Cascade Pass is our favorite hike in the Pacific Northwest so far, and one that we have done two previous times. We didn't go last summer, so I wanted to make sure to go this summer. We had planned to go last weekend, but the weather was wet, and I feared that we may not have another chance to go hike with sunny and warm summer weather. Fortunately, though, we had beautiful 70 degrees this past Saturday.

It's almost a 3 hour drive to the trailhead, so we left at 7:30 and ate some bagels on the way. The sky was clear and it was a nice sunny morning. The trail starts by ascending for a mile or so through forest. We did this part of the hike with relative ease, it seemed like, I guess because we've been hiking all summer and are in decent shape.

This part of the hike seemed a little longer than we remembered, but eventually the trees thinned out as we approached the treeline. Then we walked along the side of a mountain, over a rocky section. This part reminded me of the Highline Trail we did in Glacier. And, we made it to the Pass at around noon.

Normally we'd eat here and then turn back, but this time we wanted to go farther. I was feeling very good at this point. It seemed like we made good time and I wasn't tired at all.

So, we continued on toward the Sahale Arm that led higher on the mountain toward a glacier and a camp. This part of the trail was at about 5,400 feet and had a very steep ascent. Lesley didn't seem to have much trouble hiking uphill over uneven and loose rocks, but I had to stop a couple times to rest. The view from here was one of the best of the day as we passed through meadows of wildflowers.

After a while we made it to the crest of the slope we were on and could see to the North. There were more mountains on this side, as well as a small lake a couple hundred feet below us called Doubtful Lake.

We weren't planning to go all the way to the camp at the end of the trail, but wanted to go far enough to enjoy some of the better views. Eventually we had a good view to the west as well as the east found a good rock to sit on. We had some of our snacks and water before heading back down.

The walk down seemed longer than the way up, but the views were still great, though some clouds had come in. Lesley was pretty exhausted and sore, but we made it back to the car and through the long ride back home.

We walked about 10 miles and ascended nearly 3,000 feet in elevation, taking five and a half hours, so this was probably the most challenging hike we've ever done. It was definitely a good workout, and I look forward to doing additional challenging hikes in the future.

With Lesley's foot hopefully on the mend, I'd like to fit two year's worth of hikes into this summer, since we weren't able to hike much last year. Here are the top trails I want to hit:

• Rattlesnake Ledge - A moderately difficult hike that's not too far away and offers beautiful views. Probably my favorite trail in the nearby area.


• Iron Goat Trail - Not sure if we'll do this one again, as it's kind of far away, but it's one of my favorite hikes we've done in the past few years.


• Cascade Pass - We've gone twice before and it's been one of our favorite hikes. We'd like to go earlier in the season so that we can see all the wildflowers.


• Lime Kiln Trail - One of my favorite hikes we did our first year here, it's a little far away but I'd like to go again.


• Twin Falls - Another enjoyable trail that can get rather busy


• Cougar Mountain - We've been here many times as it's closer than all these other options. There are many different trails of easy to moderate difficulty. I hope we can go here several times.


• Olympic Peninsula - We went here with Lesley's parents a couple years ago, but the weather was rather hot. I'd like to go back and do some longer hikes in different parts of the park.

With a 3-day weekend at our disposal, we were looking for something fun to do. We decided to spend part of Saturday in the nearby German-themed tourist town of Leavenworth.

It was about a two-and-a-half hour drive out there. We opted for the longer route out there to avoid the traffic along highway 2. The drive out was pretty scenic. Leavenworth is on the east side of the Cascade mountains, and crossing over the pass is always an adventure; it's just such a long, steep incline.

When we first got to Leavenworth, we were hungry for lunch, so we ate lunch at München Haus, which had a variety of German sausages. There were also almost a dozen types of mustard, including jalapeño, sweet hot, and dijon mustard. I enjoyed the bratwurst I had along with the beer. It was a nice way to begin the day.

After lunch, we strolled through the town. The buildings are all decorated in a Bavarian style. Leavenworth was a dying town in the mid 1960s when the town decided to make itself look like a Bavarian village in order to attract tourists. The strategy worked, as was evident during our visit.

There were lots of places to eat and little touristy shops to visit. There was also a group of yodelers providing live music on this sunny Saturday. We enjoyed looking around in the shops. We also bought some cheese and some fudge to bring back with us. We also spent some time walking along the river. The cottonwood trees were almost raining down on us and it felt warm under the sun, though I'm sure the temperature didn't even reach 80. We also got some ice cream from one of the several ice creameries in the town.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable way to spend part of the day, though I'm sure it'd be even more enjoyable for fans of touristy trinkets.

Here are our favorite pictures that we took last year. Vote on your favorite below.

