Tag Archives: north cascades

Twenty-five years ago, I moved to Bellingham, Washington to ski and pursue a degree at Western Washington University. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Mt. Baker was about to set a world record for snowfall. That first winter totally changed the course of my life. I instantly became hooked on the deep powder skiing and the rugged and seemingly endless …

I’ve been wandering the mountains for a good part of my life. In fact, I’ve built most of my life among the summits and the euphoric experiences they offer. I derive my livelihood by moving through the mountains, and there was a time when the argument could have been made that, simply put, this was the entire purpose of my …

“Both awe and wonder are often experienced in response to nature, art, music, spiritual experiences, or ideas. In the midst of these moments, we can feel overwhelmed by the vastness of something that is almost incomprehensible—it almost feels like what we’re witnessing can’t be true—like we’re seeing something that doesn’t fit with how we move through and understand our everyday …

As the snow begins to retreat in the North Cascades, and the color scheme ever so slowly shifts from white to green, I get the itch. Of course, having plied these North Cascades for numerous happy decades, I am used to waiting: there’s a lot of snow up there, and it melts out slowly, unveiling the verdant greenery in its …

For a long time, I hated running. It held no joy. It was an exercise to do, a chore to perform. It was work, and it hurt. The best moment of a run tended to be when it was over. The value of running was a means to an end: enhanced fitness, which meant increased performance in the mountains or …

The Mt. Baker Highway is unusual. As one of Washington’s few high mountain roads that remains (mostly) open in winter, it provides access to the alpine that otherwise just isn’t feasible in other parts of the North Cascades due to a combination of snowed-in roads and the abbreviated daylight hours of winter. The Highway, officially known as SR-542, is plowed …

I push forward through days spread out over decades. Days that have taken me into nearly every corner of the Cascade Mountains where snow weighs heavy on my shoulders, just as it does on the boughs of the evergreens that groan with each additional snowflake. Days where clouds open up and my place in the world is defined. Days spent …

Every season in the Northwest has a special magic, but autumn always offers something unique and invigorating before winter’s long dark rainy days. For outdoor enthusiasts, the air is crisp and bright; the mountains are free of bothersome insects, and—from the sub-arctic to the Selkirks, Purcells, Rockies, and Cascades—a myriad of ecosystems unveil their autumn finery before the snows settle …

If you’re like me, you’ve been on a remote hiking path in the North Cascades and thought to yourself, “Gosh, this trail sure is remote and rugged and well-maintained. I wonder who humped all the way up here to build it?” You’d be surprised at how often the answer is Russ Pfeiffer-Hoyt. Russ and his team of intrepid trail-builders have …

To be at work and at play at the same time is to know inspiration. To labor with passionate commitment on something you believe in is to know fulfillment. But to simply awaken at 6521 feet to a dazzling sunrise is to experience the exalted treasure of one of Washington’s remaining fire lookouts. I became lookout chairman 14 years ago, …