When I started this blog, I was a big city kid turned fake outdoorsman. This was more fun than writing my reports in Microsoft Word. Directed at the everyday hiker (and now the everyday climber), I’m hoping this will become both a reliable resource for those in the Pacific Northwest as well as a source of entertainment and inspiration for anyone who can relate to the ins and outs of hiking, trail running, and climbing. Or anyone who likes to look at pretty pictures and live vicariously. Or for myself, when it’s February.* When I haven’t seen the sun in four months. When I’m debating spending a paycheck on a happy lamp. When I need to remind myself how great Washington can be, even if it’s only for three months of the year.
Why the name? My friend and I were carrying our tent down a gravel road to a new campsite back in Glacier National Park on our road trip to Seattle. Too lazy to take it down and set it up all over again, we just took all of our stuff out, picked it up, and started walking. Someone saw us, and shouted “Have tent, will travel?!” and I realized that’s a surprisingly accurate theme.
I’m Eve, and I just moved to Seattle from Chicago about two months ago (just kidding, almost three years in Seattle now!). Those of you who know me know how I battled wanderlust on a daily basis in Chicago. I finally came out here for the backpacking and trail running, and so far, it’s been way exceeding expectations. In Chicago, you drive for 60 minutes and you’re in corn (or Lake Michigan). Here, you drive for 60 minutes, and you’re in mountains. I road tripped out here, stopping in a few national parks (which was the best? Glacier, by far) to camp and hike along the way. I was lucky enough to get to summit Rainier my first month here, which I thought would quench the thirst for a bit. Turns out that’s not possible, so here I am in my apartment typing this up and planning my next trail run/camping trip, which is probably what I do with 75% of my waking hours (when I’m not hiking). The other 25% is spent eating.
As far as trail running goes, I’m not very fast. Or serious. Really it’s just an expedited hike, an excuse to see 15 miles of scenery in the time it’d take to hike 7 miles. Eventually, I’d like to post elevation profiles of every hike and run I do, but that requires a GPS watch with an altimeter first (Garmin Fenix anyone?). Coming from the flatlands of the midwest, my uphills are pathetic at best. I get lost frequently and trip on just about every run, with varying consequences.Ā Backpacking is easier since it’s slower and I usually have company to find the trail instead of blindly running past whatever turn I was supposed to take. But if you’re up to see some great pictures and find some sweet hikes and trail runs, keep checking back, because they’ll be here as soon as I find them myself.
Recommendations for hikes, trail runs, gear, camping spots, and races are always encouraged!
*It’s February 24th, and I haven’t seen rain, and I haven’t lost a paycheck to happy lamps, and Washington is still great. What is this?
**Now it’s 2017, and I haven’t updated this section since February 2015. So just think to yourself – this big city flatlander moved here in 2014 and now is moonlighting as a dirtbag while working a desk job by day. Anything can happen in two years.
Have Tent, Will Travel 
Love your blog! I am also a WA transplant, and love hiking, backpacking, and just started trail running. I love the infinite opportunities the PNW offers for adventurers such as you and I. I will definitely use your blog as a resource to finding new areas to explore. Thanks for following my page as well, and I hope you find it useful as well.
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Thanks for following š Funny story with how you came up with your blog name…we have moved our tent like that once too hehe but all we got was smiles from other campers š We personally hate taking the tent down and packing. We are from Midwest too, from Ann Arbor, MI to be exact. We moved to WA about 1.5 years ago and love it here. We decided to move here for good after our Pacific Northwest road trip few years back. Many things changed since that trip, but our passion for outdoors and mountains still remains strong. Just like you we wanted to be closer to the mountains. Great Lakes are fun, but Michigan is missing the mountains with options to run, hike, snowboard. I noticed your last name, do you have any Polish roots? We are originally from Poland. We are runners too, mostly road, but trail running is really what we want to pursue in the future. Hope to see you on the trail one day, backpacking or running š
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Awesome blog! Let’s run some time!
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Glad I found your blog. Keep on sharing!
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Love your blog! Randomly stumbled upon it while reading a review you left on WTA’s website in regards to The Enchantments.
I am also Polish and named EVE! ha. I was so excited when I noticed that similarity!!!!
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Serendipitously came across your blog today – so glad I did. I just moved from Colorado a month ago (originally from Minnesota). Have really been missing the Rockies, but after a few weekend excursions out here (and after seeing all of your adventures), I know I’ll be just fine.
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Hey just curious: what camera to do you use? I am in the market for a new one and since my weekends are similar to yours, thought you’d have a good recommendation. Thanks!
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Hey I’m curious about what camera you use? I’m in the market for a new one and my weekend activities are similar to yours, so wondering if you had any recommendations.
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I have an ancient sony cybershot DSC-W830! It’s just a small point n shoot but it has great white balance on snowy trips (except for panos) and I’m convinced it’s indestructible. I’ve had two and both have been wet, frozen, dropped off cliffs (one fell >100ft and bounced the whole way!) dropped in mud, left lying on ice overnight… that’s why I keep getting them. There are higher quality ones out there but for price & durability I like this one š
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Hi Eve!
I see that you hiked from Stehekin to Holden Village over Tenmile Pass last year. Wondering how long that took. Considering doing it later this month.
Thanks
Gary
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We took 5 days but because of climbing peaks in the area. If just a through hike, I think 3 would be enjoyable with camps at bird creek and then tenmile pass. Hopefully not too many blowdowns! Tenmile Pass to Holden took 5hrs, but we made good time climbing over a crazy number of logs. If blowdowns are still an issue (and I think they are, sounds like tenmile pass to tenmile falls is not maintained) I’d budget more time.
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