I just wanted to share my recent accomplishment, even though it isn't remotely fashion-related. Last weekend, one of my colleagues took me on a really cool hike in the Cascade mountains. Now, I haven't been hiking in a long time, and in fact I haven't even been up on my workout regimen lately due to some health issues. Plus, my feet and hiking boots do not always get along. So I was not only proud for getting through the hike, but for climbing a pretty steep path to the summit, which I'll show you here.

#1 - See that ridge waaaay, way up at the top that's kind of in the clouds? That's where our end goal was.
#2 - We've had an unusually cold summer, so there was a surprising amount of snow on the trail compared to what you'd usually see in August.
#3 - There's a very steep, narrow path along loose rock as you make your way up to the summit. (What you see here, by the way, is only the "false" summit - the actual ridge that we hiked up to is quite a big higher.)
#4 - Hooray!
#5 and 6 - Some of the view. Normally we'd have had an incredible picture window to Mt. Rainier, but unfortunately it was clouded over last weekend. (We have a saying in the Pacific Northwest that "The mountain is out", meaning that it's unusually clear enough to actually see that we have a big mountain on the horizon. Most of the year it's too cloudy to do so.)
#7 - On the way down.

Credit goes to my straw cloche hat from Urban Outfitters, which is normally *not* a gear item, but I was worried about getting a sunburn on my face. It was incredibly comfortable and served me well!