JANUARY
I started my last quarter of college!
I did the No Pants Light Rail Ride for the 4th year in a row. I was apparently one of only a few people who had done it every year since it started in 2010 so they gave me a Starbucks gift card. Score.
I belatedly celebrated by 22nd birthday with a crew of awesome friends. There may have been a mechanical bull and dancing on a bar involved.
FEBRUARY
We celebrated my roommate Darcy's birthday by dressing up as superheroes.
MARCH
We celebrated my roommate Amy's birthday by being classy, because Amy is classy, unlike Darcy and I.
After 6 months of hard work, my amazing senior thesis group completed our report and presented our research to a nonprofit law firm. We researched juveniles in jail in Washington state and even got to tour multiple jail facilities and interview juvenile inmates. It was an incredible and fulfilling learning experience. If you're curious you can find our 40 page report here.
I earned my bachelor's degree (a quarter early)! I have to say, after 4 years of work, it was a little anticlimactic that this tiny box on my transcript was pretty much what I walked away with.
My talented friend Juliya took some awesome senior pictures of me.
My lovely roommates and I went to San Diego for our last spring break of college. It was a great way to celebrate being graduated, full of sun and sand and fun in the city.
APRIL
I started working full time at the cafe I worked at through college. It was a great way to ease the transition of graduating because I could stay in my house with all my friends while they finished up the school year while I figured out what to do next.
After 2 years in our house we finally realized that our roof was an excellent place to hang out.
We celebrated "Aprilween" at our favorite bar, because, you know, why not.
MAY
My mom's beautiful new home, San Juan Island, continued to be a place of refuge for me to escape to.
My dad's family completed the Pole Pedal Paddle race in Bend: downhill ski, cross country ski, bike, run, kayak, sprint! I did the 5 mile run and the sprint.
After a few months of stress and applying for jobs and having no idea what I was going to do after graduation, an intern position at Mount Rainier National Park fell into my lap. I had about two weeks from when I found out I was leaving to when I had to pack up and go. My college friends had a great going away party for me.
I packed up and moved out of the house I spent junior and senior year of college living in with my 4 best friends. Of course that was very sad, but it was a change that was going to happen to all of us soon, and we'll always treasure all of the fantastic memories we have in that house. I felt very thankful that I had something I was really excited about to move on to.
I hopped in my car on Memorial Day and drove 3 hours south to my new home at Mount Rainier! Yes, this was actually my house (shared with 2 awesome roommates). I lived in the small community of Longmire inside the park, which was home to offices, a hotel, visitor center, and housing for 50 or so employees. No cell service, internet only in one common lounge, and thus an incredibly social place to live - as my boss described it, "summer camp for adults".
For the first two weeks I walked from my house, across this bridge, to training each morning. My first taste of living in paradise.
Staff photo of the interpretation division! It goes without saying, but of course working at Mount Rainier was infinitely more special to me because my mom worked there from when I was 10 until when I was 21. Working in a park, especially one where both my parents had worked, gave me a whole new understanding of them as people and what they do for a living. I certainly had big boots to fill though!
JUNE
I started work at the Paradise visitor center, seen here in June with lots of snow still on the ground.
Most of my job was answering questions at this information desk, but I also developed a few guided walks and talks and got to roam the trails as well.
When the snow finally melted this waterfall was the destination of my guided wildflower walk.
There was a lot of this.
Of course the park is full of amazing places to go so we quickly started exploring every chance we got. The first major hike was up to Camp Muir, the high camp on our side of the mountain, with my roommate Marissa and boyfriend Brad. 5 miles and 5,000 feet of uphill get you to...
Camp Muir! At 10,000 feet, there is a ranger station, 2 shelters where climbers stay, and some lovely bathrooms. Such a cool place, and of course the real appeal is the view you get looking the other direction.
I went back to Seattle for my college graduation! I had 3 ceremonies: my major (Law, Societies, and Justice), the honors program, and the big ceremony for the whole university. My major was small enough that we each got to speak at our departmental graduation, which was really special.
My senior thesis group with our department chair/advisor/overall hero. Forming such a close bond with this group of people and having such a hands-on, meaningful, independent learning experience together was by far one of the highlights of my college experience.
