Explorer Spotlight: Rose Freeman

Name: Rose Freeman | Age: 23 | Location: Spokane, Washington

What’s your day job?
I’m a Nationally Certified Piano Teacher and teach 35 students each week! I also recently opened an Etsy shop (Alpine Echo) to sell hand painted adventure enamel mugs! I moved from Seattle 6 years ago to attend Whitworth University here in Spokane to study Piano Pedagogy. It’s my passion to inspire people through music. My youngest student is 5, and my oldest students are grandparents. It’s my passion to teach my students to express themselves creatively through music, learn a good work ethic, and grow in confidence. Along with teaching, I accompany high school students for solo instrument festivals, accompany a children’s choir, and I’m very involved in the local Spokane Music Teachers Association chapter.

What are your favorite things to do outside?
Give me a pair of hiking boots and a mountain trail to explore and I’ll be the happiest! Also love boating around the San Juan Islands in our 19’ Beachcraft, camping, and backpacking.

What first drew you to the outdoors?
My parents took me on my first camping trip to Loon Lake, Oregon when I was 6 weeks old! I grew up camping along the Oregon Coast and in Eastern Washington every summer. In high school I began to hike more and explore the Cascades nearby. I’m so grateful my parents inspired a love for the outdoors throughout my childhood! Last summer my husband and I lead our first backpacking trip to the Enchantments, and that definitely drew me to love being in the wilderness, too.

What’s your favorite hometown adventure?
My favorite adventure in my current hometown is the Mount Spokane summit trail. It’s great to snowshoe there on a day when the ski area is closed during the winter or on a hot summer day. The views of the rolling hills carpeted with pine trees and the Selkirk range nearby are breathtaking. As much as I love the west side of Washington, it’s been an exciting journey to discover places to explore in the Inland Northwest, too! O’doherty’s for beer is great back in Spokane!

What’s your essential gear that never gets left at home?
Along with the 10 essentials, my extra essentials include my camera, an adventure mug, and AeroPress for coffee!

What’s your favorite trail snack?
Anything chocolate. Especially fruit covered chocolate!

Any go-to soundtracks when you’re hitting the road?
Anything from the Baroque/Classical/Romantic era including composers like Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn. Other playlists I enjoy include Andrew Peterson and Ellie Holcomb. Besides that, I love audiobooks (C.S. Lewis or Andrew Peterson’s “Wingfeather Saga”) for multi-day backpacking trips!



What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened while you were adventuring? And/or, the funniest?
Scariest: As we were ascending Aasgard Pass last October (prime larch season!!) a rockslide happened nearby on the other side of Dragontail peak. It sounded like an earthquake and rock dust covered the lake. Since the rockslide happened around the corner, we decided to keep climbing Aasgard. A few minutes later the dust settled and we turned around to see the most stunning view of Colchuck Lake and the golden alpine larches (see the photo of Aasgard Pass above). Thankful we kept climbing despite the rockslide scare!

Funniest: After a long day of exploring the Enchantments Lakes basin, we returned to camp and started prepping for dinner. I set up the stoves and one of our fellow adventurers on the trip began to filter water from the lake. After he filled two water bottles, he pumped the water out of the filter tube. However, he forgot to take the pump out of the water…so I looked over to see him filtering lake water back into the lake for quite some time! Maybe you had to be there. But it was hilarious at the time!

Who’s your number one adventure partner-in-crime?
My husband, Tyler Freeman! He encourages me to never give up and to see beauty of the outdoors in a new way every hike.

Who inspires you?
Throughout my childhood my dad went on backpacking trips to the Enchantments and day hikes in the Cascades. I’ll never forget the pictures he showed me growing up or the time a lizard crawled out of his pack in the living room. Today he still goes on hikes with me and is always looking for a new trail to explore! I am so grateful I grew up in a home where adventures happened on a weekly basis!

Also, the Outbound community has introduced me to so many new places to explore! Inspired with every new adventure listed!!

What are your top destinations for adventure travel?
I love vast variety of destinations in Washington! Places that inspire my adventure heart every visit are Olympic National Park (Lena Lake, Second Beach, Lake Crescent, Rialto Beach, Hurricane Ridge), the Enchantments, and the North Cascades (Sahale Arm, Diablo Lake, Hidden Lake Lookout).

What’s on the top of your must-do adventure list right now?
Glacier National Park, Banff, and Jasper are on my summer dreaming list!! Can’t wait to make that trip happen. Other places I can’t wait to explore are Shi-Shi Beach, Wedge Mountain, Evergreen Mountain Lookout, Mt. Rainier National Park, and backpacking from Stehekin to Cascade Pass.

Show us your most memorable photo, and tell us about it!
Here are a couple shots of my most memorable hiking days!

After a rainy first day and night on our trek to the Enchantments last September, I climbed out of the tent the next morning to the most stunning sight. I saw blue sky, enchanting granite peaks, and glass reflections in the lake. Nothing like a morning like this in the Enchantments!!

Life in the snowglobe of Blanca Lake surrounded by Columbia, Monte Cristo, and the Keyes (April 2015)

Alpenglow at Leprechaun Lake in the Enchantments (September 2014)

And last but not least…What’s your personal motto?
Anyone can be an adventurer. Take time to discover the world around you!

Check out more of Rose's adventures here.