Seattle / Olympic / Mount Rainier / North Cascades 2024



My summer 2024 trip was to the Seattle area. I had been there once before, in 1990, when I hiked in Olympic and Mount Rainier parks, got a tour of Redhook Brewery, did a bunch of touristy stuff, and attended one session of the Goodwill Games wrestling competition. This time around I would add a third national park and visit a bunch of craft breweries (which didn't exist in 1990).


Tuesday July 9. My girlfriend Melissa drove me to BWI just before sunrise. It was an easy flight with Alaska Airlines. I arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) at 10:00 AM Pacific Time on a gorgeous sunny day, retrieved my luggage, picked up the rental car at 11:00, and drove immediately to Fremont Brewing. Parking was impossible. Fortunately I had done my homework and knew that there was a pay lot nearby, so I parked there. All the beers I tried were somewhat above average.


Next I went to Reuben's Brews, which opened in 2011. Parking was difficult but I was able to squeeze in somewhere. The beers were surprisingly good given their slightly-above-average Untappd rating.


Next stop: Holy Mountain Brewing's Phinney Taproom. Both the beers I tried were good.


Since my next brewery wouldn't open for another 40 minutes I stopped at Safeway to pick up food and water for the coming week's hiking and camping. Then I went to Ravenna Brewing. All the beers I tried were good.


On a tip from my server I stopped at Burke Gilman Brewing, which opened in 2018. All the beers were good but didn't live up to their high Untappd ratings.


Then I drove in sucky traffic to the home of my friend Trevor, whose dad I have been friends with for more than 38 years as of this writing. Check out the view from his deck:


We picked up dinner from a place called California Mexican Food...


...and hung out for a while. Then I crashed at around 8:00 because I was still on East Coast time. Oh, and I was stoned.


Wednesday July 10. Got up a little after 11:00 PM. After a couple of hours of trying unsuccessfully to get back to sleep, I got up, worked on this triplog, and got ready for a solid week of hiking and camping. Left a little before 4:00 AM not only to catch some early morning sun in Mount Rainier Park (which was an hour and a half away), but also because the park had started requiring timed entry passes for anyone entering between 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM (this was an attempt to reduce traffic congestion). There were 4 time slots: 7:00-9:00, 9:00-11:00, 11:00-1:00, and 1:00-3:00. Mount Rainier Park has two main corridors, and the corridor I would be visiting today, the Sunrise Corridor, is so popular that the 7:00-9:00 passes were sold out, so I would have to arrive before 7:00.

I got to Sunrise Point Lookout around 5:40 and took these photos:


Arrived at the Sunrise Visitor Center and set out at 6:30. First I walked...


...over to Emmons Vista.


Then I walked up the Sourdough Trail.


They had blocked off the south bank of Frozen Lake, which would have been a good place to take photos of it, so I photographed it from other angles.


Then I continued upward...


... to the Mount Fremont Fire Lookout, arriving at 8:30.

Panoramic shot.


Then I headed back down.


Took a few more photos of Frozen Lake.


Returned to the visitor center around 10:30. They had wifi so I plugged in and worked on this triplog for a while. Then I drove out of Sunrise Corridor...


...down to Paradise Corridor, using my timed entry pass to get in a little after 1:00. There was no cell service, so I was glad that I had printed directions. Around 2:00 I arrived at Louise Lake.


About a mile further I stopped at the Reflection Lakes (there are two of them).

Panoramic shot.


Then I stopped at Narada Falls.


I also stopped at another falls.


I arrived at Cougar Rock Campground at 3:00, set up camp, ate, shaved, washed up a bit (no showers), and rested. I was a bit lonely because I missed Melissa, there was no cell service, and I'd left my books at Trevor's place. I had a quiet, peaceful late afternoon / evening, dozed off a bit, and fell asleep around 9:30ish.


Thursday July 11. Woke up a little after 1:00 and couldn't get back to sleep. Started my day a little before 5:00. Drove to the Jackson Visitor Center, where I finally got cell service and was able to post pics and catch up on messages. At a little after 6:30 I began hiking the Skyline Loop Trail. There were a lot of bees, just like the day before.


At 8:30 I arrived at Panorama Point.

Panoramic shot.


