Into the Cascades

Last fall I went on a 4-day hike through the Cascades in Washington. I started about 20 miles south of Stevens Pass and hiked the Pacific Crest Trail south and west about 55 miles to Snoqualmie Pass. A friend joined me for Day 1, but after that it was my first solo hike. Fantastic trip. Here are some photos for you.

Getting started with some alpine lakes. Not a lot of sun on Day 1, so the photos were pretty gray.

A friend of mine joined me for the first day. PB&J with a view of where we’re headed to camp that night.

Cathedral Rock. We made our camp around the other side of this guy.

The sky cleared a bit when we got to our camp. Good looking mountain on the horizon.

And sunrise was pretty outrageous.

And it got better.

In all directions.

My friend headed back to the car and I pressed on towards Snoqualmie Pass where we had dropped my car off. First, into the valley.

Always a reassuring sight.

Hiked several miles through the valley and got this shot looking back on where I had just been. Up another ridge!

Over another ridge, this cliff greeted me ominously. I didn’t realize clouds and rock could be so imposing, and frankly scary. I ended up finding a tranquil little pond to camp near, sheltered from the dark clouds.

Morning transformed these cliffs into a spectacular sight.

The sun came out in full on Day 3. I found some more alpine lakes in this saddle after ascending another ridge.