Skip to main content

2017 Washington State Trip Part 1; The Cascades and SeaTac

By
After returning to California from the Southeast region I was back on a plane headed to Washington State.  My flight was from Fresno Yosemite International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport which is much better known as SeaTac.






I had a little bit of a rarity in that the weather over Washington was completely clear and I could see the Cascades unobstructed out the window.  I had views of just not just Mount Rainier but also Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens.





The Cascade Range roughly runs from California State Route 36 north through British Columbia and is far more volcanic in nature than the Sierras.  Most of the high peaks of the Cascade Range are volcanic and have a large prominence. 

When I visited Washington in 2015 I did go to Mount Rainier National Park.  Most of the day was extremely foggy and I missed being able to see Mount St. Helens from the park overlooks.  Mount St. Helens is a 8,363 foot high stratovolcano that is mostly known for the 1980 eruption.  Prior to the 1980 eruption Mount St. Helens had height of 9,677 feet above sea level.





To the east of Mount St. Helens is the 12,281 foot tall Mount Adams.  Mount Adams is also a stratovolcano but has not had an eruption in about 1,000 years.  The peaks of Mount Adams are covered in active glaciers.


Mount Rainier is probably the most well known mountain peak in the Cascade Range and is the highest in the range at 14,411 feet above sea level.  Mount Rainier is considered to be highly active which is worrying considering the amount of glaciers located on it.  Mount Rainier has a prominence of 13,210 feet which is the 21st highest in the world.  When I visited Mount Rainier National Park in 2015 I took; WA 706, Paradise Road, WA 123, and WA 410 to circle from the Seattle-Tacoma area.





SeaTac is one of my least favorite airports.  I've always found the facilities at SeaTac to way overwhelmed for the passenger volume it receives.  It doesn't help that SeaTac has an off-site rental facility which is probably my largest pet-peeve about airports aside from delays.  After making my way out of the maze of the rental car parking I pulled out of the airport and made my way to southbound I-5.





I-5 was surprisingly a breeze driving south to Tacoma mid-day.  I passed the junction with I-705 and WA 7 in Tacoma.  Back in 2015 I turned south on WA 7 here towards Mount Rainier after returning from Olympic National Park.





My direction of travel was ultimately across Tacoma Narrows on WA 16, but that is worth a blog post dedicated solely to that topic.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more