Reflections on our first 100 Episodes and plans for the next 100!

Jennie and Craig sit down for their 100th episode to talk about their favorite moments, favorite hikes discovered in the last two years and what they are excited about for the next 100 episodes of the Washington State Hiking Podcast. 

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Transcript

 Welcome to the Washington State Hiking Podcast. I'm your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, 

and I'm your co-host Craig Romano.

Craig and I are happy to have you here. We provide practical and timely seasonal hiking advice for hikers, trail runners, and potential hikers and trail runners of all skill and ability levels that is helpful, accurate, fun, and inclusive.

 



Listeners, today is our 100th episode. Craig, can you believe it? Uh, yes and no. It's, it feels like it's been forever. Um, no, you know, actually it has been a lot of kidding.

Well, I mean, sometimes it does, but actually it feels like the time has flown and, and that's kind of, you know, that very cliche, the older I get it's so, it's so cliche. It's like, where's all the time going? You know? So I, yeah. So I feel like, it seems like it was just yesterday and I can't believe it was two years ago, uh, that we, that we launched this.

Yeah, I know. March of 2024. So it's like just a little less than two years. So listeners. First of all, true confessions. This is actually our hundred and first episode, but timing, so we've already across a hundred. Yes. Last week was actually episode 100, but we just kind of kept it low key because of scheduling reasons.

So now we are actually recording. Our hundredth episode. So Craig, I thought it would be really fun. You know, we talked about this before about just doing a little reflection on like our experience with the podcast so far and kind of what we're looking forward to in the future. So. Listeners, if you haven't been with us since the very beginning, if you have, we love you for that.

If you haven't, we love that you're here now. Um, so. Back and in January of 2024. Well, even before that, I had already been podcasting for a year. I have another podcast that's about Alaska Travel, and I really loved that. Experience, and that's quite a different podcast from this one. But I had this idea that it would be really cool to do something about Washington hiking, but I knew from being a podcast host how important it is to have either a co-host.

Or guests or both, and you were the first person that popped into my mind, Craig, as someone I wanted to ask to be a co-host. Because first of all, you're a really different hiker from me, for everyone who listens, they're like I, I was like, Ooh, this is somebody who's hardcore. And I'm not hardcore. I love hiking.

I do it every week. I have lots of adventures. Sometimes I like hard hikes. But you and I could not be more different as far as the type of hiker that we are. So that, but also I knew that we shared the same values around like the important thing is to just be outside and take care of our land and take care of each other.

And I knew that you shared that with me. And so. That was why I, um, I asked you if you would do this and you said yes with some trepidation. I know. So can you tell everybody about that? Why did you say yes? Well, you, you know, and like, what were you afraid of? A, a lot. And, and the thing is, and so, you know, I, I've, it's taken me over 20 years to, to get where I am as a writer and to, and to build my platform and to finally feel like, okay, I think I've made it.

And so during the course of that time, uh, of course I've, I've looked always looking at, at new venues for anything in the outdoor world, and I've had. Several people over the years come up to me like, Craig, I want you to be involved in this stuff. And I would look at it and I'm, and I would look in. I'm like, no way.

Because all, because all I saw was, hey, it was gonna be a time suck. Being no reward for me or, or both. See, so, so, so this is a rewarding time suck is what you're saying. So with the podcast, um, it's interesting, and again, those of you who know me, know me well, you know, I, I grew up on the East coast. My, my, um.

Default settings are skeptic. That's, that's my default set. But it doesn't mean, I mean, I, I have an open mind. I, I do all kinds of great things, but I'm just set to be skeptical about everything. I really look at things, you know, you can't pull one on me. Okay. You, you scammers out there, so. So, um, when the whole podcast boom was starting too, I thought, oh, this is great.

Then I thought, oh my god, Jenny wants to do a podcast. Everybody, literally, everybody and their mother is doing a podcast, and I'm thinking, what? It's not actually true, as I've told you many times, right, right. You had to convince me a lot and what I did, you were like. The, it's saturated. There's so many podcasts, and I was like, Craig, name one podcast that has had an episode in the last like several years that's about hiking in Washington and there's not one, and that's when I started thinking I could not believe when I did my homework.

