Cloudy Pass

"We wound up Cloudy Pass and, magically, a vast white monster of a mountain rose from the Suiattle  watershed to greet us, snow-covered and agleam in the westering sun."  (Edwards Park, Washington Wilderness, the North Cascades)

Take a long walk north on the Pacific Crest Trail through Washington State from the Columbia River to the trail's end at the Canadian Border.  Travel through some of the finest wilderness areas in the Continental US: Goat Rocks, Alpine Lakes, Glacier Peak, Pasayten.  Watch the sun rise and set over vistas of the great Northwest volcanoes: Hood, Adams, St Helens, Rainier, Glacier.  Catch tantalizing glimpses of the peaks of North Cascades National Park, an area so wild and rugged that some call it "the Alps of North America" (although others have been known to refer to the Alps as "the North Cascades of Europe").

Near the middle of your walk, a few days north of Stevens Pass, you will enter the Glacier Peak Wilderness.  Spend several days (more if you can afford the time) traversing the west and north flanks of Glacier Peak itself, one of the highlights of the entire Trail.  Continuing north, climb to Suiattle Pass and begin the descent into Agnes Creek, which will lead you to the Stehekin River and Lake Chelan.  Before you leave the Glacier Peak high country, however, take a short side trip east toward the Lyman Lakes Basin. In about a mile you will reach a high saddle.  From here take a look back at Glacier Peak, then turn east and look across the Lyman Lakes Basin to Spider Gap and the heart of the Entiat Mountains.  This high saddle is only one among the hundreds of spots that could represent my love for the wild places of the Northwest, one among the hundreds that serve as the inspiration for my photography.  On the map, this high point bears the label "Cloudy Pass".

Sunrise at Cloudy Pass

Lupine meadow at Cloudy Pass

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