This traverse covers the ridge of peaks directly south of Rainier from Stevens to Eagle Peak. I don’t think I’d recommend this one lol, mainly because it was a lot of work for views that didn’t change all that much (although it was cool to see the angle of Rainier change a little bit going west to east).

I was originally going to note how unremarkable Sourdough Mountain is except for the fact that it casually rises almost 5000 feet from Diablo Lake below. I guess I do take some of the easy peaks for granted sometimes - but I still think the views from the road are unimpressive compared to other national parks.

My first foray into the elusive Picket Range and perhaps one of the few peaks day-trippable in the area for my humble aerobic ambitions.

Tried to milk out the last of a weekend in the North Cascades after an exhausting day yesterday. A top 5 “gotta bring my mom” type hike for sure though - probably the best view of the southern pickets.

A fun scramble route on one of Washington’s most iconic mountains. Although I think of Mount Shuksan as more of a skier’s mountain, I’ll happily settle for scrambling on it when it’s bone dry.

Awesome ridge linkup starting at Excelsior Peak and ending with a fun scramble on Tomyhoi.

Sometimes I feel like the Twin Sisters Range next to Mount Baker is often forgotten about. The red tape with the logging company land ownership adds a bit to the weirdness and mystery. Armed with mountain bikes, this turned into a great multi-sport adventure traversing from South Twin to North Twin.

The Ptarmigan Traverse is an ultra-classic mountaineering route that cuts through the heart of the Northern Cascades. Four days of miles and miles of glacier travel, rugged terrain, and never-ending views.

Ruth Mountain may have the best scenery-to-effort ratio in the North Cascades. A smooth gravel road to Hannegan Pass Trailhead, followed by a nicely maintained trail, easy snow travel, and no crevasse shenanigans (season dependent obviously) - highly recommend as a type 1 kind of day.

Mailbox is an unremarkable peak for someone who’s gotten used to the scenery around North Bend and the I-90 corridor (and also done it many times), but it was a great day for friends visiting from out east. Ended up being a memorable one because it was one of those “above the clouds” type of days!

I usually forget a lot of my urban runs but this was a good one. I often think about what my life would look like if I lived in SF/Bay Area, and maybe I’d come here quite a bit if I did.

A recovery day on the way to San Francisco. Absolutely bonkers seeing the amount of flooding in the park and pouring water in the falls. A lot of old-timers seemed to agree that this year was exceptional with the amount of snowfall that landed in the Sierra. Apologies for the repeat photos, still in awe at the novelty of it all.

A break from skiing to check out a local hot spring.

A nice day for peakbagging in between bouldering days.