Emma and I opted to go for our last big trip before having a baby (i.e., our babymoon) by going to Washington state. I’ve always wanted to make the trip there but always opted to go for other objectives. With a focus manly being on hiking since it was off limits while Emma was pregnant, it seemed like the best time to go.
Seattle
When planning the trip, Emma was invited to a bachelorette party in Colorado so it gave me a good opportunity to catch up with my friend Quinn. Quinn let me crash on his couch and also showed me around Seattle.
I flew into Seattle on the 11th and spent some time being shown around by Quinn, hitting a few of the major tourist spots. On the 12th we ended up getting a solid breakfast burrito at Mas Cafe and then headed to Gas Works Park to finish our burritos and coffee while getting a good view of the city. After this, we made our way to Pike Place Market and then walked up to Capitol Hill. By the end of the night we ended up walking into a break dancing competition before heading back to Quinn’s place.
On the 13th I had to pick up Emma at the airport in the afternoon. In the morning, we had great breakfast tacos at TNT Taqueria before heading to Kerry Park to get another great view of the city. Before heading to pick up Emma, we stopped at Green Lake park to play spike ball. Once I got the text that Emma had landed, I made a slow trek to the airport where Quinn dropped me off at the rental car place. Once we got the rental car, Emma and I stopped at the flagship REI store to pick up some gas for our camp stove which we found them completely sold out of (which I found to be slightly incredible considering it was their flagship store). I did however pick up a device to make coffee with my REI cash from over the years but that proved to be a dud later on in the trip. After leading REI, Emma and I headed up to stay with her Uncle Hank and Aunt Karen which was on the way to North Cascades. On our drive up we stopped for some Thai at Gatiem Thai Cuisine north of the city.
On the 14th we had a great breakfast at Hank and Karen’s before making our trip to the North Cascades. On our drive up, we ended up stopping at a diner (The Stilly Diner) in Arlington before continuing on to the North Cascades
North Cascades
We made it up to our campsite in Newhalem on the 14th relatively early and we were completely set up by 3pm. Once we were set up, we decided to make the drive up to Washington Pass while stopping at some of the view points along the way. We ended up doing a lot of lounging around Diablo Lake on the drive back to Newhalem from Washington Pass
On Tuesday (15th), we decided that we would hike Maple Pass. We were not completely sure how well Emma was going to do since she was in her second trimester and the gain for the hikes in the North Cascades required a decent amount of elevation gain. It ended up being an amazing hike and we both felt the hike had the best mileage-to-scenery ratio of any hike we’ve done.
We ended up finishing the hike relatively early (by noon) and I was able to talk Emma into another hike. We ended up hiking up to Blue Lake for a swim and ran into a bunch of mountain goats once we got there. This hike also offered some incredible views and was also the trail head for the climbs at Washington Pass which had me itching to climb. On our way back we made another stop at Diablo Lake to lounge before heading back to our campsite.
Wednesday’s (the 16th), hike took us up to Cascade Pass and then to Sahale Arm. This is the only trail head parking that actually exists in North Cascades National Park. Considering it is one of the lesser visited national parks, it felt pretty busy at the trail head for a Wednesday. We did find a place to park and then started heading up to the pass. Most of the trail was an endless series of switchbacks through the trees, but just before the pass everything opened up. Once we got to the pass, I was able to talk Emma into just going a little further up which offered even more incredible views. The wildflowers were also just starting to bloom, which made the views even better.
Leavenworth
On Thursday (17th), we made an early start to head to Leavenworth. We were supposed to spend a few days there but the 90+ degree temps made it clear good bouldering was not going to happen while we were there. Despite the forecast, I still wanted to head there to at least sample some of the bouldering.
On our drive down, we made a quick stop in Mazama before pushing straight through. Once we got to town, we rented a crash pad and headed to the boulders. While sampling some of the boulders I realized how little coverage 1 bouldering pad was after getting use to going out with at least 4 pads back home. I was still able to sample a few boulders until it got too hot to climb. Once I got frustrated by the heat, we decided to just go for a swim in the river.
