Washington, Summer 2007

Fishing I: Attempting to fish just off Route 2 with Sergiu, Roycie, and Rabin. (Photos and Panoramas)

The Prequel: Where I left off last summer. The conditions were a bit different though, as you can see. Luckily, I was prepared for a "north west summer" this year. :) Trip with Damon, Rabin, Roycie, and Sergiu. (Photos and Panoramas)

Lake #1: First day of a two day camping trip at Icicle Creek with Sergiu, Roycie, and Rabin. Just a leisurely afternoon hike and a short scramble for some better views. Good trout in the lake too, but we forgot the fishing gear. (Photos and Panoramas)

Lake #2: Second day of a camping trip at Icicle Creek with Sergiu, Roycie, and Rabin. We aborted a hike to Caroline Lakes since it looked like it was socked in. Luckily, there was a break in the sky right when we got to Eightmile Lake, long enough to attempt some fishing. (Photos and Panoramas)

Blue Bird ID4: Hike with Sergiu and Roycie on a blue bird (and hot) independence day. The "summer" trail was still snow covered and we missed it on the way up (apparently missing a gigantic cairn pointing to the right way which we found on the way back). Nonetheless, we didn't have to kick too many steps to get back on track. :) Without any clouds in the sky, the entire state was pretty much visible from the summit (Glacier Peak, Mount Baker, and Shuksan to the north, all the way to Rainer to the south, and west to the Puget Sound). (Photos and Panoramas)

Rainier Part III: First day of a two day trip to Rainier (can't spend a summer in Washington without at least one visit :). Finding a car to rent at the last minute turned out to take most of the day, so I didn't get to Paradise until 5 PM. Nonetheless, the timing did make for some great lighting, so I quickly went up to Alta Vista and Panorama Point and made a short stop at Narada Falls before packing it in to see sunrise at Sunrise the next day. (Photos and Panoramas)

Rainier Part IV: Second day of a two day trip to Rainier. I was able to make it up to Sunrise Point in time for one awesome sunrise. It turned out that hiking in early was also a good idea because a marine layer started moving in by 9 AM. After visiting Burroughs Mountain (one, two, and three, though the third was socked in), Mt. Fremont, and the Sourdough Ridge trail, I left by noon, just as tourists started arriving in force. (Photos and Panoramas)

Taste of the North Cascades: Just a hike to Trappers Peak above the Thornton Lakes in the North Cascades with Sergiu and Andy. Although it looks cloudy, this was relatively good weather compared to most of the weekends this summer. The view was still pretty good with the three Thornton Lakes (third being frozen) and Mount Triumph. We also did a short cross country to the peak just north of Trappers via the saddle. (Photos and Panoramas)

Fishing II: Trying to relax after a paper deadline. I really was just messing around with a new graduated density filter (hence the darkly menacing river photos) but Sergiu actually caught some fish this time. :) (Photos and Panoramas)

Turquoise and Grey: Weekend backpack with Sergiu and Michael starting Friday evening. Our original plan was to make camp at Tank Lakes the second night. In any case, this summer's weather reared its ugly head again so we settled for a quick peek at the Tanks and then headed back down to camp at Emerald Lake which wasn't going to be socked in for the night. Nonetheless, we got some good fishing (and eating :) in, and had an interesting encounter with a "youth group" doing work on the trail. (Photos and Panoramas)

Riding Off Into the Sunset: Damon and I went to Mount Baker and had barely 5 feet of visibility at the parking lot, so we gave up on that hike. On lark, we decided to go to the San Juan islands while we were up there. And we get rained on during the ferry trip. Then, at the very end of the day, the weather started clearing and that's when all these pictures were taken. The awesome sunset pics almost make the entire miserable day worth it. (Photos and Panoramas)