August 26, 2026 -- Chilliwack Stats: 900m gain / 9.6 km / 2:20 hours MT I just had to get out and hike. With only 3 days left till my flight to Slovenia where I'll be trekking through the Julian Alps, I needed to keep training for it. The day before the air was heavy with smoke, the air quality index being a high 8. The forecast for this day was not much better so I cancelled the hike (just like last week). But come morning, the skies were clear. So I grabbed my backpack and

August 20, 2026 -- Mt. Baker Wilderness Stats: 18.5 km / 1385m gain / 1746m high / 5:40 hours MT / one way, done as a crossover Wow! I would say this is one of my favorite hikes. The far reaching views of so many familiar peaks were superb! After more than two weeks of forest fire haze, it was a real treat to have clear skies. About half an hour in we came to this water source but beyond that there weren't any. We hiked from west to east because the Excelsior Pass trail is n

August 18, 2026 -- Chilliwack Valley Stats: 10 km / 735m gain / 2084m high / 3:30 hours MT / 4WD You get a lot of bang for your buck on this hike. Open alpine views right from the get-go. I had cancelled the day prior because my other driver said it was too smokey to do it. It was but when I woke in the morning and saw the sky, thanks to the wind the smoke haze was down to a minimum. I was regretting having cancelled it. Four of us women had made other plans to do a forest h