Sahale Arm, North Cascades, WA Part 5

Setting up camp.

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

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 last post

The ladies joined us and we headed over to the far shore



Found a nice little inlet to explore





The end of the inlet. Nice.



Coming back out




Clear water



Not a reflection, you can see to the bottom




Morning- leaving our island.



Peaceful paddling




Coming up on Ross Lake Resort to order our shuttle truck



Back to Diablo Canyon



Pool water in the canyon




A relaxing way to end the trip



If you'd just like to look at big photos without all the writing, go here

The end

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 Part 7

We setup camp, and just as we were finishing lunch the rain came. When I say rain, I mean monsoon. Fortunately we saw it coming and were prepared, all cozy in the tents. One thing I really enjoy is reading a book while rain is falling hard outside and I drifted off to sleep listening to this fine sound.

A couple hours later the rain stopped, we peeked out and were presented with a fine evening for another cruise. Jenny and Jennifer claimed to be too comfy to get out, so my sweet sweet wife and I had the lake to ourselves.



For most of this trip, the water was just unreal. I found myself thinking about a wakeboard. If only they made quiet towboats.




We couldn't keep it to ourselves, so we headed back to our island to roust the womens.


If you look closely, you can see our other canoe on the island on right, birds still hanging out to the left of the smaller island

Diablo/Ross Lake Canoe trip. July2010 Part 6

The girls got tired of waiting around on photos and cruised on ahead



The sweet sweet wife was stuck with me though. You marry a photographer and you just gotta put up with it





She does have her limits, this is her secret code that it's time to move on.




Moving on



The ladies headed for land to the sounds of rushing water. Pulled into a cove and hiked a bit



This was the only time we ran into mosquitos the entire trip and they weren't bad but we didn't want to have to spray on deet or cover up, so I took a couple pics and we headed back to the water




Ominous looking clouds started rolling in so we booked it back to the camp, packed up gear and headed for our second nights stop- Cougar Island.

This was previously my favorite spot to camp as it is a small sland(about 200 yards long 100 yards wide?) There are only 2 sites on the island but we always get it to ourselves.. The south side gets the weather, the north side has a nice calm little pool even when the weather gets crazy. It also has a little sister island to the east that it's fun to swim or boat to.

Arrival at Cougar Island. If you look closely you can see a flock of birds hanging out on the sister island.