The last time I saw a rattlesnake was out at the lakes near Quincy. I heard a rattle and saw it slither under a rock, so my dumb ass walked up as close as I could to take a picture of it. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm not* dead yet.

Yeah, it was otherworldly walking through all of that. The skiing area was covered with it to the point where it was visible from a miles and miles away.

This was last July when spring came very late! Hopefully it comes on time this year.

Commonly referred to by people who don't live east of the Cascades or know the geography of our state

Ellensburg and Yakima are in Central Washington

Edit: btw, Ellensburg is the home of Central Washington University and the City of Yakima literally says on its website that it's in Central Washington. https://www.yakimawa.gov/

Wenatchee, WSDOT, and State Parks also distinguish Central from eastern, so idk man

You need to lay off the pipe if you think Spokane would actually spend the money on a bus ticket for a homeless person

Center of eastern Washington on BLM land a little ways south of I-90 at Sprague

Same with northeast and north central Washington

I backpacked in to Lewis Meadows during the first week of April. It was very cold and rainy with a lot of very large blowdowns, but it was nice when it cleared up and the sun came out on the hike out. If you want the rainforest experience, it's definitely a time of the year when you'll get it.

I thought it was pretty clear that the glacier melted away considering that the alternative would not have been worth writing about.

And let's not forget Freeland, which was established as a commune lol

Oak Harbor is very conservative, or at least it was when I grew up there. Can't imagine it has changed much.

Gotcha! So as far as the Enchanted Valley is concerned, there's still snow on the ground at the chalet through March, but the grounds are open for use if you're into that sort of backpacking experience.

(accidentally replied at first as a reply to your post, not this comment)

If you're looking to do something in ONP, anything on the coast is a viable option since it's all at sea level, just as long as the weather isn't stormy.

It's not just you. If it's not the actual headlights, it's a much larger vehicle shining their headlights directly into the rearview mirror, a newer car's auto-high beams not detecting vehicles in front of it, or some combination of the three. Drives me insane.

Yeah, I was there for Independence Day weekend and it was very cool and wet, so much so that the Blue Glacier was entirely shrouded by fog. I went back for Labor Day and it was so hot and dry and there was smoke outside the valley. Really wild how much a difference one month can make.

I haven't been to Massachusetts, but I did live in Ithaca, NY for two years and I couldn't wait to move back to Washington. I didn't like the climate, especially the hot, humid, sunless, stormy summers (don't get me started with the umbrellas everywhere). It felt like I was living in a jungle and I sorely missed the dry, sunny summers in the rain shadows of the Olympics and the Cascades.

On that note, the so-called mountains of the east were not very impressive, to say the least. There's more to it, and I know what I mentioned applies mainly to the Finger Lakes Region and not Massachusetts, but those were some of my major gripes.

The Hoh Rainforest is the most magical part of any national park imo

Haha, fair enough

They did a pretty good job of shedding it because that was name was long gone by the time Elson Floyd showed up.

I lived in Pullman for 14 years up until 2020 and we stopped calling it that sometime around 2004. The latest thing on the helmets is just a nostalgia push.

No one calls it Wazzu anymore

Edit: Gotta love getting downvoted by alumni who haven't been to Pullman since Bill Doba was coach lmao. If any of you ever come back to Pullman, call the university "Wazzu" and see what reaction you get from the people who live and work there. It's nothing but nostalgia for a bygone era, and alumni living on the west side apparently never got the message.

Snoqualmie Pass is usually good by March/April. Astronomical twilight ends out there before 9 pm up to March 27th, so that could be a good time.

I'm an avid hiker/backpacker who lives in Spokane and I love living out here largely because of the access to the outdoors. Lots of good hiking immediately surrounding Spokane (although not necessarily what I'd consider destination hikes for someone from the west side, unless you're looking for something that's not the Olympics or Cascades) and then northward to the Salmo-Priest wilderness. If you can find the time from late June through September, I highly recommend Abercrombie Mountain and/or the nearby Salmo-Priest. Wildflower season up there is mid- to late July.

Highway 26 between Washtucna and Colfax has some of the darkest skies along a major road. There's a big area where it's safe to pull over a little east of Washtucna.

Edit: Whoops, I just saw your avoidance of heading east of the Cascades lol. Maybe once the weather is better!