One dog. Endless mountains. Every ridge walked, every creek crossed, every summit wind caught full in the face.
45
Adventures
33
Hikes
0
Trips
926
Miles
252k
Feet Climbed
Nova is a golden retriever who lives for the mountains. The cold air off a snowfield, the sound of meltwater in a basin, the scent of subalpine fir after rain — these are the things that make her come alive. The Cascades are her home range and she moves through them like she belongs there, because she does.
This site exists to document that life — every summit, every ridge, every valley — and to share the places that are worth the effort to reach.
A December push into Avalanche Basin below Mount Constance — rainforest waterfalls, a turquoise alpine lake, dark talus fields in the fog, and 5,900 feet of climbing through the wettest mountains in Washington.
Seven miles of bushwhacking along Kachess Lake's wild northern shore — scrambling through blowdown, navigating creek crossings, and watching Nova swim in turquoise water under clearing October skies.
Three days on the Boundary Trail through the Pasayten Wilderness — from golden larch ridges at 8,350 feet to a historic tungsten mine buried under the first snow of winter. Forty-one miles with a hailstorm, bear tracks, and a cabin full of names.
An overnight splitboard mission to the historic Hidden Lakes Lookout — skinning through a whiteout, sleeping in a fire lookout at 6,890 feet, then waking to the most perfect sunrise in the North Cascades.
A bluebird morning on Lichtenberg Mountain — skinning up the south ridge and dropping the SE Couloir with 2,100 feet of steep turns back to the highway.
A moody early-season splitboard tour up the west shoulder of Cashmere Mountain — overcast skies, a rainbow, hurricane-force gusts, and a burn zone skin track through standing ghosts.