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This is the place. It felt like being in the Arctic in winter time. It was slippery and the snowdrifts were deeper than at Lion's Head so it helped to use snowshoes, but they weren't strictly necessary.

My first time in Canada, and also my first real winter hike, was here. Snowshoes and microspikes didn't end up being necessary on the relatively mellow trail, but it was nice to test out the new winter gear before tackling more high elevation hikes.

Returning to North Fork Mountain was a different experience this time since it was a camping trip and I was better prepared. There wasn't much use for hiking poles due to the narrowness of the trail, but swapping out my trail runners for boots helped on the rocky terrain.

This was one of my favorite hikes of the entire Washington trip and one of the only that had snow on the trail in September. I found it less taxing than the Burroughs trail despite being longer. It wasn’t super cold even with snow on the ground and the hike was doable in a short sleeve t-shirt for most of the length.

I did these as a loop since they're along the same highway and aren’t very far from each other. I found Blue Lake kind of lackluster in comparison with others like Bench & Snow Lake, Diablo Lake and Lake Crescent. Maple Pass had great fall colors and endless views but was very overcrowded in late September. This was probably also worsened by nearby trail road closures due to fires.

Views were awesome for the entire duration of the hike after passing the treeline. There’s 4 sections of steep scrambling to make it to the true peak across the ridgeline connecting it to the false summit, which was where I decided to cut the hike short due to fear of falling or getting stuck. It was late in the day and nobody else was around.

The water here was crystal blue. The hike up to Storm King was pretty boring and viewless until the rope scrambling section, where I actually got stuck and had to be untangled by someone. I thought I was going to fall and die. There's steep dropoffs on both sides, so maybe give this one a pass if you're afraid of heights. There's safer hikes with better views. And without frayed ropes!

Second Beach was less crowded than Hole in the Wall, and I concur that it's a better beach. It's also an easier hike considering the rocky shoreline at Rialto Beach. It has a rock arch but it’s not accessible by foot. Ruby Beach was also cool, but I thought the Hall of Mosses was overrated, especially considering the wait time to get in.

This was easily my favorite hike in Olympic National Park. It didn't require a park pass or a Northwest Forest Pass since I parked at the lower trailhead, and the forest section at the beginning isn’t too taxing before tackling the real elevation gain.

Park Butte was one of the easier "hard" hikes since elevation gain was pretty gradual throughout. Views were good, but I preferred the Mount Fremont fire lookout overall. You can camp out in the fire tower if you get here early enough.

Burroughs Mountain was no joke. It picks up to steep elevation gain almost immediately and continues that way for the majority of the hike. This one really felt like climbing a mountain. Mount Fremont was easy to add on since it shares part of the trail with Burroughs.

The road to Tolmie Peak was terrible. I missed the view at the peak because of fog, but seeing Lake Eunice and the forest covered in mist was still awesome. Out of all the forested hikes, this was easily my favorite.

Talk about a grand entrance. Mount Rainier was fully visible my first day at the park. I met a couple of Oregon hikers on the Skyline Trail and ended up swimming at Bench Lake with them in >50°F water. Make sure you drive through the Stevens Canyon Rd Tunnel, it's the coolest mountain tunnel I've ever seen.

I got down to business immediately after landing by checking out Pike Place Market and the Seattle skyline from Alki Beach. I can definitely see how grunge was born here.