Getting Back Out West

So, here we are. A group of six of us - myself with Cara, Dana, Katie, Jesse, and Maria - scattered across the United States, all converging on the Pacific Northwest for a week of hiking and friendship.

Unfortunately, no dog this time.

Lily was super confused and sad to see us head to the airport at 4:30 AM EST (1:30 AM PST).

The flight was pretty smooth, and that's coming from a guy who isn't the biggest fan of flying. I did snag these photos of the Cascades on our descent into Seattle:

Get a load of those beautifully snow-capped peaks!

After we all get into Seattle within an hour of each other, it's time to hop in the rental vehicle and head to the North Cascades National Park. For Cara and I, that will be our 10th national park visit.

We are staying in an airbnb in Rockport, WA, which is about 20 minutes from the park. The plan is to do a hike nearby our place this evening, taking on a ten-mile trek to and from Thornton Lake on Sunday, and then up to Ross Lake on Monday where we have a boat rented and some mini-hikes lined up.

By Tuesday, we need to get Jesse and Maria back to Seattle for their flight on Wednesday morning. Cara, Dana, Katie, and myself will then continue on to Olympic National Park (the 11th national park!). The four of us are camping (Skokomish Park at Lake Cushman) just outside the Staircase Rapids section of the park on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, it's time to get up and make our way to the northern part of Olympic near Port Angeles. We hope to do a drive up and then hike on Hurricane Ridge. By that night, we'll drive past Lake Crescent and get to our site at the Sol Duc Falls campground. We spend all day Thursday there, sprinkling in some hikes and a trip to the hot springs. On Friday, we need to get back to Seattle, but we'll stop to do a hike at Mount Storm King, which is near Lake Crescent.

Friday afternoon and evening is our time to explore a bit of Seattle before our morning flights on Saturday.

It appears that we have quite the jam-packed trip ready to go in the Pacific Northwest. I should be able to do nightly updates in the North Cascades as we have wifi at our airbnb. As for the rest of the trip, I'll do what I can.

Here's to one heck of a trip exploring this badass country of ours.