outdoor azure

Get Movin' 2010

2010-07-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

We hope you all are having a wonderful summer and have signed up to participate in the 2010 Get Movin' program. It's a great way to keep track of your activities and there's great coupons that can be used as a reward for each week you are active!

Thanks to many generous sponsors ... there are some really cool things that are in the 2010 playbook:

Family Adventure Journal from REI, Alderwood
Free admission to an open or family swim at YMCA, Forest Park Swim Center or Mt. Lk. Terrace Pool
One free babysitting class from Stevens Hospital
A free bus ride with Community Transit or Everett Transit

Lime Kiln Trail | Robe Canyon

2010-03-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I never realized we (people living in and around Snohomish County) were so close to a wonderful hiking trail. Lime Kiln Trail is easy to get to and full of scenery. We brought along a friend, Mallorie age 8 and Chaun's parents. The weather decided to cooperate and besides a few drops and a little mud the trail was quite passable. As the trail meandered above the "Stilly", we had occasional great views of the river, sometimes calm and quiet, sometimes rushing and loud, awesome. About 2 miles in we came to the Lime Kiln itself. Some Boy Scouts were there and one of the adults told us how the miners would take the lime and put it down the top of the kiln, all the while two coal fireplaces were burning to heat up the lime so it would turn to liquid and run to the bottom of the kiln for retrieval. the lime was used to make concrete to construct and finish the railroad. We continued on to the trail end and saw the foundations for the old railroad bridge. The pictures at the trailhead show the bridge as it existed 80-90 years ago and we couldn't believe how high they had to build above the foundations. We had lunch at the rivers edge along with others who had made the trek. Everyone was ready to head back and since we loitered our way up the trail, made good time going back. As we were going back, we saw a group of kayakers going down the river. That put a wonderful exclamation point to the hike. I think this is a trail that everyone should visit and everyone can enjoy.

http://www.robecanyon.org/

Barclay Lake

2010-03-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

This was a wonderful hike to start out 2010. Not too hard, but will help to build up your stamina if you keep a good pace. The trail was well maintained, and since it was a relatively dry winter, the small creeks were easily passable. Great views of both mountains on the way up to the lake but the most breathtaking is getting to the lake and seeing the neck-bending view of the north face of Baring mountain shooting up into the sky. We had a nice light lunch before heading back to the trailhead. I liked seeing other families with their youngsters trekking through the woods. This is a great trail for younger hikers. Well, until next hike, see ya later.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/recreation/activities/trails/barclay_lake_area_winter.htm

Snoqualmie Pass Tubing

2010-03-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

Last month we ventured out to Snoqualmie Pass for a two hour session of tubing.
It has been a "New Year" tradition for us, and we love starting the year off with some excitement.

A two hour session is just enough time to get out and get in some good exercise. We packed a cooler with some goodies for after the session -- we were sure hungry!!

For more information - check out the Snoqualmie Summit website: http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/

Local Girl Wins Backpack in Get Movin' Drawing

2009-10-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/

Checkout this publication!!

Iron Goat Trail

2009-10-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we hiked a portion of the Iron Goat Trail which is located at Stevens Pass.

We took two cars and started at the Wellington trailhead & townsite and hiked down to the Iron Goat Interpretive Site.

It was an easy hike, that took just a couple hours, we walked pretty slow and enjoyed the sites and the scenery. The Windy Point crossover switchbacks were more challenging than the rest of the trail, but it was all downhill (700 foot elevation drop).

We walked through the all concrete snowshed, stopped at the disaster viewpoint, walked along a couple of backwalls for timber showsheds (even saw one that collapsed) walked around the old railway tunnel, and took a look at Hwy 2 from the Windy Point overlook.

visit the trail online at: http://www.irongoat.org/

our story ...

2009-10-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

As a family, we love to spend a lot of our time outdoors. Not only do we look for new and exciting adventures, there are few places that we go to often.

In the Summer of 2009, we joined the "Get Movin' " free summer program aimed at motivating families to Get Moving' and improve their health by adopting a more active, healthy lifestyle through physical and recreational activities.

We obligated ourselves to be active 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, all summer long!!!!! Each week, there was a reward offered from various organizations in Snohomish County, awards such as free admission to The Skate Deck, Rock Climbing, free Everett Transit bus pass, and many other things.

At the end of the summer, Becky entered the Get Movin' contest to win a prize, she wrote an essay that talked about her activities during the summer and how it changed her activity level.

Well ..... SHE WON!! Much to our surprize, Becky one one of the grand prizes!! She won the "Hiking Package", which included many many fun and exciting things. Not only did she receive an awesome backpack from REI, she also received a backpack loaded with books on day hikes in the Cascade Mountains, maps, a hydration back-pack, a rain jacket, a compass, an annual day parking pass, and some books on Smokey Bear all from the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Lynnwood Parks and Recreation!

We have built this blog to show everyone our many adventures and talk about our experiences.
We hope you enjoy and welcome your feedback, opinions and suggestions!