Rainy Roadtrip

There’s something beautifully soothing about a winding road, towering evergreens, and the patter of raindrops on a windshield. A couple weekends ago, we drove out to Rainier and back (although the mountain didn’t want to show itself) and got our fill of that trademark Pacific Northwest mist.

Ancient Grove

Storm King

Storm King towers over Lake Crescent Lodge from the southeast, and for that reason it’s tough to get a sense of its scale when hanging out near the hotel and its minor trails. Several years ago, my partner and I took a boat tour and saw the mountain from the water for the first time — and holy shit, was it something else. We set a goal to hike it someday once we had it in us fitness-wise, and just the other week we checked it off our list. 2000-some feet of gain across a mile and a half of treacherous switchbacks and rock slopes and zero regrets.

Storm King over Lake Crescent, spring 2019.