Go here to see our favorite pictures from 2008.

Cascade Pass was our favorite hike that we did in our first year here and we wanted to do it again. Last time we went in September and the bushes were already changing colors for the fall, so we wanted to go earlier in the year this time.

We slept in a bit before leaving Sunday morning and decided to eat the sandwiches we brought at the trailhead. The weather was cool and partly cloudy, comfortable hiking weather. As we started the 3.7 mile ascent, we remembered that one of the nice things about this trail is that it's not as consistently steep as some others. As we neared the top, where the bushes had already turned reddish last year, everything was still green and there were some wildflowers remaining.

When we got to the pass, we sat and ate an apple, but there was a stiff, cold wind. With the wind, it felt like it was 50 degrees up there - a bit colder than we'd planned for. Originally we'd wanted to keep going, but we decided to turn back. Walking into the wind on the way down was uncomfortable, but after just a little while we were shielded by the trees.

Once we got back to the parking lot, we didn't do anything else there and just headed back. It was about a 3 hour drive back, with a couple traffic jams. It was a pretty long distance considering all the hiking trails that are closer, but it was a great hike. Hopefully we'll go again next year, earlier in the season, so that we can see more wildflowers and hike a little farther.

Troy had a meeting at church this morning so I stayed at home and played the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It's an interesting game so far but I have to say that I like Ocarina of Time better. Then at 11:30 I went to get my hair cut at a salon a few blocks away on Lake Union. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted when I went there but I ended up getting my hair layered again, tapered in the front, and got bangs. It's still long enough though so I can put it in a pony tail if I'm feeling lazy. I'm just afraid I won't be able to fix it that well, but I've always had that problem.

After Troy got home from his meeting we walked to the library downtown so he could pick up a book he reserved. I didn't have much for lunch so I felt like having a smoothie from Jamba Juice. We shared the Caribbean Passion which has passion fruit mango juice, strawberries, peaches, and orange sherbet. It was really nice outside so we went to Seward Park. It was cool in the shade but warm in the sun. The park wasn't very crowded, which was nice.

We went to Red Fin sushi for dinner. We looked for the Malbec-Merlot wine from Three Rivers Winery that we really liked before when we had it with Ben, but they didn't have it. The sushi, especially the Ichi Roll, was very good.

Now we're watching the Seahawks preseason game against the Broncos. To finish the weekend, we're going to hike at Cascade Pass tomorrow. We're going earlier in the year than we did last year so I'm hoping to see some wildflowers.

We had thought about going to Cascade Pass again this past Saturday, but didn't feel like doing all that driving. So, we looked for a trail in our book that wasn't too far away. We decided to hike Chirico Trail to Poo Poo Point (named after the sound steam whistles made to signal loggers, back when logging was done in the area).

The trail started in a pretty heavily forested area. Since it hadn't rained here in quite a while, the trail surface was covered with dry, loose dirt, and the ferns and vines near the ground were coated with a thin brown film of dirt. Even though it was cool, the trail was fairly steep, and both of us were sweating. Unfortunately we wore jeans, which slowed us down a little. The trail we used is often used by hang gliders, and after hiking through forest, we came to their launching field and stopped there. The winds weren't right for hang gliding so it was pretty quiet there. It was cloudy so the view wasn't as impressive as it could've been, but we enjoyed stopping and resting. We decided to turn back there, so we didn't make it all the way to Poo Poo Point. I'm sure we'll come back sometime when we can have a better view and walk farther and hopefully see some hang gliders.

One of the things we love about living in Seattle is all of the hiking opportunities nearby. We've done quite a few hikes and walks since we've been here, all of which have been enjoyable, but there are a few trails that I can't wait to hike again.

• 
  Cascade Pass at North Cascades National Park (original post) - This was probably the longest and most difficult hike we did, at 7.4 miles and 1700 feet of elevation gain, which isn't difficult at all compared to a lot of other trails, but it was a big hike to us. We started the hike near glaciers and hiked past streams into an alpine meadow with scattered boulders before the trail ended at Cascade Pass with a beautiful view. It's a few hours away, but worth the drive and the effort.


• 
  Lime Kiln Trail at Robe Canyon Historical Park (original post) - This trail started closer to us than Cascade Pass did, but it was still one of the more distant trails we did. While it was also several miles long, it was pretty flat, since it followed an old rail line. We walked parallel to a river for a few miles, through the remains from an old settlement, past a lime kiln, and stopped next to the river for a snack before heading back. A relatively easy hike with a lot of stuff going for it, and the memory of us relaxing next to the river is something I will keep with me.


