55. Cascade Range

                        Another mountain range that has a tendency to be especially wet, scraping moisture from the Pacific skies, is the Cascade Range. This range extends from northern California into southwestern British Columbia and provides the dramatic backdrop for the west coast cities of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a volcanic range so from Mount Rainier to Mount Shasta you’ll see plenty of huge, seemingly isolated peaks and it is all part of that famous Pacific Ring of Fire. In 1980 Mount St. Helens blew her top and coated much of the Inland Northwest and northern tier states with ash.

            My personal experience with the Cascades comes more from driving trips than much hiking. I frequently drive over Snoqualmie Pass in Washington as I head from Idaho to Seattle. Both Washington and Oregon have what is known as the Cascade Curtain which divides both those states into the western rain forests to the eastern deserts of the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau. But both sides of those states also reap the benefits of the moisture the Cascades provide because of the great rivers that flow from both sides of their slopes into the mighty Columbia River. This river breaks through the Cascades forming the border between Washington and Oregon in the Columbia Gorge. It’s all incredibly dramatic in scenery and everyone should experience the drives across the Cascades from east to west or vice versa.

            The Cascades are riddled with national parks. There is Mt. Lassen National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park and North Cascades National Park. There are ski resorts all along the range and many of the peaks are snow covered all year with glaciers to boot. Some of my favorite places in the Cascades are in those very parks. It’s very cool to walk a forested trail with old growth trees covered in moss. These parks have preserved that. A hike at Mt. Rainier’s Ohanapecosh can be like walking in a fairy land where sometimes even the winged insects will look a bit like fairies gliding through the air pausing to land on a mossy bower. The Cascades are beautiful and I’m grateful for them.