We recently visited the Washington state capital city of Olympia to research trails for our new guidebook, Urban Hikes Washington. While there, we discovered a perfectly-paired beer hike: Brewery Park at Tumwater Falls and Well 80 Brewing. Here's the scoop on what's brewing in Olympia. 

2019 Update: Hops on the Rock will be held November 9, 2019 on Orcas Island! Check out our recap of the 2018 event below, and snag your tickets now!

"Our time in the islands came to a close all too soon. One thing is for sure, though -- we'll be back."
- Trails and Ales in the San Juan Islands blog entry, November 2017.

We made good on that promise the following year, returning to Orcas Island in 2018 for a beer fest known as Hops on the Rock. Come along as we share the ins and outs of this annual tradition in the islands -- and some of our favorite stops throughout the weekend. All aboard: it's island time! 

After our night out in Anacortes, we hopped the ferry to the San Juan Islands. Five years ago there wasn’t a single craft brewery in the islands. Now there are three, with a fourth opening on Lopez next year. Consider us convinced: it’s high time to visit the islands. ​

We just got back from a night spent in Anacortes for the Brewgrass! festival. Here's the scoop.

It’s a frozen Friday night in November. We’re in Anacortes for Brewgrass, an annual music-and-beer festival that has been going strong for 14 years. Three venues are involved -- H20, Rockfish Grill, and Brown Lantern Ale House — all of which are within a block of each other on the west side of Commercial Avenue. We begin at the brewery (Rockfish Grill & Anacortes Brewing) for dinner and drinks to the tune of bluegrass, played by the Rain City Ramblers.

While the west side of the mountains was being pelted by a river of rain, we escaped to sunny Eastern Washington in search of fresh hops, hikes, and fall colors in the Yakima Valley.