If I wanted to be in the mountains, my go-to was always Colorado. I never explored West of the Rockies - boy, was I in for a sweet surprise! After seeing photos online, I knew I had to go explore the Cascades. Rugged mountains all the same, just with a little more greenery and PNW feels.
Although we spent time exploring all over the park, my favorite adventure was backpacking up to Sahale Glacier. We originally had plans set for a different area, but the ranger told us there was a site open (and even more, all to ourselves) - we just had to go! We trekked up through a few feet of snow in some spots - six miles up with a 5,000+ elevation gain. I didn’t quite expect that, but goodness were the views worth it! At one point I woke up at 3am to check the weather - completely clear skies and perfect for some astrophotography. But crawling out of my sleeping bag when it was below freezing was something I was not about to do. I’m still kicking myself in the butt for that one to this day :)
