A new adventure!

Today I'm starting a new adventure.

I will turn 47 in a couple of weeks and I was trying to think of something big, something unforgettable to remember this year by. Something that I will look back upon and be proud. Let's see....what can it be? So, I started thinking of things I'd like to do.  I'd like to spend 47 days hanging out at the beach with my daughter...I'd like to take 47 road trips....I'd like to send 47 underpriviledged kids to college....I'd like to see my mom 47 times this year....I'd like to spend 47 days in Ireland. Yeah, I'd love to do all of those, but come on, be real Liz, none of those are going to happen this year.

It's got to be something that I can actually accomplish, but also something that will challenge me. Something that won't be easy, but something that won't be so hard that I quit. Something I have to work for, something that is attainable yet still be proud of myself when I'm done. Something I enjoy doing, that doesn't cost a lot of money, that I can do on my own, that I can drag Jack, my German Shepherd, along with me, that will be a challenge, that will be fun, that will be healthy, that will enable me to see new places, it's got to be something I already love to do....then it hits me...HIKING! I'll do 47 hikes in my 47th year!



Jack



So many hikes pop into my mind. I'm fortunate enough to be smack dab between the North Cascades and the Olympic Mountains. Hundreds and hundreds of hiking trails are right outside my back door.  The hardest part will be choosing which hikes to take.  Some will be easy while others will challenge the heck out of me. Some will be very close to home, others may be a couple hundred miles away, but all will be in the beautiful Pacific Northwest that I call home. Having grown up in the desert of southern California, the clean air, the deep, cold Puget Sound and the gigantic trees still amaze me. 

Being in the great Pacific Northwest, winters in the North Cascades are brutal. It's mid-August and many trails are still under many feet of snow. Who knows if they will even melt out this year. Snow can occur during any of the 12 months here, not to mention avalanches, bears, volcanos..... It's an amazingly beautiful place to live yet Mother Nature let's us know that she rules the roost. So, hiking season is short if you aren't inclined to take along snow shoes or crampons and an ice ax, therefore I'm getting an early start to get as many hikes in before winter strikes again.

There....I've done it. I have set a goal and said it out loud. That makes me accountable to you all.  I want to accomplish that goal while seeing some of the most amazing country on this Earth. I'll share my adventure through words and pictures. I invite you to come along with me; either in person or in spirit.  Come along with me on my journey. I'm going to have the time of my life and I hope that you will too.