Washington Cascades - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 301

Washington Cascades
Why Go?
Grafted onto one of the more temperamental segments of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the
Washington Cascades are a rugged, spectacular mountain range capped by five potentially
lethal volcanoes: Mt Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt Rainier, Mt Adams and - fieriest of all - Mt
St Helens.
Renowned for their world-record-breaking precipitation and copious crevasse-covered
glaciers, the highest Cascade peaks are vast stand-alone mountains that dominate almost
every vista in the western state and create scrubby, almost desertlike conditions further
east.
Protected within a string of overlapping wilderness areas and national parks, the moun-
tains offer some of the most awe-inspiring backcountry adventures in the US. For the less
outdoor-attuned, rarefied Cascadian beauty can be glimpsed through the windows of cars,
buses and trains, or enjoyed in a handful of classic 'parkitecture' lodges.
When to Go
Dec & Jan Cascade ski areas get big dumpings of snow.
Feb The 'Mt Baker Legendary Banked Slalom' snowboarding extravaganza.