In this next photo the two snow-capped peaks in the distance are Mount Adams on the left and Mount Hood (in Oregon) on the right.


Then I started hiking down.


I happened upon these playful creatures, which I assume are marmots.

There was lots of snow.


Shortly after 10:00 I made it to the Stevens - Van Trump Monument.


Saw some more nice scenery...


...and then ran into a couple who said that, according to some map app, we had missed a turn and were heading in the wrong direction. We backtracked, telling everyone we encountered that they were going the wrong way. Our group grew to about 10, and we eventually found the correct way. We were all lucky to have met this couple, for they saved us a lot of time and energy, and I wondered how many other people got lost that were not so fortunate.

From then on it was easy. I saw more beautiful scenery...


...and Myrtle Falls.


Got back to the visitor center at 11:30. Went inside to use the wifi, then left at 1:30. Drove for 4½ hours to Kalaloch Campground in Olympic National Park, not to stay there, but to go down to the beach...


...and see the Tree of Life.


There is a hollowed out area underneath called the Tree Root Cave, so you can view the tree from below.


The beach has millions of smooth oval stones, and some people put them in the root cave.


It was about 20 degrees cooler than in Mount Rainier Park, and windy. Next I went to Ruby Beach.


The flat, smooth rocks make rock stacking easy.


There is a natural archway where the waves splash in.


Drove to the Hoh Rainforest. On the way I saw a few elk grazing by the roadside.


Got to Hoh Rainforest Campground a little before 8:00. There weren't any bees, but there were mosquitoes. Set up camp and hit the hay sometime between 9:30 and 10:00.


Friday July 12. Woke up around 3:45 and enjoyed peace and tranquility for about an hour until the birds started chirping. Packed up and went to the Hoh River Trailhead about a quarter of a mile away at 6:30. Saw these two next to the parking lot.


Started hiking at 6:45.


First I did the Hall of Mosses, a 1.1-mile loop.


Then I did the Spruce Nature Trail, a loop that's slightly longer than the Hall of Mosses.


The morning was misty.


Hiked the Hoh River Trail, which is out-and-back, and mostly flat.


There are some huge trees, like this one:


Moss hangs from most of the trees.


The morning mist burned off and the rest of the day was sunny and gorgeous.


There are many species of trees, mosses, and ferns here. I also saw several dirt piles like this one. Are they some sort of insect mounds?


On the way back I encountered a lot of hikers. The sun brightened the day, making the forest look a bit different from a few hours earlier.


Finished my hike a little after 11:30. I was pretty tired but at peace. The parking lot was filled, and dozens of vehicles were parked along the road. It pays to be an early bird.

The road leading back to the highway runs along the Hoh River. There is a section of the river that has hundreds of strange concrete objects. Apparently they're part of an engineered log jam. Click here for more information.


Drove to the northern part of the park. On the way I stopped at Lake Crescent.


All the local campgrounds were booked so I would be staying at an Airbnb for the next two nights. It was $100 per night (campsites were $10-12 per night because I got a 50% discount with my America the Beautiful Lifetime Senior pass) but I would have access to wifi and a shower, plus I could refrigerate the shrimp and fake crab that had been sitting in the trunk for two days. I took a nice shower, ate, and spent several hours catching up on messages and working on this triplog. I turned in sometime between 9:30 and 10:00, completely exhausted.


Saturday July 13. Woke up around 2:45 and started my day about an hour later. I needed the extra time because due to a bridge closure on Highway 101, I would have to take a detour to my destination, and I needed to plan my route manually because Google Maps hadn't been updated. Left at 5:10 and arrived at the Storm King Ranger Station a little before 6:00. Got a text from Verizon welcoming me to Canada. Well, they were only off by about 15 miles.

Started hiking at 6:15. First I did the Moments in Time Trail, which goes through a rainforest-like area.


The next 3 photos go together.


Reached the banks of Lake Crescent.


Hiked to Marymere Falls, which has stairs to a view.


There are more stairs to a higher view, which I didn't find as good as the lower view.


Then I did the Mount Storm King Trail, which is a grueling all-uphill schlep. It was "only" a couple of miles, but it took well over an hour. Furthermore, it was not very scenic because the forest blocked the views. It reminded me of the Sulphur Mountain hike I'd done on my Banff trip the previous summer. Here are the only good photos I was able to take on the way up.


