Unless you're pretty hardcore and willing to do some climbing (not me), the skiing season here in WA ended a few weeks ago. That means that for Anya and I to enjoy all the great nature around Seattle we'll have to trade skis for hiking boots. But with above-average snowfall in the Cascades this winter, most of the region's best trails are still inaccessible. Many of the access roads haven't been plowed yet.
We were able to get out a do some hiking on Saturday, however, by sticking to the lower elevations. We drove on US Hwy 2 towards Stevens Pass, the only major pass that stays open all winter except I-90/Snoqualmie. We hiked on a short but beautiful trail around Deception Falls, a series of gorgeous falls & rapids surrounded by a nicely intact forest. According to a sign, this was also the place where the eastern and western ends of the first railroad to cross the Cascades met in 1893. It was called the Great Northern Railroad and it went all the way to St. Paul, MN (for history buffs, I took a picture of the sign).
Since we were pretty close anyway, we drove to the top of the Pass and took pictures of the giant snowbanks lining the parking lots of the ski area.
We then went back down to less-socked-in places and hiked to a nice alpine lake. Barclay Lake sits right underneath the sheer 3000-foot granite face of a peak called Mount Bering. At about 2500' above sea level, the lake was only partially thawed and the trail to get there was still mostly covered with snow.
Anyway, here are the pictures.
