July was a packed month of weekend trips and new adventures, which included starting a new job at Mt. Hood Community College. With so much going on over the weekends I fell very far behind with blog updates. Hopefully you can forgive me!

In July, Lindsay and I traveled to Montana to visit friends at Flathead Lake and explore Glacier for a few days, we competed in our first Olympic duathlon (5k run, 40 k bike, 10 k run), visited with cousins in Seattle, backpacked to Jefferson Park in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, and made the 10 hour round trip drive to Leavenworth to thru hike the Enchantments with my brother and cousin. Phew. I'm exhausted just typing this! Hopefully you understand now why I fell a little behind.

Lindsay and I had wanted to backpack in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness ever since our second backpacking trip brought us to Pamelia Lake, a beautiful lake right off the Pacific Crest Trail that boasts old growth forests and views of Mt. Jefferson. Jefferson Park is a large flat alpine wonderland dotted with a handful of lakes on the north side of Mt. Jefferson. Wildflowers paint the meadows in July and August. The price to pay for such beauty? Blood thirsty mosquitoes.