Running out of room

Turns out I have limited space on blogspot. I'm transferring this thing over here

Sahale Arm, North Cascades, WA Part 5

Setting up camp.

Happy Birthday to me

Got to celebrate my birthday with some very good friends the other evening. I won't post any pics of that because it has nothing to do with the great outdoors, but I do want to post a photo of this most excellent cake from my sweet sweet wife. Fat kid on a skateboard? What is she trying to say????

Sahale Arm, North Cascades, WA Part 4

The toilet up there deserves it's own post. I don't care how much your bathroom remodel cost, you're not topping this.

Not only a great perch, but with the wind rocketing up that face, it's a bit of an adventure just to hang on whilst you take care of business.

Sahale Arm, North Cascades, WA Part 3

Continuing on



Came around a corner to this little guy in the trail. He led us down the path for a bit



Then took a side route



He posed for the paparazzi



My sweet sweet wife wanted some pictures of wildflowers, they weren't quite in full glory yet, but there were some blooming





Then we climbed for a long time. It got windy and we started to catch little glimpses of our surroundings




The worst part of the hike was upon us and picture taking stopped for awhile



But we did make it..

Sahale Arm, North Cascades, WA Part 2

The terrain starts to change




The fog made the forest very mysterious and magical, but we were both hoping it would burn off once we got out into the open.

No such luck







We weren't complaining though, it was still quite a place to be

Sahale Arm, North Cascades, WA Part 1

Camping at the Sahale Glacier has been on our to-do list since last year, so when I heard a rumor that the wildflowers might be in full bloom it was time to move.

My sweet sweet wife is still battling foot trouble, but she graciously packed all my meals and then wished Jennifer and I a good trip.

I really do have the best wife.


We departed Olympia at the reasonable hour of 2:45 am because there are only a handful of backcountry permits available for Sahale Glacier and it's first come first serve. Due to a slight miscalculation on my part, we showed up an hour and a half before the Marblemount Ranger Station opened. This did technically qualify as early enough to be the first ones in line, but next time we may sleep in a bit longer.

Fortunately Jennifer is one of those great trip partners who can roll with anything and instead of trying to invoke bodily harm on me for the miscalculation, just kind of mumbled stuff under her breath for a few minutes that I couldn't really hear.

We did in fact get our permit and a short drive later were at the trailhead.

I'm pretty sure Jennifers pack weighed more than she does, but we are both of the mind that an uncomfortable hike is preferred over an uncomfortable camp. We may pack heavy, but we camp in luxury.



Onwards and upward