It is late summer in the Cascades. We’ve had over 40 days without rain, which is nearly a record for the area.
The area around Mt. Rainier is a good place to visit. The Sunrise and Paradise locations are in bloom with countless wild flowers. If you’re interested in getting to the high country without the work, Crystal Mountain has a gondola that will whisk you up to about 7,000’ of elevation and provide to-die-for unobstructed views of Mt. Rainier and pretty much everywhere else. On a clear day you can see peaks from nearly Canada to the north to Oregon to the south. There are also countless wild flowers and hikes around Crystal. Additionally, There are several forest service roads that lead to wonderful hikes. There are a number of really good bike rides and hikes in the area that follow the White River along old growth to a variety of valley floor destinations. These are a lot easier to do and therefor much more enjoyable for the occasional hiker…
To my knowledge there are no larches in this area.
If you’re interested in a trip to the coast it is typically *gorgeous* this time of year. Foggy mornings leading to sunny afternoons (weather providing, of course) Ruby, Realto, Kalaloch beach and others in NW washington are very primitive- like going back in time primitive - which for many amounts to nearly life altering experiences to visit, and tourism is well past the peak, this time of year.
