finally reached camp, my knees were swollen and my feet felt like steak tartare. Cue the magical healing properties of our Snow Lake ice bath! We spent the next 2 days soaking in the sun and the views, relaxing and swimming in the lake. Tom and Andrew decided to make a raft from logs and driftwood they gathered in the lake, tied it all together with parachute cord, and by the second day Tom added a spinnaker made from our tent tarp and the “YaYa Ding Dong” vessel was ready for its maiden voyage. Devan and I took the trail out of camp and swam out to the little island at the lower end of the lake to watch them round the point on the raft. Unfortunately they didn’t quite make it that far as the YaYa Ding Ding started to come apart and sadly met its demise shortly before reaching the point. I swam back to camp and we all laughed and enjoyed our last evening in the most beautiful campsite I’ve ever experienced. On our final day, we woke up at 5am and sipped coffee while watching the sunrise, illuminating McClellon Peak and turning it shades of deep purple to fiery red. Luckily we missed the baby cub that was apparently spotted at a neighboring campsite that same morning. We made good time the first few miles out, mostly in the shade and without stopping. The constant downhill started taking its toll on my knees but with the parking lot finally in sight and only 19 switchbacks to go, I put myself into a low gear, one step at a time until we reached Icicle Creek marking the end of the hike. Like my son’s Kindergarten Teacher Mr. Star says to Leo, “you can do hard things”. I needed that reminder. It was an epic trip that I couldn’t even consider before my partial knee replacement/fulkerson osteotomy so I’m especially grateful that I was able to experience the magic that is the Enchantments. After 25 miles of hiking and more elevation than I thought possible, my knees are still swollen, my calves are still tight, and I have lingering traces of over 100 mosquito bites, but you better believe I’ll try again for that Core Zone permit next year.

seattle murals

With masks on, we took the boys out to explore all of the beautiful murals painted around Capitol Hill and Pioneer Square in Seattle.

twilight swim

It was another hot night so instead of fighting bedtime, we threw on our suits and went for a twilight swim.

doe bay fest 9

Another summer, another Doe Bay Fest in the books. This year presented not only the challenges of a wild toddler, but my own physical limitations after having major knee surgery just 8 weeks earlier. We've been coming to Doe Bay since Viggo was a baby, twice I'e come pregnant, and even though this year was the hardest, it was worth it. There was tons of walking on uneven dirt paths, rocky beaches, and hills that felt like mountains, but I managed to walk steady and avoid falling. I may have missed the late night yoga studio sessions and the midnight shows under the big tree, and just bending my knee enough to fit inside the porta potty was comical, but the beach, the music, the friends, and the wild kids that make up our Doe Bay family made it all worth it.

another summer, another doe bay fest | orcas island, wa

If you've talked to me anytime in the last six months, chances are I've mentioned Doe Bay. We make the trek up to Orcas Island every winter and then wait patiently to return in August for the Doe Bay Music Festival. We take the foot ferry and camp with several families and our gaggle of kids, and have even met some pretty amazing new friends along the way. And that's the thing about Doe Bay - by the end of the long weekend strangers aren't really strangers anymore. Faces become more familiar and all those strangers become your extended Doe Bay family. The music is always great, that's a given, but it's a lot more than just the music. When you create a community of creative people in one of the most beautiful places in the world, magic happens. It's the side conversations while looking for crabs on the beach, morning swims in the Puget Sound and soaks in the tubs, secret shows in the woods at midnight, lazy afternoons sipping margaritas on the beach while watching your favorite musicians play what seems like a private show just for you, the smell of salt water and popcorn as the sun sets, a glimpse of a family of deers walking past your tent, seeing Joe waiting on the beach to greet your water taxi as it comes ashore, sweaty nights rocking out in yoga studio feeling the floor vibrate beneath your feet, kids running around yelling and laughing and waving their glow sticks while bands play the main stage, raw oysters and hula hoops, dancing at twilight, meals of mouth watering food from the cafe with friends, moms wearing their babies and bigger kids wearing headphones sitting on their parents shoulders while they bob their heads to the beat and wave their hands in the air, afternoon naps on the beach, the daily morning brass band processional through camp while you sip your coffee, and so much more. 

And for me, the best part is how inclusive the festival is of all of the kids. Like Joe says, "Doe Bay Fest is a music festival primarily for kids. Adults are allowed too, especially when accompanied by kids". We are fortunate to be able to participate in this community of magic makers that come together every summer and that our friends and family get to be a part of it. I'm already looking forward to next summer where we get to do it all over again.