Like, wow, there's actually, there, there, there's a gap here. And, and I know again, you know, just from marketing everything is, you know, finding that, that, that, that. That gap and that filling that niche and, and delivering and giving a quality product. Yeah. And I thought, wow, there really is a gap here. No one's doing this.

Which really surprised me because, you know, in the trail running world, there are several podcasts, uh, and I thought, well, there's gotta be a bunch in the hiking and there's not. And so that gave us the opportunity to, to, to step in. And then of course, you know, nothing's guaranteed. You gotta work hard. To prove that we're worth listening to and that we're offering something that you wanna listen to.

And I thought, you know, this is exciting because other than Right, I love public speaking. I do a lot of public speaking. Mm-hmm. And I thought, what a great, this is great. So I told Jenny, I said, all right, I'll tell you what, uh, I'll give you one year. Yeah. Okay. And, and see one if I like it. See if you know.

If we're getting sponsors, if we're making, making money, because again, as much as we'd love to do this, you know, we, we need to make a living. Yes. And so neither one of us are independently wealthy or married to people are independently wealthy. Lot of my writing colleagues, neither of us have a sugar daddy er, a sugar mama, sadly.

So. So, um, yeah. Um, it was a lot of fun, uh, going through it. But then again, fund doesn't pay the mortgage. And, um, eventually we started, um. Reaching out to sponsors and, and, and people started seeing the value in what we're doing. And I thought, you know, we are, um, I think we're gonna, we're gonna make it. And it's still fun Two years later.

It's still fun. It's still fun. And part of the fun too, not just, um, you know, Jenny and I. Sharing our opinions and views and everything, but bringing other people Yeah. In, in, in the outdoor and hiking world, uh, on and talking to 'em and sharing that with you. Um, to me that's, that's exciting. As a writer, it's the same thing.

Interviewing people and getting the story. Um, that's, that to me is exciting. So it's just another platform for us to, um, to share a love for the outdoors and living a healthy and connected lifestyle. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. You know, it's funny too, Craig, another thing that I knew would be great about working with you, which it has been, is I knew you would always tell me what you think, you know, like, I, I wasn't worried about any That's part of that East coast.

Again, it's just we were, yeah, but you, we were raised that way. We always say that people in Seattle are like, you know, passive aggressive or not direct or whatever. I, I, I'm gonna just say that as a person who was born here. I don't necessarily feel like that's true. Well, youre direct, so maybe that's why, why I, I enjoy working with you.

That's my experience. Like professionally with, we love you people who've moved here from other places, but I'm just gonna say that, I knew that I could always just tell you what I thought without like, trying to make it sound nice and that you would do the same. And I really have appreciated that about working with you.

Right. And, and, and , to quote one of my favorite movies. Um, nothing personal. It's just business and Right. And so, yeah. I mean, I think that's important to be able to, um, you know. To be honest , and not to take offense and, and, and, yeah. And to, um, and to learn, learn from it. Yeah. And to, and to move forward.

Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. So , that's kind of a little bit of our origin story. I am curious, Craig, like for you, what have some of your favorite episodes, Ben, that we've done? You know, as much as I've love, I always love talking about favorite places to hike and everything, but again, I think I like to get into some of the more controversial or buzz, you know, buzzy topics and this should we charge for search and search and rescue.

I was one of my, my favorites. I, I really? Yeah. That was a good one. Yeah, I think a lot of people have some, um, very strong opinions on that. And, uh, we're seeing this being tested in different parts of the country and it's been brought up here and, um. What, what, what are the pluses, the minus the ramifications, and what do our listeners think about this as well?

Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, I, I, I really like bringing those pro. I know it's always. Tough to bring in. I mean, we live in a real divided time now. Um, you know, trying to bring these, these topics that people that are pretty divisive, but also how can we bridge the gap so that we can come up with some kind of consensus about this?