My family who came for all the festivities! From left, my uncle, my aunt, my dad, my mom, and my stepmom. This was extra special because I'm pretty sure this is the first picture I have of my mom and dad and I since I was about 4.
Getting my honor cords (one for college and departmental honors, and one for graduating cum laude) at the honors program graduation.
Looking like a real college grad! Still can't believe it.
The big university graduation ceremony (about 10,000 students) at the football stadium in downtown Seattle. It was hot and our commencement speaker was awful, but still so fun to be with all my friends in our caps and gowns.
My friend Lauren and I, diplomas in hand!
The next weekend I went back to Seattle again to run the Rock and Roll half marathon with my mom! This was my second half marathon and the first one I've done with my mom. We look pretty good for running 13 miles, I have to say.
June closed with another trip up to Camp Muir. One of my favorite pictures of the year.
The view from 10,000 feet could not be more breathtaking - looking down the Muir snowfield at Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens here. Sitting on top of the rocks by myself taking in the view was one of those moments I'll never forgot. Thinking about it still makes me feel so grateful that I got to spend 5 months living and working in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Picture is worth a thousand words.
It was warm enough that Brad and I camped that night in a secret rangers-only spot on top of a rocky outcropping near Camp Muir. The COOLEST camp spot ever.
The only downside of this trip was that I had to hike down in time for work the next morning. Good thing the very dignified climbing technique of glissading (sliding down snow on your butt) is fast! Can't really complain about this morning commute.
JULY
A lot of park people celebrated the 4th of July watching fireworks in the closest real town of about 8,000 people, about 45 minutes outside the park.
Mount Fremont, the first of four fire lookouts in the park. One of the coolest perks of working for the park is that rangers can stay in the fire lookouts if they agree to bring a radio and carry in anything that needs to be carried. Visiting all 4 of these was by far one of the highlights of the summer. We went on the night of July 4th hoping that it would be clear so we could see the fireworks in Tacoma/Seattle, but the clouds came in as the sun set. We packed 5 people into the lookout and had a great night anyway.
Starting up Mount Hood (the tallest mountain in Oregon at 11,250'), my very first real mountain climb! We woke up at 3 in the morning, my first brutal experience of an "alpine start", and started up the mountain. The cruel thing about this climb is that you're hiking under the chair lift for the first two hours.
After a few hours we got to this spot near the top. The normal route would be up the ridge on the right, but it was late enough in the summer that the huge crack ("bergschrund") near the top had opened up and become impassable. Instead we had to traverse all the way over to the left and go up a slope that was much steeper than what would have been required on the normal route. It was steep enough to be absolutely nerve wracking for a rookie climber like me, but luckily I was in great company with Brad and Ryan, both very experienced mountaineers who took good care of me and made sure I felt safe.
After a terrifying traverse over to the summit (and only a few tears which the boys graciously pretended not to notice), we made it! I learned that summits of mountains don't look like much, really just small snowy flat areas, but of course the views were breathtaking. After one climb I could see why people get hooked on this - the adrenaline, the exertion, and the satisfaction of making it. We descended quickly, sliding on our butts when we could of course, and promptly had the best pizza and beer of my entire life.
Summer finally arrived at Mount Rainier! The snow was melted, the wildflowers were beginning to bloom, and I was beginning to see why the park is so famous for its fleeting summer beauty.
One of my favorite mountain and flower shots (trust me, out of hundreds) - avalanche lilies blooming early in the summer at Paradise.
Then the time came for another mountain climb: this time, Mount Adams, the second tallest mountain in Washington at 12,280' and the tallest mountain I've climbed thusfar. (Mount Rainier, the tallest in the NW at 14,410') itself is a much more technical climb that I wasn't experienced enough to do last summer, but I am confident I'll make it up there someday!) This climb took 2 days, so we had to carry much heavier overnight backpacks. The first day was a long slog up trails and then snow to camp at about 9,500'.
We set up camp and enjoyed one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen, here over Mount St. Helens. A very fun night at camp with the great company of my friends Brad, Devlin, and Davis.
