the northern cascades

i spent a couple days up in the northern cascade mountains.

let me reprint for you my journal entry for that day. it goes:

"Dear god, you kick ass"

rachel's uncle Cal was kind enough to loan me his cabin just outside the park boundaries. it's more like a modified pre-fab tool shed, but with a stove, fridge and microwave! it did the trick. it's right next to a small creek which was the perfect location for breakfasts and dinners. i sat on the rocks next to the water looking up at the mountain peaks while chomping away on my cereal or pasta. i don't need anymore cereal or pasta for awhile ... or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for that matter. (it would be interesting to know, however, just how many thousands of PB&J sandwiches I've eaten in my lifetime. i'm actually surprised at this point that i haven't, as my mom used to promise, turned into a giant peanut butter and jelly sandwich. a guy can dream, can't he?).

the best day by far was my hike to the cascade pass. the trailhead started about 20 miles down this dirt road, winding it's way into a valley carved out by glaciers. the hike (about 10 miles round trip) wasn't too difficult, but involved a 3,000 foot climb in switchbacks and skree fields. i encountered my first marmot on the trip. i actually didn't know what it was ... it was bigger than a beaver and it squeeked. it scampered around some large boulders just to the side of the skree field squeeking as it hopped. not very intimidated by this behavior, i tried to get closer to snap a photo, but i think he was on to my not-so-wiley ways. i encouraged the little beast that i wasn't going to hurt him, but he didn't seem to believe me. i did learn, however, that marmots do not respond to "here kitty, kitty, kitty". it was worth a shot.

(it was later, in the park ranger office that i learned it was a marmot. by the way, why didn't anyone tell me that the pacific northwest has all the cute park rangers? i swear everywhere i went, the park rangers were young attractive women ... where did all the nice, dorky old men go? not that i'm complaining.)

the hike proved to be stellar. the moutains are capped with glaciers and were still mostly covered in snow despite the lateness of the season. i hiked an extra peak to get a look at 'doubtful lake' in the basin of some of the mountains. waterfalls from the melting snow ran into the lake on several sides and the icy blue water reflected the clouds moving in from the north. i wanted to jump in, but i made that mistake in new zealand several years ago where i learned the true meaning of the phrase "takes your breath away". my testicles didn't descend for days. [hint: glacier fed lakes are not "refreshing"].

even while on the mountain, it was difficult to grasp the enormity of the earth i had just climbed. the grand canyon is like that ... you stand at the edge and slowly, very slowly, you start to take in the details of the canyon going deeper and deeper and you start to get just how immense that crack in the ground really is. the cascades were like that.

the next day i was thwarted by rock slides which closed down most of the road inside the park. the slides had trapped 65 people the night before who had to be evacuated on the east side of the park. the only way back to the west was a 10 hour detour road that went around the southern part of the mountain range. i'm very glad that wasn't me.

instead i drove around as much as i could and listened to Peter Gabriel's 'Passion' which, by the way, is very good scenic driving music.

my legs were pretty beat from the hike the day before, so in the end, i just decided to take off early for orcas island.

next on j.blog: proposals and bloody knees!