I’ve pushed off climbing Mount Olympus every year I’ve been here due to the long arduous approach, so why not do it the long way!? My third time in the Olympics, my first time the park proper, and soaking in the highlights.

Two more Bulgers on the way home. Also knew there wouldn’t be too many larches on this one, but when else am I going to get out here? Definitely the most out there in the Cascades I’ve been so far.

Quite a journey to get one peak, but I knew there’d be some nice larch groves on this one.

Gardner Peaks - kind of boring and light on larches which I knew going in, but still wanted to check out this area.

Every summer, hordes of people I know will do a “circumnavigation” of Mount Daniel that follows the trail to Marmot and Jake Lakes then up the Lynch Glacier to the summit. Since the Lynch Glacier gets too broken up sometime in July, I’ve been saving this route for just this time of season.

Another year, another race where my friend Haram tries to run an ultramarathon with little to no training. This one was particularly memorable because we learned that David Goggins would be returning to the racing scene, and this was a guy we’ve memed on for years haha.

A loop connecting the eastern Necklace Valley trailhead to the West Foss Fork. An insane amount of boulder hopping and slow trails - definitely underestimated this one and feeling whooped, a sensation that I haven’t experienced in a while.

Escaping the heat (or heat training?) by getting high on the mountain loop. Sunset at White Chuck Mountain then Mount Pugh before heading home.

Via the Northern Loop on Mount Rainier. Or rather, cutting the loop by leaving the Wonderland Trail after Mystic Lake for Old Desolate and rejoining the trail on the way to Lake James. Backpacking the full Northern Loop Trail was one of my first outings in Washington State so it was fun to revisit some of those memories!

Trying to pick an outing not focused on running. Rehabbing the ankles was somewhat successful, but man that heat was brutal.

We originally intended to circumnavigate the Baker River but had to reroute with some unexpected weather. Not quite the adventure we hoped for but still glad to check out the Northern Pickets!

A quick trip to the highest point in the Monte Cristo Range.

The Sawtooth Slam is a great way to knock out five easy mountains from the Bulger List (a rough list of the state’s 100 tallest mountains). The larches were a little past prime, but collectively they gave off a darker yellow hue that was noticeably different from the weekend prior. Pretty cool to see the full lifecycle of these larches this season!

The previous day zapped more energy than expected, so I went for one of the more straightforward peaks in the area.

First time for me checking out the Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness area and really seeing the dense larch groves less prevalent in the rest of the Cascades.

Finally knocking this one out in between an iffy forecast window!

A scenic loop to see soak in the fall colors and perhaps the impetus/rebirth of this very website!

A nice loop to tag two peaks while enjoying some fall colors.

A nice warmup before venturing deeper into the great Glacier Peak Wilderness. I used to think the Entiats were a little lame and colorless, but revisiting the area was much cooler now that I could identify many more peaks of the GPW/North Cascades and able to remember fondly some of the prior experiences I’ve had on those peaks.

Been saving this one for those weird forecast days. I don’t think I give the Alpine Lakes Wilderness enough love. Definitely hoping to have more Plan A days here instead of relegating this area as a backup to “cooler” plans. A bit more crowded, and the peaks are a bit smaller, but I overlook how comparably rugged it is to the North Cascades.