That evening, we decided we would try and get some good German food since Leavenworth is essentially a giant knock off German town. We were pretty disappointed with the food and also how gimmicky the entire town felt in general. It was at least a nice hotel room in a stint between staying at campgrounds.
Olympic
On Friday (18th), Emma and I got up and began our drive from Leavenworth to Olympic. Originally we were going to stay in Leavenworth to meet up with Rachel, Evan and Stella, but once the forecast was showing highs in the 90’s the decision was made to pivot to Olympic where the temperatures were much cooler. As a bonus, Uncle Hank was able to meet us out there.
The drive from Leavenworth proved to be scenic but also much longer than we had anticipated (including a long wait for the ferry). Emma and I ended up getting in Friday afternoon and met up with everyone at Lake Crescent. While we were swimming, I performed a perfect belly flop. Once we finished at the lake we headed to our campsite to set up for the evening. While setting up camp, I left the car keys on the picnic table and Hank mistakenly thought they were his. While he was out getting some stuff in town, we frantically looked for the keys. It took us awhile even after he got back to realize the mix up but I don’t think I’ve been that relieved in awhile to find the car keys not missing
On Saturday (19th), we made our way to Hurricane Ridge for a shorter hike along the ridge, with an optional scramble up Mount Angeles at the turnaround point.
We opted to take the shuttle from Port Angeles versus driving up to the parking to avoid any parking issues; this proved to be not necessary since it was pretty empty at 9am. On the way up we were a bit worried with the conditions since the fog was extra thick and a light rain was starting. Once we neared the ridge, however, we got above the clouds and it was a bluebird day. The hike along the ridge offered some great views.
Once we got to the turn around point for the hike, Evan and I decided to go for the summit of Mount Angeles and ended up doing some off-route scrambling that added a bit of extra spice. Eventually, we made it to the summit and also found the intended route. At the summit, we were rewarded with some awesome views of the Olympic range. It took us longer than expected to reach the top, and on the way down via the actual trail, we realized just how much harder we’d made things for ourselves.
Once we got back to Port Angeles, we got some ice cream and Hank made his way back home. We soon realized that Rachel didn’t have her phone which started a manhunt for her phone. Stella did not let her live it down while we looked for it but eventually the bus driver called Rachel back to let her know it was found on the curb by the bus stop up at the ridge. Once we got the phone, we headed for dinner. We eventually decided to eat at Bella Italia.
Sunday (20th), we packed up camp and then headed to the Sol Duc Rainforest and hiked to the falls. We had some salmonberries along the way before heading out and parting ways with Rachel, Evan, and Stella.
Rainer
Emma and I made our way to Mount Rainier after hiking at Sol Duc Falls. I had a terrible headache so I was asleep for most of the drive until making it to just outside Tacoma. Once we got to Tacoma I took over and finished the drive to the Airbnb. We ended up booking a cool little room just a couple miles from the Nisqually entrance which was a welcome upgrade from tent camping.
When we checked the forecast while in Olympic, we saw less than great weather: low clouds sitting below 10,000 feet for most of our stay but we were hoping to make the most of it. After settling in at the Airbnb and then grabbing some food at the Nepali restaurant, we decided to head up to Pinnacle Saddle for sunset. While making the hike up, we got lucky with the clouds breaking and giving us great views of Rainier and the cascades. We ended up making it down to the car at dark but without needing a head lamp which was a welcome surprise.
The next day, we were lucky enough to grab an entry permit for the Sunrise area of the park. Since it was nearly a two-hour drive from where we were staying, we had an early start. Once there, I convinced Emma to hike out to Fremont Fire Lookout, then took a short detour on the way back to check out Shadow Lake. We made it back to the car just as the rain started coming down. We the had some decent hot dogs, bought some souvenirs and I had a marionberry cider. The drive back to the Airbnb was rainy but it still offered incredible views. We also took a quick visit to Paradise visitor center on the way back.
Once we got back to the Airbnb we took a quick break before heading to dinner at Rainier base camp. We then headed back to pack up before flying home the following morning.