Uh, and I mean, we're never, no one's ever gonna be completely happy, but how can we kind of get on the right track with this? Yeah. So, um, yeah. Um, that was one of my favorites in, in that same vein. Um, same thing about, um. The enchantments, you know, should the, yeah, should, should, should we shut 'em down, you know?

Yep. So again, very, very, uh, topics that people, most people in the hiking community are, I feel passionate about. Um, and there's definitely extreme views, uh, uh, on this, but there's a lot of people we tend to find they're kind of in the middle on a lot of these areas. Yeah. Um, you know. Unfortunately, it seems like policy never ends up in the middle, so, yeah, no kidding.

Yeah. My favorite episode that we've done was our Valentine's Day episode. Episode. You know, you know, I was scrolling through the episode. It makes, so every time I think about it, and listeners, if you have a listen to that episode, it was a year ago. Um, it's pretty great. I have to say. I feel like that maybe is my best.

Creative work ever is that episode. Anyway. I, I love that. And honestly, I love, um, one of the things that's so fun with it, it's a little bit weird because like, it's really you and I talking Craig, but like. I love when we hear from you, like when you text us or email us or I've seen people out in the wild a couple times that were like, oh, I love your podcast.

And it just is really fun to like, I know for you listeners, it feels like we're right there, but like we are not hearing you, so we do love hearing from you. Absolutely. And when we do, that's one of my favorite parts too. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's one of my biggest frustrations. As a writer is, you know, I'm, I'm producing this work for thousands of people and I would, I want feedback.

I wanna hear from you. Yeah. And, and, and lots of times, I mean, I may hear from something. When I make a mistake, but I wanna hear, uh, you know, otherwise how am I doing? What am I, you know, are you really benefiting from, from what I'm writing about? Do, do you have something you can add that that can help me?

Um, yeah. In this? And so it's always fun meeting pe people in person. And I love meeting. Matter of fact, Jen, you're gonna love this because kind, so I think it was last summer or two summers ago. Um, I was on a trail run out in Dish Pan Gap, uh, wild Sky Wilderness Area, uh, Henry Jackson Wilderness, and I'm talking to my buddy and there's a backpacker coming up, her and her husband and someone who follows me that I've gotten to know in the virtual.

She recognized my voice from the podcast. Knew exactly who I was and That's awesome. And we stopped and we chatted. So someone I feel like I've, I, I've built a relationship with on two platforms. Yeah. And she's an artist and I follow her work. She's does amazing, amazing work too, and everything. But it's just so funny, again, uh, being recognized, I've never been recognized from my voice.

Mm-hmm. So, but I love, I love people on the phone. It's weird. It's fun, but it's very weird. Yeah. That happens to me with my other podcast as well. Um. Yeah, someone will be like Jenny, like if I'm wearing like a rain jacket and sunglasses, which is a thing that happens in Alaska a lot. Yep. Um, and they'll be like, there's no way you know who I am.

And they're like, oh, I heard you talking. Like, oh gosh, yeah. And me being on this, this, this crazy 30 mile run in the middle of nowhere, it's like, it's gotta be that nut, you know? So. Right. Who else would be doing those? Oh, that's so true. That's hilarious. Um, okay, so Craig, what about some of your, like, personal highlights on the trail in the last couple years?

Like outside of actually what we've recorded? Yeah. But like what have been some of your favorite places that you've been? Well, this shouldn't be any surprise. I mean, my, my biggest highlight in, in my life, uh, in the last several, it was my a hundred mile. Running and training and everything up. So the a hundred mile run itself was at Mount in the Mount Hood area.

Yeah. But there were a lot of training runs, uh, primarily in, in California, Oregon, and Washington. Um, and to me that's been, it's been, uh, just an amazing journey, uh, to be able to do that and putting in that type of effort and, , picking, picking some incr, I picked some incredibly diverse places to train in diverse weather.

Uh, the Smith Rocks area out, out in Oregon for heat. Um. Eastern Washington, Badger Mountain for the exact opposite for cold, rain, wind and exposure. And we talked about, did an episode and this again, just what that meant to me. , That most of last year I was pretty much focused on, on that, but, uh, but you know, that's thousands of miles on the trail doing that.

