Past visits to Washington State have always resulted in us wanting to spend more time in this beautiful and wild state. 2022 was the year we finally planned a return vacation to explore North Cascades National Park, along with visiting friends Max and Ayhan on the San Juan Islands.

Our first stop in North Cascades National Park was one of the most iconic hikes, Maple Pass. This seven mile loop climbs over 2,000 feet to some of the most beautiful trails in the park. The views are dramatic, with high, sharp peaks as far as you can see and turquoise lakes glistening in the sun. Wildflowers were abundant and the amount of lush green foliage was a welcome change from our Southern California mountains.

If this was any indication as to how the North Cascades were going to be, our excitement about the coming days was growing even greater during this hike.

Every turn we took the views were gorgeous, and even though this is considered one of the most popular trails, we barely saw any other hikers. Now we could see why everyone highly recommends this national park and we couldn’t wait to see what was next.