• Any trail at Cougar Mountain (original posts 1, 2, 3, and 4) - Located about 30 minutes away, with many trails of varying difficulty, we've enjoyed going here many times. It doesn't have the amazing views of Cascade Pass trail or the river of Lime Kiln Trail, but it's a beautiful area with lots of trails to explore. We'll definitely go back many more times.

I'm looking forward to doing more hikes as the weather warms up and hope to hike these trails again and discover many more wonderful trails.

We've done so many fun things over the past year living in Seattle. We've had so much fun exploring the area and spending time together. One of the coolest things about living here is that we're so close to natural beauty. There are two mountain ranges close by, tons of evergreen trees, lakes and other bodies of water, and so much more. Here are the top 3 highlights of our first year here with a brief description of each:

1. 
   Tulip Festival & Deception Pass - Going to the tulip festival for our one year wedding anniversary was really nice and romantic. We stayed in a nice bed and breakfast, which we'd never done before, and saw field after field of colorful tulips in bloom. It's just amazing the number of flowers in such a small area during the tulip festival. We went to Deception Pass during the same trip and it was almost equally impressive.


2. 
   Exploring North Cascades National Park - Hiking on Cascade Pass in NCNP was so cool and was definitely the best, most fun, and most beautiful hike we've ever done. The drive through the mountains and past the rivers in the valleys was so peaceful. Glaciers stood still near the mountain tops and almost looked as if they were hanging there, suspended in mid-air. Hopefully we'll go back again this summer.


3. 
   Visting Mount Rainier - Visiting Mount Rainier was pretty awesome. The mountain itself is so breathtaking and beautiful. We went in early June and there was still a ton of snow on the ground, but it was warm enough to wear short sleeves at the same time. The drive up to it was pretty and took a surprisingly long time, despite the fact that we live relatively close to it. It's definitely the tallest mountain I've ever been on. We could have spent so many more hours there hiking and exploring. A day really is not enough time to do Mount Rainier justice.

Here are some more highlights:

• Exploring and shopping at Pike Place Market, including the Savor Seattle food tour


• Taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island & exploring the waterfront


• Front row seats to Phantom of the Opera


• Eating at the Space Needle


• Mariners games (April, May, and July)


• Seeing movies at the Cinerama (Indy 4 & The Dark Knight)


• Seeing the view from Kerry Park & Alki Beach


• Snoqualmie Falls

With the snow and then the flooding, the major interstate highways, I-5, and I-90 had been closed recently, but they're back open now.

It's kind of crazy how often the interstate is closed around here. I-90 is often closed at Snoqualmie Pass, where it passes over the Cascade Mountains. There can be heavy amounts of snow there and sometimes avalanches that close the roadway. It's hard to believe that sometimes people are physically cut off from the eastern part of the state by land. Of course these closures have no impact on us, since we have no need to go outside the city, but it's amazing the impact that the weather has on the transportation infrastructure.

We decided to go visit one of the nearby national parks last weekend so that we could see it while the weather was still good. It takes almost three hours to get to the park from Seattle, so we left at 8:15 (which is very early for us on the weekend). There are a lot of trails there, so our first stop was the trailhead for Cascade Pass, which is away from the rest of the park, but it's the hike that we had read the most good things about.

To get there, we had to drive an hour on a narrow, unmarked road, and halfway along the road, the pavement ran out and turned to gravel. The parking lot was pretty full and it was surrounded by mountains and glaciers. Anyway, we started walking up the trail, which was surrounded by tall trees like most of the other hikes we've done. After about an hour, the trees started getting noticeably shorter and we started seeing more streams of water dripping down the mountain. After a little while, the trees basically disappeared and we were amidst a colorful meadow on the mountainside. After walking a little further, over some rocks, we made it to Cascade Pass. We stopped to enjoy the beautiful view, the cool, fresh air, the bright, warm sunshine, and the crunchy peanut butter sandwiches we brought with us. It took us almost 2 hours to get there and was probably the most difficult hike we had done. On the way back down, we had to stay focused do that we didn't lose our footing. At one point while we were walking, we heard an avalanche (from another nearby mountain - there was no snow on ours).

Anyway, after an hour and a half walking down, we got back to our car, then drove to another hour to get back to the main highway. We drove for another thirty minutes before we entered the main area of the park. We drove along the blue-green Skagit River and then past several dams on our way through the park. We stopped at several lookout points to observe Diablo Lake below, the trees ahead, and the mountains above. There were more trails available, but we didn't do any. Whereas many other national parks have a major point of interest that's not available outside of the park, this park contains just a sample of the beauty throughout the Pacific Northwest. Even without an entrance fee, 40-year-old North Cascades National Park wasn't as busy as Mount Rainier National Park, which we went to earlier in the summer. We had a great time there. Check out our pictures and video below.