Posts In The “Destinations” Category
The Borup Loop carries trains between Borup and the Stampede Pass Tunnel en route through the Cascade Mountains. Between Borup at 2,270ft (691 m) and the west entrance of the Stampede Pass Tuneel at 2,900 ft (883 m), the elevation difference is 630 ft (192m) over a distance of 2.3 miles (3.7 km). Clearly visible…
The trail to the summit of Mt. Si in North Bend ascends 3,100 feet (945 m) over a distance of just under 4 miles (6.4 km). Despite the steepness, it is one of the most popular trails in Washington state, with about 100,000 climbers annually. Part of the draw is its proximity to major urban…
For our third and final day of summer hiking at Mt. Rainier, we walked to Mildred Point via Comet Falls. The hike gave us yet another perspective to Mt. Rainier, this time from the southwest. Our previous two days’ hikes, along the Burroughs Mountain and Skyline trails, are vastly more popular, but we perhaps enjoyed…
On our second day of summer hiking at Mt. Rainier, we walked the Skyline Trail from the Paradise area, following roughly the same route that we’d snowshoed earlier in the year. We had another clear day, and the mountain views were spectacular, both to Mt. Rainier and south along the Cascade Range. The scenery had…
The summer season at Mt. Rainier lasts only a few months, generally between June and September. With snow still on the ground in June and frost starting in September, the wildflower season is short. But in late July and early August, the mountain bursts in such color that conservationist John Muir described the area as…
The rest of the month following our return from Switzerland was a busy one for construction in our area. Progress continued at the Fourth & Bell construction site directly west of our apartment. We were particularly interested to watch a small mobile crane build a larger mobile crane, pictured above, that eventually would assemble the…
On a whim, we decided one morning to spend the night at Salish Lodge, and booked an awesome suite that night with a great view to Snoqualmie Falls. After lunch at nearby Snoqualmie Falls Brewery, we spent the rest of the day at Salish Lodge enjoying the room and the hotel, including an excellent dinner…
We didn’t expect to equal the view quality of the previous weekend’s campsite at Snowshoe Butte, but the one we found on the north side of Keechelus Ridge definitely was in the running. We’d camped on the south side of the Keechelus Ridge earlier in the year, with a vista west to to Keechelus Lake…
We arrived at the base of Snowshoe Butte after several hours of exploring without finding any appealing campsites. The area was completely fogged in at that point, and we couldn’t see a thing. But looking at our maps we felt there was a good chance the campsite had a view, so we decided to take…
Our trip to Switzerland was even better than we anticipated. The scenery, particularly in the Alps, was spectacular, the food was delicious and we really enjoyed the various modes of travel ranging from high speed trains to gondolas to cog wheel railways to ships. Finding another destination that works as well for our tastes and…
We departed Geneva for Seattle early on our second morning in the city. The ascent from the Geneva airport gave us a few last glimpses to the Alps, and we got some really nice views into the Frankfurt area, pictured above, as we descended to transfer home. On the return flight, we continued our experiment…
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is home to the largest particle collider and detector in the world. The Large Hadron Collider is 17 miles (27 km) in circumference and crosses the Swiss-French border four times in a tunnel as deep as 574 ft (175m). And the ATLAS detector is 150 ft (46m) long,…
Crescent-shaped Lake Geneva has a surface area of 224 sq mi (580 sq km), making it the largest lake in Switzerland. The lake straddles the Swiss-French border, with ferries regularly carrying passengers between the two countries. The Swiss side had gentler hills full of vineyards, towns, and centuries-old castles, while the French side is more…
Extending up from the banks of Lake Geneva, Lausanne is known as the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee and the home of 13th-century Cathedrale du Notre Dame, one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in Europe and the spiritual capital of French-speaking Switzerland. Lausanne also has a vibrant arts and music scene, and many excellent…
Historic Lugano is the third-most important banking center in Switzerland, a country that excels at banking. The city extends from the western edge of Lake Lugano up into the hills behind, with cobblestone streets winding and climbing between centuries-old buildings. At either end the mountains Monte Bre (3,035-ft; 925 m) and Monte San Salvatore (2,992-ft;…
The Bernina Express scenic railway operates between Chur, Switzerland and Tirano in northern Italy. Reaching an altitude of 7,391 ft (2,253 m), it is the highest railway crossing in Europe and the third-highest railway in Switzerland. The majority of the route, from Thusis, Switerland to Tirano, has been designated the “Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina…
The Glacier Express is one of the two most scenic train rides in Switzerland (the other is the Bernina Express). Passengers travel through the Swiss Alps in specially-designed viewing carriages with large windows and skylights. The natural scenery is astounding, but so too is the infrastructure. The train passes through at least 91 tunnels and…
A metal cross at the summit of the Matterhorn is a memorial to the estimated 500 people who have died attempting or descending from the summit, including members of the first successful ascent team. Four of the seven-member team fell to their deaths on the descent in 1865. Currently about 3,000 people climb the mountain…