The next morning we woke up at 5 and started up the long, steep, snowy slope to the summit. This climb was so fun because it wasn't technical at all (not on a glacier so no ropes needed) and it was hard but not TOO hard. After a few hours of slogging we were on the summit! Again, amazing views, so fun.
Of course I had to get my classic summit ice axe pose picture. Pretty proud of myself for keeping up with the boys on all these trips and for conquering two big mountains with next to no climbing experience!
As great as the climb and the summit were, by far the best part of Mount Adams was the descent. It's known for having some of the longest glissade chutes in the world. It's so steep and the chutes are carved in by hundreds of butts, so when you sit down the walls are a few feet high on either side of you. It was so fast I got out of control and had to brake a lot with my ice axe. You can glissade about 2,500' in one go - Devlin timed it and it was 9 straight minutes of hurtling down the hill on your butt. Such a rush!
We finished up a month of jam-packed adventures by visiting the second fire lookout of the summer, Shriner Peak. Brad and I hiked up after I got off work so we did the last half hour or so in the dark with headlamps. Then he had to work the next morning so he left around 5:30 but I got to stay and sleep in, enjoy the sunrise by myself, and lounge in the peace and quiet at the top of the peak. All the fire lookouts have log books where most of the rangers who visit write entries about their stay, so those are really fun to read and write in. I headed down the hill by myself, which was a longer steep hike down, and of course twisted my ankle on a rock about a quarter of the way down. I was just barely able to hobble down, limping and using my trekking poles as crutches - not a very fun situation to be in alone. After that my ankle seemed fine and I hiked on it the rest of the summer but I discovered in October that I actually sprained it that day. I secretly feel proud of surviving that ordeal on a sprained ankle alone and not even knowing it.
AUGUST
NOVEMBER
My mom came to visit! It was so fun for her to see me working at a place where she had worked for so long. She came on my wildflower walk (nerve-wracking because she's been critiquing those for a living for 20 years) and then we did some hiking.
Wildflowers in full bloom - it was so hard to choose the best picture because I have so many that are spectacular. Photos just can't do justice the scale and vibrance of that place.
My dad, stepmom, and our family friend stopped by for a night as they were passing through on a college road trip. They came on my wildflower walk as well.
For one glorious day, I got to hike around for the entire day for work. This was another of those moments I'll remember as the happiest of my summer. It was a cloudy day in the middle of the week so there were barely any people on the trail once I got back a few miles, and I got to explore some less popular but amazing places in the park I hadn't been to yet - Van Trump Park and Mildred Point. It was satisfying to feel so strong hiking for miles, and invigorating to enjoy the peace and quiet surrounded by flowers and mountains while hiking alone for one of the only times that summer. And to do it all in a uniform, representing an organization I so deeply believe in, that is at the core of my family, my upbringing, and who I am. It felt like I was exactly where I ought to be.
Comet Falls, the largest waterfall in the park and the main attraction on my rove day.
En route to the third fire lookout (perched on the cliff above the lake on the left), Tolmie Peak. This was my favorite fire lookout because its location above this serene blue lake was just amazing.
When Brad and I got to the lookout it was pretty cloudy, and there were also tons of people around, which was quite awkward since you have no privacy in the lookout and you feel kind of like an animal at a zoo if you're in there and people are peering in at you. I always liked explaining to people that we work in the park and telling them about the fire lookouts, but when it went on for hours it got pretty old. Finally around 6 or 7 all the people cleared out, and just like that, the clouds lifted and we were rewarded with our very own private crystal clear view of the mountain. We had carried up about 4 beers and a bottle of wine, just because if you don't have to carry a tent and stove you might as well, right... so we enjoyed a great night with our sudden clear view.
Possibly my favorite picture I took all summer. Stunning.
The clouds sunk in around the sunset so it felt like we were on top of the clouds. Fire lookout living was so, so fun.
All too soon, going away parties began happening as people left here and there. This was the particularly rowdy going away party for my roommate Marissa - our coworker Davis had a zipline at his family's cabin!
We finally got to the fourth and final fire lookout, Gobbler's Knob. This was my least favorite, probably because of a combination of muggy weather, too many mosquitos, a long boring hike, knee pain, and having been spoiled by all the other fire lookouts over the course of the summer. Still great views, great night sky, great sunset and sunrise - the usual!
