Hi there and welcome to Trip the Light Fantastic! This "About Me" page is under construction.

My name is Judith Carrell (that's me by the new pond I installed over Memorial Day weekend of this year). I live in the great Pacific Northwest in Washington state.

Seattle is called the "Emerald City" and for good reason. Home to the world famous Space Needle, it sits nestled between the Puget Sound (with the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic mountains visible to the west) and the North Cascade mountains, to the east. Seattle has one of the most beautiful skylines of any city as a result and some of the greatest skiing in the world.

I feel fortunate to live in an area of the world that has incredible, clean water and clean air. We pay a price for that clean water and air because, for eight months out of the year, it rains here. And it rains constantly. If you've ever spent any time up here, you understand what I mean.

It's one of the only places in the U.S. where visibility can still reach 100 miles. From Marysville, where I live, it's possible to look 80 miles to the north and have a beautiful view of Mt. Baker. Looking south, I can see Mt. Rainier (at over 14,000 feet high), at 120 miles away. And those views are almost year-round.

In between those two mountains is the incredible back-bone of the North Cascade range that includes the majestic Mt. Shuksan, the Three Sisters, Mt. Pilchuck and hundreds of other peaks that are snow-capped year-round.

The picture of Mt. Baker (to the right) is a photo taken by my daughter, Jessica. We drove up the Mt. Baker Highway and this highway takes you right to the base of this incredibly beautiful mountain which soars to almost 12,000 feet!

I love where I live, even with the rain, which takes its toll on even the most seasoned Seattle-ite by February of each year.

But when the clouds clear (like they did in June of this year) we are reminded that this is truly God's country and none of us would trade it for Solomon's gold.

In my 20's and 30's, I was a climber of these mountains. And I hiked all over the North Cascades, often dragging my complaining, little children along behind me. My son has taken up the mantle and has become a full-fledged rock climber since those early days. I feel fortunate that Rafe inherited my love for these mountains.

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. In the winter of 1969-1970, my mother put five kids (her sixth moved to Florida), the cat with six kittens, and the 6 month old German Shepherd puppy (in diapers) in the old, black Ford station wagon and we drove cross-country to Seattle with just what would fit on top of the car. It was the best thing my Mother had done up until that time, except for giving birth to myself and my siblings. ;-)

The rest is, as they say, history!

I finished high school with the class of 1974, at Sammamish High School in Bellevue and did a two-year stint at Western U in Bellingham, WA. I majored in dance and minored in theater, but it was during the time I lived in Bellingham that my love for climbing and hiking grew.

(Stay tuned for more to come)