But, as with Sulphur Mountain, the payoff is at the top. However, the hiking portion at Mount Storm King isn't all of it. After the maintained trail ends, there is an even steeper section to ascend. A series of ropes helps. It reminded me of the Catawba Falls hike I'd done on my 2017 Asheville trip. I didn't include my photos of this trail section because it is impossible to tell whether there is an upslope, a downslope, or no slope at all. There is a pile of gloves at the bottom of this section to help hikers get a good grip and prevent rope burns.


After the ropes section there is a ridge to free climb.


Here is the reward at the top:


Everything was downhill from here. Literally. First I had to climb back over the ridge...


...then down the ropes section, and then down the rest of the trail, giving my quads a heckuva workout. When I returned to the ranger station I traversed the Moments in Time Trail again...


...to Lake Crescent in order to see it once the sun was fully up.

Panoramic shot.


Got back to the Airbnb by 1:00, made sandwiches for the next three days, showered, shaved, dozed off for a while, ate, and updated this triplog. Then at 6:15 I decided to go to downtown Port Angeles, mainly because it had the only brewery within 80 miles. It had marginal Untappd ratings, but after several days of wilderness I was ready for man-made entertainment, plus I hadn't had a beer since Tuesday.

As I left the Airbnb I heard some honking. I looked in the back yard, where there was a garden, and saw:


Port Angeles is located on the south shore of the Salish Sea, which separates the Olympic Peninsula from Canada.


Barhop Brewing & Artisan Pizza is a basic by-the-water pub. To say that their beer sucks would be an understatement. All four beers in my flight were so lousy that I didn't finish a single one.


Incidentally, a lot of breweries sell stickers, which are a rip-off because they usually charge a dollar or two, and they don't cost nearly that much to print. I had stickers made for my home brewery, and they cost less than 20 cents each, so I have started bartering by trading my stickers for breweries' stickers.


Went across the street to the wharf, which had an arcade; an ice cream shop; and an art store that was serving free popcorn, fruit, and bellinis.


Walked over to Angeles Brewing Supplies & Taproom, which is a combination beer bar, bottle shop, and homebrew supply store. I met a couple named Doug and Amy who were putting together a brewery in town called Mighty Pine that they planned to open later that month. Amy grew up in my hometown of Newton MA. Anyway, my flight consisted of:


Across the street is an artsy place called The Hub, which is a combination art exhibition studio and entertainment space. The woman working the front desk had once lived in Boston (near my hometown).


Happened upon another art studio / event space called Studio Bob. I went in but they were closing for the evening.


My final stop was New Moon Craft Tavern. This was my favorite place of the night. It had live music, a pretty good tap list, and good people. I got a pint of Seapine Newzilla Brett IPA, which was good. There was a great band called Sound Advice that played 70s music.


Got back to the Airbnb at about 10:00 and crashed.


Sunday July 14. Woke up around 3:00. Wrote for a while, packed up, and left. Got to the Hurricane Hill "visitor center" (it's just a parking lot) at 6:30. Hiked three interconnected trails called Cirque Rim Nature Trail, Big Meadow Nature Trail, and High Ridge Trail, which are short so they didn't take long.


A mile and a half away from the "visitor center" is the trailhead for the Hurricane Hill Trail. It is up-and-back, 3 miles round trip, paved, and quite steep. I must have seen a thousand people hiking it. There were also lots of wildflowers and bees.


I saw a family of marmots. This species, the Olympic marmot, which is found only on the Olympic peninsula, is becoming endangered because it is being hunted by non-native coyotes.


Then I visited Doug and Amy at their brewery-to-be. They bought the property in 2021 when commercial real estate was cheap due to the pandemic. It includes the house next door, where they live. Doug started homebrewing in 2001. They were planning to open at the end of the month.

Olive, the brewery cat.


I left at 11:00 and ran into some awful traffic on the way toward North Cascades National Park. At 4:00 I stopped at Skookum Brewery and sampled:


After that it was on to North Cascades National Park. I arrived at Newhalem Creek Campground at 6:15 and was surprised to get a cell signal. Had a peaceful evening and fell asleep around 11ish.


