Exploring the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in wool&
Our adventurous friend, Charlotte Massey, recently went mountaineering in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. She put our wool& Swift Legging and Frankie Bike Short to the test with her friend. To tag along Charlotte’s various other travel and hiking experiences, art, and entrepreneurial endeavors, you can follow her at @peak_charlotte_. No matter what she does, Charlotte gets it done.
*Please note: The intended use for our bike shorts and leggings are to be worn as layers under your dresses/tunics.
Exploring the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in wool&
Written by Charlotte Massey
Wool is a powerful fabric for outdoor activities— it regulates temperature so you can wear wool on hot, dry summer climbs and on snowy treks in the winter. The wool& bike shorts and leggings were designed as layering pieces to be worn under dresses and tunics, but I wanted to put them to the test and see how they held up in the craggy granite peaks of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
I grew up in Leavenworth, a small Bavarian-themed mountain town in Central Washington with easy access to the Central Cascade Mountains. I returned to Leavenworth because of COVID-19 and have been lucky to safely go on mountain adventures close to home with close friends and family.
My first trip with the wool& bottom pieces was a climb of Ingalls Peak in August. Ingalls is a 7,662-foot granite peak in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness with cliffs that plunge hundreds of feet down to an alpine lake below. We decided to climb via the South Ridge, an easy technical alpine rock climb that requires ropes and harnesses to scale several hundred feet of rock. We organized so that my friends Steph and Menno climbed as one rope team while I climbed with my father.
We left the car early in the morning for the hike to the base of the rock climb. I quickly stripped off my outer pant layer because the heat along the dry trail in August is intense. I wore the wool& bike shorts and found that they regulated temperature well and were comfortable under the weight of my pack. The seams didn’t rub while hiking and the fabric was thick and opaque.
“I was impressed with how well the fabric held up against rough granite while squirming up cracks and pressing my legs against the rock. No tears or perceivable wear on the shorts at all.”
I was happy with how the leggings and bike shorts performed on an alpine outing, so I decided to take them out on a second trip: an 18 mile through-hike of the Enchantments. The Enchantments thru-hike is a long and difficult trek up stream valleys to granite basins carved by glaciers and dotted with Golden Larch trees and turquoise lakes. Competition for camping permits is intense and the parking lot fills up by 8 am on most weekends. The views are worth the effort though. We set out on our hike at the end of September, when the Larches were nearing peak gold color and a light dusting of snow coated the higher elevation parts of the trail.
“I wore the biker shorts again the next day under a dress with no problems at all-- that’s not something you can do with synthetic leggings!”
My friend Steph wore the leggings for the entire hike and found that they kept her warm while hiking through the snow but still breathed well on steep climbs. We climbed up the notorious Asgard Pass in the snow and then meandered through stunning alpine lakes in the upper and lower enchantment lake basins.
I wore the wool& bike shorts under my hiking pants and loved the extra warmth around my core, without making me overheat. When we finally made it back to the house, I was equally impressed with how fresh the wool smelled. I wore the bike shorts again the next day under a dress with no problems at all—that’s not something you can do with synthetic leggings!
Spending time outside has been a wonderful way to get out of the house this summer, and, as fall approaches and temperatures drop in Washington State, I’ll be relying more on wool layers to keep warm while spending time safely outside.