SEPTEMBER
I finally got the reflection on Reflection Lake!
My friend Lauren came for a much-too-short visit. She was
really the only college friend that came to visit me during the summer so it
was really fun to have someone from my old life see what my new life was like.
We had great weather and enjoyed a fun scenic hike before heading to Seattle.
My dad came to visit as well. We had quite the adventure – I
reserved a fire lookout for us to go stay in because I thought that would be
really fun for him, especially because he worked on the east side of the park
for a summer in the 80s but never got to stay in a fire lookout because they
were still being used at that time. We went after I got off work so the sun was
setting as we started down the trail to Mount Fremont. It wasn’t very far, only
3 miles, and I had been there before so we weren’t worried about hiking out in
the dark. We had an absolutely clear perfect night so we never even took our
headlamps out and hiked the whole way lit by the full moon and the stars –
another incredible moment I’ll never forget. When we began to catch glimpses of
the fire lookout in the distance I noticed with a sinking feeling in my stomach
that it looked like there was a light on in there. What do you know, when we
got to the lookout there were candles lit and a backcountry ranger inside. I
explained that I work in the park and had reserved the lookout but she was very
rude and said I must have gotten the date wrong because it wasn’t reserved that
night. She barely even invited us inside and it was clear that we were not
welcome to stay so, assuming it was my fault and I had ruined this once in a
lifetime experience with my dad, we hiked all the way back to the car. Luckily
my dad had driven the RV so we just stayed there and did a little day hike the
next day. On our way back to my house we stopped at the ranger station where my
dad had worked. We chatted for a while with the ranger there, whose boss it
turned out my dad had hired way back in the day. Our saga from the night before
came up in conversation and he insisted on checking the book to see what had
happened to my reservation. Turns out the rude ranger in the lookout was wrong
and I DID have it reserved after all – she either didn’t check or looked at the
wrong date. It also turned out the ranger we were chatting with was her
supervisor. Sweet justice, but I still wish we had just been able to stay in
the fire lookout as planned!
I went up to Camp Muir one last time in NASTY weather. Brad
was up there for his last shift at the high camp so I hiked up alone for the
first time. This was a very satisfying experience because it really showed me
how much I had learned over the course of the summer – making it up there by
myself is something I never could have done before, but by the end of the
summer I felt totally comfortable. It was raining/snowing and very windy, so
when I got up onto the snowfield there was next to no visibility and there was
no way you’d be able to find your way up to camp without a GPS unit. I had
borrowed one from Brad and knew how to use it so I trudged on up, a little
nervous but also enjoying the adventure. At one point I passed a group of about
8 guys all in camo with big climbing backpacks, clearly military guys. They
said they had just decided to turn around and asked if I was going to keep
going. I replied that I had a GPS and a radio so yes, I felt perfectly
comfortable continuing, and they said they had GPS and radios too. As I passed
the last one he said under his breath, “you’re way tougher than us!” So that
was very satisfying. I kept trudging up the snow, checking that I was on course
on the GPS periodically, and after about 4 hours I made it to camp, a little
cold and wind-beaten but proud of myself!
The inside of the ranger hut at Camp Muir. Brad and two of
his coworkers were there so it was a tight fit, but with such bad weather
conditions they couldn’t do much work so we had a great night of good food and
drinking all the remaining whiskey in the hut. Any remaining food and drinks
had to get carried down in our backpacks at the end of the shift and we did NOT
want that, of course! A word of advice: be careful with alcohol and altitude,
it’s pretty crazy what a difference thousands of feet can make. I was going to
stay another night but we ended up heading down the next day because the storm
was only getting worse. Brad had flown way too much food up at the beginning of
the summer so we had to carry at least 50 pounds, if not more, of his leftover
food down between us. It was quite the adventure hiking down in a whiteout with
heavy packs, way windier and snowier and more miserable than when I came up,
but it certainly made for a good story when we got back home.
OCTOBER
The government shutdown abruptly and awkwardly cut my season short by two weeks – it was a very weird way to end the summer. Seen here is the one bar near the park on October 1, packed with park employees, when all the rangers confirmed that the park was closed and we were off work for the indeterminate future. It was pretty funny to be part of that experience.
