North Cascades, San Juans, and Olympics

---

Michelle and I took a week off and explored North Cascades National Park, the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound, and Olympic National Park. Thanks to a cold spring, we hit the snowline just beyond the trailhead of each of our six dayhikes. Luckily we had waterproof boots and never lost the trail for more than 20 minutes at a time. As dayhikers trespassing on the territory of mountaineers, we had incredible views of the surrounding peaks.

We chuckled our way through the themed towns of Winthrop and Leavenworth and we were very impressed at the vibrance of community in Bellingham and Port Townsend. Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor on San Juan Island were very touristy but fun places to spend a few hours. Heading back to Spokane was difficult as we descended from the lush, mountain forest into the dry, endless prairie of central Washington.

The pictures are ordered chonologically. I hope you all are having a great summer!

---

Photos

Friendly deer in these National Parks
I guess becuase there's no hunting.

Boundary Bay brewpub
Great sampler! Boundary Bay is an internationally renowned microbrewery.

San Juan Islands
We looked for Killer Whales but didn't see any unfortunately.

Roche Harbor
The San Juan Islands reminded me of Maine and some of the touristy towns felt much like Bar Harbor.

Port Townsend
A great little town at the foot of the Olympic range with a lot of nice dockside pubs serving Port Townsend Brewing Co.

Dickerman Peak
Taller that any point in Maine but one of the smallest peaks in the North Cascades.

A nice view from Dickerman
Mt Rainier visible from over 100 miles to the south!

Expedition up Mt Baker
The thin horizontal line halfway up the shadow is a team of 12 intending to summit the following day. We made it to High Camp where the peak is another five hours away.

Black Bear!
Luckily we had no grizzly bear encounters but we saw two black bears

The german-themed Leavenworth
I heard that Leavenworth lost its main industry so decided to boost tourism by emulating bavaria.