Monday July 15. Woke up around 4:00 and had a leisurely few hours. Arrived at Gorge Creek Falls at 6:30 and hiked the one-mile loop trail. Incidentally, there was no cell signal anywhere in the park except at the campsite, so once again my printed directions came in handy.


Shortly before 7:00 I got to Gorge Lake.


Shortly after 7:00 I arrived at the Diablo Lake Overlook.


At 7:20 I got to the Ross Dam Trailhead and did about a two-mile hike to the dam and back.


Arrived at the Thunder Knob Trailhead at 8:30 and took a couple of photos of the "thunder arm" of Diablo Lake from the bridge.


Then I hiked up to Thunder Knob, which was 3.6 miles out and back. It was the first time I wore my backpack that day because the previous hikes were short.


Here is the view from the top.


When I returned, I went back to the bridge and took the same two photos as before because by now the sun was illuminating more of the greenery.


My final hike of the day started at the Diablo Lake Trailhead. First I took some photos and a video of Diablo Lake.


Then I hiked the Diablo Lake, Sourdough Falls, Peninsula, and Deer Creek trails. They were not very scenic; here is the only thing I found worth filming.


A garter snake slithered across the trail in front of me but I was unable to capture it either physically or on camera. It was the only reptile I encountered on the entire trip.

When I returned to the trailhead at 1:30 I shot these:


Then I went to other spots around the lake and took these photos:


Returned to the campsite, took a sponge bath, drove a mile down the road to downtown Newhalem (I use the term "downtown" loosely because there isn't much there), and went to the Skagit Information Center to use their wifi. Spent several hours uploading photos from the past two days, writing, and catching up on messages. Left at 7:30, returned to the campsite, and fell asleep sometime between 8:00 and 9:00.


Tuesday July 16. Slept on and off until about 3:30, had a leisurely morning, and started my hike from the campsite at 6:30. It would be a short hike because I would be driving back to Trevor's afterward and I wanted to beat rush hour.

First I did the Skagit River Loop, which was unremarkable. Then I walked along the Trail of the Cedars...


...to Ladder Creek Falls.


Headed back to the campsite via the same route.


Got back a little before 9:00, washed up a bit, changed clothes, and left shortly after 9:30. I had gone to three national parks and the only one I needed my pass for was Mount Rainier because I entered the other parks either very early or very late, when the ranger stations were closed.

Arrived at Trevor's around 12:15. Brought my stuff in, had a shave and a shower, hung out for a while, got stoned, and slept from 4ish to 11ish. Spent the entire night and early morning writing, reading, and relaxing.

Wednesday July 17. Left at 7:00 and arrived at the Pike Place Market parking garage at 7:30. The streets leading down to that area are quite steep. Walked around for a bit. Here is the view of Puget Sound.


Walked over to the Space Needle. There is a garden and glass sculptures next to it.


Went up in the Space Needle at 8:45 (there is an early bird discount if you get there by 10:00). There are kiosks where you buy tickets. I bought a senior citizen ticket, which saves a few dollars. You're supposed to be at least 65 to be considered a senior, but no one checked.


From up there you can see the entire city, the Olympic Mountains, the Cascade Mountains (which includes Mount Rainier and North Cascades parks), Lake Union, and Puget Sound. It was partly cloudy - the only day of my entire trip that wasn't totally sunny - but visibility was still good.


On another level there is a slowly revolving glass floor, where you can look not only in the distance, but also at the ground below. Here is a brief video.


I walked over to Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, arriving at 10:35. It's located in a very old building. The next available tour wasn't until noon, but since I was alone, they let me join the 11:00 tour. I waited in the bar, called Doc Maynard's Public House, which is a restored 1890s saloon.


The "underground" is a section of the city that had problems with rats (which brought disease), sewage backups, and ultimately a fire that destroyed the area. They rebuilt on top of the area, so now the remnants of the old area are underground.

Old bathtub.


Many skylights were installed, most of which have been replaced with concrete, but there are still some left. Here is one from below (left) and another one from above (right).


Incidentally, downtown Seattle is dirty and smelly, and there are a fair number of homeless people. Also, at this time there was a lot of utility and other work being done, with areas that were dug up and sidewalks that were closed.