My last day at Rainier, on a walk along the river by my house. Of course it was extremely sad to have such a great experience come to an end, but I’ve had that feeling before and tried to remember that if you’re heartbroken when something is over, that means you should be thankful that you had an experience that you so enjoyed. I couldn’t have asked for more from the summer – it was the absolute perfect way to spend my first few months out of college, and I feel confident that there will be more experiences like that in my future. (Hint: I’ve applied for about 50 national park jobs for next summer already!)
My next step was to drive all my stuff to my mom’s house for storage, so I stopped over in Seattle for a night to see my best friends Darcy and Amy. Darcy moved to Australia in October so this was the last time I saw her before she left. It was really special to get to spend some time with old friends after only being around new friends all summer, but of course sad to bid farewell to someone so important to me not knowing when I’d see her again. Conclusion: graduating from college is weird.
Then the time came to decide what to do next. I knew that I was going on trips with my parents shortly after the holidays so I had a few months to kill. I also figured there was no point in trying to get a “real” job knowing that I’d be quitting after a few months, so that left me with the plan of trying to find a random café job or something to make some money in the meantime. I could live with my mom or dad while I did that, or I could go to North Carolina and live with Brad, so why not live on the other side of the country for a while? We drove across the country in 4 brutal days.
In a lovely coincidence, all my aunts and cousins on my mom’s side were gathering for a long weekend on the beach in South Carolina. I hadn’t thought I would be able to go since if the government shutdown hadn’t happened I would still be working, but now I found myself only a 5-hour drive away. So I rented a car and headed to the beach to spend some time with family I never get to see!
Brad and I spent the remainder of October enjoying not having to work, hiking and exploring the area, and watching too much Netflix. Here we’re on top of John Rock with a view of Looking Glass Rock, one of the main attractions in the area. The fall colors were great but I couldn’t help feeling underwhelmed by the “mountains” here – I’ve realized I’m a NW girl through and through! One other perk of being in North Carolina is that one of my best friends, Dahlia, lives 2 hours away and we never get to see each other so having her nearby, relatively speaking, has been quite the treat.
Brad is big into rock climbing so we went for my first time
ever outside. It was really fun, I love it!
NOVEMBER
A few weeks of unemployment were nice but of course we eventually got bored (and broke) so I found a job at Starbucks in the grocery store about 10 minutes away. Not my long-term career dream job, of course, but a perfectly fine way to make some money and fill my time for a few months.
Some more outdoor exploring – I was happy to check Great
Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway off my list.
Unfortunately we had bad weather and it’s just not as pretty here in the
winter, but I was still glad to see some more of the area.
DECEMBER
A very fun day of rock climbing with Brad, Dahlia, and Steve near Charlotte.
I got to go home for Christmas! I can’t even say how good it was to be back in the Northwest after being in the South for 2 months with barely any friends and a little too much culture shock. I flew to Portland, spent a night at my stepbrother’s house, then took a bus to central Oregon where my dad lives and spent a week there. I got to spend a lot of time with my dad, stepmom, stepbrother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew, which was great. This picture is my dad dressed as Santa – every year he brings books on Christmas Eve. My niece is too smart though, she’s only 6 and this year she figured out that Santa was really her grandpa!
Then I flew up to Seattle on Christmas night and had a great dinner and second holiday celebration at my uncle’s house. From there my mom and I drove back up to her house on San Juan Island. Always a gorgeous ferry ride.
On December 28th I turned 23! I had a very relaxing birthday, complete with hot stone massages with my mom, a long walk with the dog by the water, reading, coffee, and a gorgeous sunset. It was too good to be home.
I flew back to North Carolina for New Years Eve, which of
course had to be celebrated Southern style with homemade moonshine.
Quite a year, certainly full of changes and highs and lows
but overall I feel very grateful for all the new things I’ve gotten to do this
year, places I’ve gotten to see, and people I’ve met. 2014 is starting off on a
great foot with a move back to Washington, a trip to Hawaii with my mom, and a
trip to Chile with my dad. Can’t wait to see where the rest of the year takes
me! Until next time.
