View East From Cascade Pass,
North Cascades National Park, Washington

This photograph was made during a solo day hike to the summit of Cascade Pass in North Cascades National Park.

At the time, I was a forester for the Makah Indian Tribe in Neah Bay, Washington, way out on the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula. Being a veteran backpacker (Montana, Colorado), I was eager to try out the mighty Cascades.

So I crossed Puget Sound on the ferry, then drove north from Seattle and east up the Skagit River canyon. Eventually I arrived at the trailhead to Cascade Pass. The trail up to the top had more switchbacks than almost any I'd ever been on, which meant steep, steep, steep.

The day was clear, and the high country colors were in full display: Mountain-ash, huckleberries, and tundra forbs that I didn't know. The huckleberries in particular were almost blood red, glowing in the clear high sunlight.

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