Yeah. Um, like, well, you know, it's funny. Same thing. Some of my biggest highlights, you know, I've spent, I've been on it for 36 years. I've spent a lot of time. Hiking all throughout the state and everything. And so many of the areas I've, I've gone to very few parts of the state now I haven't explored, and those of you who've been following me, my riding, I've noticed, I've been spending a lot of time outside the region and, um, you know, I'm getting older and there's so much I want to do.

I just got, just got back from Nevada, , out the Mojave Desert, doing some amazing hikes. So for me, a lot of the highlights have just been exploring some of these places again. And there's a theme here, and it definitely applies to the northwest. Some of the biggest gratitude I, I've had on a trail are exploring these unknown off the beaten path places.

Um, places like Concrete National Park in South Carolina, the Tallgrass Prairie, preserving Kansas, places that people just don't go. That I have had these incredible, uh, experiences, uh, connecting with wildlife and everything. Apply that back here. It's the same thing. You know, there's so many pla, the, the, the, the mailbox peaks and the enchantments and they're, you know, they're, they, they are what they are and they're so popular, but there's so many other places, um, throughout the state.

Get out there and explore them. And, and with that said, I spent a lot of time in Eastern Washington this year, and I'll, I'll be spending more time there. Um, one of my, the highlights, um, that one of our largest state parks, a place that I really got to know this year that I've spent very little time was Riverside State Park.

Um, right outside of Spokane. Just incredibly, yeah, it's wonderful. Beautiful park. Mm-hmm. So. Again, even though I'm enjoying all these places around the country doing these hikes and runs and all these spectacular national parks and state, I'm still getting that joy right here in, in my backyard discovering state parks that I haven't been to or I, or I, I haven't been, don't know very well.

Yeah. Um, so yeah, I guess what's my point? Discovery, but get outta your ruts, you know, and we've talked about this a lot, just, um. Try something different, look at something differently, and just it, it changes your whole perspective, uh, to me. And that's been the excitement, uh, about constantly, you know, seeing, seeing something different.

It's still hiking, it's still running, but just being in a different place. It's a whole different, different, uh, different experience I'm having in the wildlife and everything. Uh, and again, yeah, same thing. Uh, with that said, all the years on the trail, what was one of the biggest highlights last year?

Having a cougar run, walk across the trail in front of me too. Highlight. Highlight. So that was a highlight. Highlight, that's what that was. So, so how about you, Jenny? What, what have been some of your, your highlights out there? Yeah. Well, um, I was thinking about that when, you know, we were preparing for this, this episode, and there's a few things that that came to my mind.

Um. One is Striped Peak, which is a hike I learned about from you while we were recording a podcast on the Olympic Peninsula. Yeah, so that was, I am, I have not done, let's say 80%, 90% of the trails in Washington like you have Craig, but I've done a lot and so it's always exciting to like, hear about something that I don't even know about, you know, like let alone that I haven't done because there's lots of things that I haven't done.

That are not like a mystery. Anyway, so, um, that's a really wonderful hike that is gonna be talked about more in a future episode. Yes, it's in the near, near future. It's, um, but it's on the North Olympic Peninsula. It's a year round, um, year-round, snow free hike. It's wonderful. Um. Some other favorites of mine.

Um, this is another one that we'll talk about more in an upcoming episode. So we had a listener request that we do an episode about wildflower hikes in Eastern Washington in April, and. We are doing that. We recorded it already. It'll be, um, up in March. And so one of these hikes is one I talked about more in that episode, so I won't say too much about it now, but the WildHorse Energy Center, it's near Vantage.

It's just such a cool place, um, that I'd never heard of and found by just, you know, looking at the map basically, um, and being like, what is this weird little. Site on Google Maps. So that's another one. I also, um, did Cutthroat Pass for the first time, this last lur season, kind of the long way from the lake, which I would highly recommend.