Walked over to the famous Pike Place Market, which has several levels of shops and stands selling everything from food to clothing to books to jewelry. Prices were high, unless you consider $4 for a mango and $7 per pound for peaches to be reasonable.


Walked two miles to Holy Mountain Brewing, arriving just after 2:00 when it opened. The brewery started in January 2015. I was at their Interbay location (I had gone to their Phinney Taproom the previous week). They did not do samples or flights (and neither did any of the other breweries I would visit that day). I got two half-pours, both of which were good.


Walked to Fast Fashion Brewing, arriving at 3:00 when it opened. One of the founders is my friend Brian, the brewer at Stillwater Artisanal Ales. Fast Fashion has two locations. I visited their Lower Queen Anne location, which is next to Masonry Pizza, owned by the other Fast Fashion founder. They sold small stickers for $2 each, but I was able to barter with my own stickers. The smallest pour they do is a "schooner", which is 12 ounces. My server let me taste four beers and get schooners of my two favorites. Well, all the beers were good, and picking my top two wasn't easy (but somehow I managed).

That's Brian.


Walked by a sports pub called Uptown Hophouse, which had about 24 taps, so I went in. They had Russian River Pliny the Elder on tap, so I had to get a glass.


Arrived at Here Today Brewery & Kitchen at 4:30 and ordered their Butuan City Soundtrack, a good "cocktail IPA" with mango, calamansi, and pandan leaf.


At around 5:30 I arrived at Cloudburst Brewing, which has two locations. I was at their Western Ave location. I sampled two beers, both of which were good, so every beer I tasted at every brewery (and bar) was good. I don't know whether that had ever happened before.


Walked back to Pike Place Market shortly before 6:00. It was mostly empty because most of the shops and stands close at 5:00, but a few eating places were still open (people have to eat dinner). There are two breweries at Pike Place Market: Pike Brewing and Old Stove Brewing, both of which have low Untappd ratings so I didn't drink at either of them. Here are some photos of Old Stove:


Here are some outside photos:


Went to a Chinese food place and got some shrimp fried rice, the only thing I bought at Pike Place Market.


Got back to Trevor's around 7:45 and hung out for a while.


Thursday July 18. Woke up at about 3:30 and got up sometime before 5:00. Spent the morning writing, relaxing, and checking in for the next day's flight.

Left at 10:20 and drove to the Ballard area of Seattle, which has about a dozen breweries, and, unlike many areas around the country, allows residences and businesses to exist in the same zone. At 11:05 I parked in front of Fair Isle Brewing, which wouldn't open until 3:00 but would be my final brewery of the day (and the trip). Parking was limited but I found a space right in front of Fair Isle. Walked a few blocks to Urban Family Brewing, which opens every day at 8:00 AM, an unusual time for a brewery to open. I sampled:


Directly across the street is Stoup Brewing. I got there at noon when they opened and tried:


A few blocks away is Great Notion Brewing, which opened in 2016 in Portland Oregon. Their Seattle location opened in 2021. All the beers I tried were good.


It was a gorgeous sunny day, and not too hot or humid. Walked about a mile to Cloudburst Brewing, which has two locations. I was at their Shilshole Ave location (I had gone to their Western Ave location the day before). Got there just before it opened at 2:00. Since they did not do flights or even sips, I got one beer:


Walked back to Fair Isle Brewing a few minutes after it opened at 3:00. They specialize in funky ales. I sampled 4 beers, all of which were good.


Left at 3:30 and ran into heavy traffic in the city due to utility work and just too many vehicles. It took an hour and a quarter for a ride that without traffic would have taken 30 minutes. Back at Trevor's I shaved, showered, wrote, and relaxed.

In the evening I went with Trevor and his daughter to his arm wrestling practice. She and I played while the real men worked out. I was tired when we got back, and I fell asleep around 10:30.


Friday July 19. Got up just after 4:00, did some final packing and writing, left at 6:30, returned the rental car, and walked to the airport, which was quite busy. Alaska Airlines has free movies via wifi, so I watched Wonka on the flight. My friend John picked me up at BWI and brought me home, where Melissa was waiting for me.


It had been a great trip with hiking, mountains, lakes, touristy stuff, 17 breweries, and about 50 beers, and everything went off without a hitch.