On Stevens Pass

Jen and I drove to Bellevue (on the west side) this weekend. The drive is never fun this time of year, especially at night. But I always forget how incredibly beautiful it is. On our way home, Jen and I decided to take "Stevens Pass," U.S. Highway 2, instead of "Snoqualmie Pass," I-90, and "Blewett Pass," U.S. 97. It was actually a clear day, and as we drove east, you could see the snow-capped mountains in front of us.

Trees, mossy from Northwest rains, lined the roadway near the bottom, and the further we got from the city, the more the road would wind and the closer the trees and sheered rock walls would press in. In places, the road would run alongside a river just beginning to swell with snow melt. And as we drove up into Cascades, the snow got deeper and deeper, until we were driving through a ploughed out trough, near the summit. There were walls of snow at least six feet high on both sides of the road. What an awesome experience it is to drive these roads--though being a passenger, taking curves at 60 miles an hour, staring down over the guardrail into an icy river, can put a damper on the experience.