And that was just, it was a really awesome hike. It was hard, but it wasn't like, and we talked about this when I, you know, at the time when I talked about this hike, but I think what was cool about it is it was long and had a lot of elevation gain, but the. Grade was never really crazy, which is something that is hard for me with my short legs as like giant rock steps both up and down.

I just find that exhausting. And this was like a trail at a reasonable grade that was just awesome and I loved it anyway. And then I'll just mention two others. Um. So I know you know Craig, and I think we've talked about this on the pod that I moved this summer. So my husband Jay and I moved from South Seattle where we have lived for the last 20 years to, well, 18 years to Edmonds, and we bought a house with my parents and Edmonds is where I grew up.

So I've kind of enjoyed revisiting the classic kind of north side of the city hikes in the last. Eight months that I've been back here. Um, and my favorite of those has definitely been Mount Uck, which is I would never before have said it was one of my favorite hikes. But like, it was fun 'cause I did it with my cousin.

You know, we did this, this is a hike that we did as kids. My dad did this hike as a kid and I like came home and. My dad, who's 83, was talking about how like, you know, they used to do this hike all the time in high school and like he is like, is it still this or that? And I'm like, well actually no, there's a trail around that now because what you all were doing in the 19.

Late fifties is not cool. Like too many people died in the fog and he is like, oh yeah, that's, you know, that wasn't great. Anyway, so it's just kind of a fun, like Mount Chu is kind of an annoying hike. It's like got lots of rocks and like, it's kind of harder than it seems like it should be. But I don't know.

I think it's kind of fun. And, and then finally I would just mention Meadowdale Beach Park, which, um. When I lived in South Seattle, Seward Park was my go-to. Um, if I wanted to go somewhere and like get outside, but somewhere that was five minutes from home and Meadowdale Beach Park, which is in Linwood, is kind of that for me here.

So it's been fun to like get that new routine of going there. So I think those are the ones I would say. And, and, and what you, what I'm reading what you're saying and, and correct me, I'm wrong 'cause I've kind of. Feeling the same way in this age of social media and everything, and people are always seeing all the the places you have to be.

And this is where, you know, this is be seen here and everything. Your favorite hike should be favorite to you, not because some influencers telling you this is the place to go. And what I have found over and over and over again, places that have really done it to me almost in all cases, are not places that the, that the influencers are talking about.

Nobody's screaming about standing in the middle of nowhere Kansas and having this amazing experience. And the same thing here in Washington. Yeah. One of my absolute favorite places of the state where I got married. Um, it's a place that a lot of people do not spend a lot of time. That's the northeastern corner of the state.

Yeah, the kinda river range in that area. And we're gonna be talking more about, about this, this special part of the state. To me, it is a magical place. It has been for the very first time. I, I step stepped foot there and. Yeah, I went back, matter of fact, the first place I took my son camping was also in this region keeping to where I got married.

Um, that connection, very meaningful. And, and, and no social influencer. No social media influencers are telling you this is the place to go. They're all sending you to that lake that we don't wanna talk about. So, and the peak that we don't talk about either the peak, we don't talk except for later this year when we are gonna talk about it.

Right. So, you know, make it important to you. Okay. Live your life. Mm-hmm. Don't live vicariously through somebody whose whole life is curated. In a lot of cases it's a lie, you know? Um, live a, live a real life, and that's what we're all about. And, um, yeah, that's why I, I enjoy going off the beaten path to these places that, uh, are not the glamor hikes, but I'll tell you.

Amazing experiences. Um, yeah. And they're just a great place to connect to nature and, and get in touch with your thoughts and Totally. And, and, and, and really have a, a true wilderness experience, which is near impossible to do in, you know, in the enchantments. So, yeah, absolutely. Okay, Craig, so. When you think about the next a hundred episodes, other than feeling a little overwhelmed, maybe that's just me.

Um, no, I am, I am really excited about it. So what are things that you're excited about as we like go into the future? Yeah, this year and you know, so a hundred episodes is basically two years. So yeah. When you think about the next couple years, what do you think? Yeah, I think one of the things that you and I probably need to, um, talk more about, and we, we haven't, um, we certainly have talked about this, but we are kind of in a difficult position right now, um, in this country with our government and, and, uh, our state's got a massive deficit.

