Washington Cascades Road Trip

Justin and I took off on a trail-running road trip for Labor Day weekend that was everything and more than I imagined while planning it. We threw everything into the car and took off along highway 2 to run a few trails that have been on our hit list for awhile. We camped at the Beckler River Road Campground, which ended up being a good spot. I was originally looking at Money Creek Campground which would have been a mistake to camp at because it is RIGHT on the highway - not our style. There are a couple more campgrounds up from Beckler River on FR65 that would have been sweet spots too, including San Juan and Troublesome Creek Campground.

Refreshing morning view

Lazy mornings sipping tea and coffee...

Our final destination was Leavenworth, where we splurged on a little cabin nestled under Wedge Mountain. Justin and I mostly live out of our car while dog-sitting, and if we do travel we usually stick to cheap motels so this cabin was a big treat for us! Can't beat views like the Stuart Range...

Our final planned trail run for Sunday was The Enchantments. We backpacked the trail with some friends the previous summer and had this trail on our list to run for the last year. As much as I had been looking forward to running The Enchantments all summer, I held the reigns back when Sunday came around and only section hiked the Colchuck side to Aasgard Pass with a good friend who came and met us on the last night. I didn't exactly plan the outline of our trip very well and spent the first few days stacking the mileage on some burly mountain trails so by the time Sunday came I was hobbling down the stairs.

Colchuck Lake did not disappoint. This is easily one of my favorite areas in Washington - it never gets old, and no matter what the weather is like, the scenery is stunning.

Justin ran the trail for the second day in a row. He tallied over 20,000ft of vertical in 4 days in who knows how many hours of running. The trip was short but sweet, and we plan on making a few more fall camping trips centered around trail running before it gets too cold. Until then I'll be relishing in our cascade experience.