We have been in Washington for two weeks now and have been outdoors the majority of it. The natural beauty in this world is too good to pass up. So we hiked, fished, got lost biking, met some awesome explorers. found a local weekly pick up game, and heard some great stories along the way. Everyone in north central Washington seems so happy. Anyone we came in contact with up here always brought up the fact that this was such a beautiful place to live. They seemed grateful every day for the beauty that surrounded them. We talked to one guy who works in Antarctica for 6 months every year. It was another inspirational story of how he read a book on how to live in Antarctica, went and started as a Janitor, then worked his way up to managing the equipment for the Scientist. We met another girl who did work away programs in Australia and the US for over a year. It seemed that everyone we met was moved by something, whether that was the natural beauty of the valley or whether that was following their dream to step outside the normal 8-5 corporate life. It was nice and refreshing.

We also did a lot of biking and hiking. We went on a 12 mile loop and didn’t take a map or much of anything really. We got lost along the way, and while we were lost my back brake came completely off so going downhill was pretty slow going. We had to find our way down the mountain which involved a lot of wrong turns and going the wrong way. We then got into cell service area to finally be picked up. After biking up around 1600 ft and getting lost for the majority of the day a nice soft chair, chapstick, and cold water felt amazing. I think if we pushed ourselves to the limit more often we wouldn’t take for granted the simple things in life. Safe to say our next mountain biking trek was more planned out and we carried a map.

Tomorrow we head to Seattle, then to Portland, and then down the coast of California. Our time in Twisp has been great and I will definitely miss falling asleep to the sound of the river. If anyone is ever looking for a trip up north message us for some trail, work away, hostel, or bike/hike to cabin recommendations. It’s a great little town filled with crisp smells, clear rivers, big trees, hundreds of trails, and enthusiastic people.

This last picture was taken a few miles up the road from the cabin. It is where Little Bridge creek goes into the Twisp river. The quick increase in temperature this spring has melted the snow quicker on the mountains than it normally does. The brown coloring is due to the disruption of the soil due to the higher pace of the stream and river. The coming together of both river and stream was pretty cool to see.

– W