What does that mean? To our natural resources to, to the lands we recreate, to trade. So I think, um, yeah, I think we're at a point we're gonna have to, um, you know, really talk about, uh, stewardship and, uh, protection and all kinds of issues. I, I feel like we've been set back a lot in the last couple years.

And then we're getting lots of people that, that are to continue to hike and recreate. Uh, so. What does that mean? Bringing those people into our, our large family of hikers and how we can all, uh, benefit from each other and, , and how that can benefit our natural resources and our wild areas.

And I think that's a, that's a place that it's always, it could be difficult for some people to talk about, uh, but it's important. And I've always said, you can't separate yourself. You can't go out there and hike and, and, and. And not care about nature and natural areas and, and, and your impact in the environment.

Um, yeah, I, I just feel you, you, you, you've gotta be committed to, to, um, being a good steward to the land. So, yeah, definitely. So I, I'd like to talk more about, about these topics and bring more Yeah. More guests, uh, on our program. Uh, and also again, with, you know, we're in a kind of a dark period in our, in our history right now.

Uh, I wanna bring in more. Uh, different voices, , out in our community. And I know we've already, yeah, we had some people lined up. Um, yeah, different perspectives, different views, um, um, and, um, we need to move forward. I feel, I feel like we've kind of gone back, um, quite a bit in the last, in the last couple, especially in the last year.

But yeah. So yeah, that's, those are areas I'd like to, to talk more about. Yeah, I agree. I think, um, I totally agree with you about that, Craig. It's like, I. I think for us as people, let alone hikers in our country, it's just so, so difficult often to know, um, you know, what to do, how to move forward. It's really challenging.

It's challenging for all of us and, um, in many ways, not just how we care for public lands and our neighbors. Um. So, yeah, I'm excited to take on that challenge to you and I'm looking forward to people that we'd have invited to come on and, and talk about that more. I think also another thing that I'm really excited about, Craig, is, you know, this, our, our listeners don't even know this yet, but in 2026 we have six different monthly sponsors, um, from all over Washington State and one from just outside Washington State.

And so. I, you know, uh, in the last couple weeks, especi, well, I guess the last month since the holidays when we've been talking to different folks about episodes and about their place in, in addition to just the administrative of like doing that, I am so excited about some of the episodes we're gonna have that I wouldn't even have thought of.

Um. And so that is really cool. Like I've been finding myself being like, wow, this is awesome that this person is gonna come from Washington State Parks on San Juan Island. Talk about that, for example. Um, and just all the different guests that we'll be having and places that we'll be highlighting. And you know, like I said, they're truly from all over, from northeast Washington.

From the northeast to the northwest. Yeah. The Olympic Peninsula to the Oregon coast and the Tri-Cities and so many others. So I'm just really excited about how that is going to expose me to so many new. Things and so much new knowledge and I'm really excited to bring that to you listeners. But I'm really excited to get that for myself and I'm also excited to you for us to be getting to a more sustainable place with doing this podcast too, so we can keep going in the future.

So thanks to all of our sponsors. You'll hear more about all of them in the next six, seven months or so. Well, very good. Again, this has been a, a great journey so far and, um, you know, Jen, it's kind of like when I ran my first 100 mile run. , It wasn't one and done. I'm training to do another, so I, I know.

So I think I'm ready to do the next 100 episodes here, so Me too. It's a long, steady process. We just keep going forward. Yes, absolutely, and listeners, we would not have a podcast if you didn't listen. We would not have sponsors if you didn't listen. We wouldn't have ideas if you didn't listen and share your thoughts with us, so please keep doing that.

We really appreciate it and we're so grateful for you. We'll see you next week.

 If you are enjoying the Washington State Hiking Podcast, Craig and I would love to have you leave us a rating and a review that helps other people find us. And if you wanna support us financially, you can leave us a tip through the show notes. No account, no commitment, nothing like that. Thank you so much for listening and see you next week.