Life Together

Austin and Ella. A couple in the Pacific Northwest who goes on adventures and takes photographs of their experiences.

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Back in August we took a last minute trip to Mount Rainier before all the hectic university life consumes our time. We decided to take a different angle this time around and go to the Mount Fremont Lookout Trail, which is near the Sunrise visitor center on the northeast side of the mountain.

Just like every other time we have been to Washington’s tallest mountain, we were not disappointed in the slightest. The scenery contrasted the southern end of the peak in that it was much more wide and open with far less greenery; but did not lack in the slightest when it came to the sheer magnitude of the views we were able to take in.

The winds were ferocious and almost lifted us off our feet as we scaled along the trail, making our way to the lookout destination. This added to the almost fantasy esque vibe of our journey; as it felt like we were actually battling to get there. The trail was treacherous at times, littered with loose rocks, but we held our footing.

Upon our arrival, we could do nothing but stare in awe at the view of nature’s gift before us. Mount Rainier is epic.

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Blanca Lake part 2

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Blanca Lake part 1

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Who could refuse an 8 mile hike with views like this at Bridal Veil Falls? We sure didn’t.

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How refreshing it is to swim in the cold waters in Washington when the sun has been shining for days. Don’t get us wrong, Austin and I love the sun--especially when we live in Washington where the weather is always gloomy. It is just nice to dip ourselves into the fresh blue water and sunbathe afterwards. 

Devil’s Punchbowl, Washington

31 Jul 2016

[austin-ella-blog]

The trail to Bearhead Mountain was difficult. We had to stop and catch our breaths most of the time, and as beginner hikers like ourselves, we couldn’t quite handle the length and the level of difficulty of this hike. The scenery, however, motivated us to keep on going--because we wanted more of it.

We got the place to ourselves. We found a spot where we could just enjoy the view of the majestic Mount Rainier, and ate our scumdiddlyumptious snacks.

Every step of the hike was worth it.

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Bearhead Mountain 1.1 from Ella Amanda Ares on Vimeo.

This our hike going to Bearhead Mountain.

music by: Jack Johnson, Do You Remember

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I made a video of our hike to Bearhead mountain. Pictures and a blog post will be up soon!

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There is so much beauty we have yet to uncover in Mount Rainier National Park.

Austin and I went to Mount Rainier a few weeks ago for the purpose of going to the Mount Fremont Lookout Trail. We ended up going to Paradise and taking the skyline trail because we got lost and we didn’t know how to get to Mount Fremont.

The day and hike itself was a blessing in disguise. The clouds covered everything up and it was snowing everywhere, but that made everything beautiful and mysterious. Before we had to leave, the clouds cleared up and Mount Rainier said “Hi.” It didn’t want us to leave without seeing it, and we didn’t want to leave without seeing it. 

Ah, good times.

[austin-ella-blog]

Austin and I love going on trips together. Whether it be the national parks and forests out there, or somewhere out of state, or even just the Fred Meyer right around the corner--as long as we have each other’s company, we are down for anything.

About a month ago, we decided to take our hiking desires seriously and actually start going on hikes on a weekly basis. It was a struggle at first to get ourselves out there and to actually know what we were doing, but it’s part of our learning experience and we love every minute of it.

We started out on Rattlesnake Ledge. It’s a relatively short hike that is about 4 miles roundtrip, and it’s an hour away from where I live. It was a bit of a challenging hike because Austin and I were out of shape and the trail was a bit steep in some areas. The view, however, was very rewarding and we just loved feeling like we were on top of the world.