Itinerary
Seattle –> Lake Cushman –> Hurricane Ridge –> Forks –> Portland –> Mt St Helens –> Mt Rainier –> Seattle
Inspiration
Despite living in Anchorage for 10 years, visiting the area around the most accessible nearby city (Seattle) was never something that I had looked into. A shame, because Seattle is surrounded on all sides by some of the most incredible terrain I have ever seen! By May 2021, it had been over a year since I last left the state, and I was itching to get out and visit a new area. It had also been well over a year since I had seen my family, and this was the perfect “meet in the middle” spot for all of us. Once we settled on the location, it was a rush – like always – to plan out the road trip in such a way to minimize driving and the number of rentals.
Lake Cushman and Mount Rose
The first stop on the way to Olympic National Park was Lake Cushman, thankfully on a picture-perfect day. Above this lake lay several mountains that looked like great hiking opportunities – although we had been told that early-season conditions persisted high in the mountains. With this in mind, we chose summiting Mount Rose as our preferred route. The route, which started with uphill switchbacks immediately, covered 3500 ft elevation gain, but we were rewarded with fantastic mountain top views. The summit was below the tree line, which is quite different from what we are used to in the Chugach mountains.
The views from the top were fantastic, with Lake Cushman far below, the towering Mt Ellinor nearby, and Mt Rainier showing off in the distance.
Hurricane Ridge
After driving up to the top of the Olympic Peninsula, we headed up to Hurricane Ridge for our second day. Hurricane Ridge offers a great range of family-friendly hiking opportunities, and you are greeted to fantastic views miles before reaching the visitor center.
With only one day, changing weather (it would be sunny one minute and rainy the next), and more early season hiking conditions, we ended up only hiking to Hurricane Hill. At times, the snow fields blocking the trail posed some real hazards of slipping and sliding down the steep hills below, but we never were too nervous on this hike. Since the road past the visitor center was not open yet, we ended up with a 6-mile round trip hike. This is definitely an area I would visit again, and hopefully do a longer hike.
Olympic Discovery Trail – Adventure Route
We really wanted to get some biking in while visiting the Olympic peninsula. While we quickly decided on doing some section of the 135-mile Olympic Discovery Trail, we were immediately sold on mountain biking the “Olympic Adventure Route” that parallels sections of the main, paved trail. Thankfully, we were able to book a one-way ride with shuttle through our bike rental. This 22-mile section featured smooth, flowy singletrack weaving its way through dense, verdant forest. About 15 miles in, the forest slowly gave way to more expansive views of the northern Olympic Mountains and Baldy Ridge to the south.
After many trips mountain biking in Alaska, this was a great introduction to mountain biking in the lower 48!
Forest turns! 
Misty Mountain Climb
Mt St Helens
After departing the Olympic Peninsula and detouring through Oregon, we made the long trip out to Mt St Helens. Originally, I had hoped to hike to the top of the volcano (still on the bucket list!), but with the immense winter snowfall in Washington this past winter, the road to the trailhead was still closed when we headed up there in late May. I wasn’t really excited about the prospect of hiking an additional 10 miles to get to the start, so we changed it up and instead went out to Harry’s Ridge, which is opposite a valley on the north side of the volcano. The elevation of the ridge above the valley floor provides a fantastic view of Mt St Helens, as well as the valley, for almost the entirety of the high to the high point. Once at the high point, the clouds above Mt St Helens lifted, revealing the volcanic crater in all its glory. Although I missed out on summiting, I think the views from this hike may have been even better!
Hiking along the ridge 
View from the high point
Mt Rainier
The final main stop of the trip was in Packwood, WA, which is one of the main towns that can be used as a “base camp” to access Mt Rainier. Unfortunately for us, the normally sleepy town was buzzing with activity (and miles of snarled traffic) due to the biannual Packwood Flea Market being held at that time. With an early morning start, however, we were able to make it to Mt Rainier and find available parking near the Paradise visitor center.
Due, again, to high snow and early season conditions, soft, corny snow extended all the way down to the visitor center parking lot (elevation 5500′). Athea and I were at once disappointed that we hadn’t brought backcountry skis for this occasion, as the entire area surrounded us was set up perfectly for spring turns. Despite only being on foot, we were able to follow the well-established Camp Muir Route without too much post-holing. Our plan was just to “hike up”, turning around whenever we felt like we had enough–no real target destination, although I did hope to at least make Panorama Point at 6909′.
Throughout the hike, we were treated to perfect bluebird skies and comfortable (almost too hot) May weather. From Glacier Vista onwards, we could see all the local giants on the horizon: Mt Hood, Mt Adams, Mt Baker, and of course Mt Rainier before us. Traveling upward, we saw numerous people wearing smooth established glissade routes on the steep sections–some of them appearing frightened for their lives on the glissades. One thing I was shocked by was how many people were hiking up there–incredible to see so much activity on the mountain that day.
Ultimately, we turned around at about 7500′, having made it past Panorama Point. This is another hike I certainly hope to be able to do again, perhaps with skis; and make it at least to Camp Muir.
With Dad on the road up 
View from Panorama Point 
Athea at Panorama Point
Below are a few more photos from other side trips:
– Rialto Beach
– Multnomah Falls, OR
– Hoh Rainforest
– Seattle Starbucks Roastery