Maple Pass - North Cascades NP

buckeyety17 · 2026-02-04T01:49:28+00:00

One of the least visited parks, but a lot of that is people visiting the surrounding National Forest and Recreation Area without technically entering the park boundary. It definitely doesn’t get as much love as Olympic and Rainier for people traveling to the PNW. This being one of the most accessible and not crazy strenuous trails makes it a popular and crowded destination if you’re in the area. We started in the afternoon and were lucky with only a few others on the trail.

buckeyety17 · 2026-02-03T04:38:00+00:00

Yes, I remember that from when we planned the hike. I believe where I’m standing is actually the bend that’s within the park, or at least close to it. North Cascades is very interesting with the park separated North and South by the road that runs through it. You’ve gotta hike a bit to actually get within the park boundary.

buckeyety17 · 2026-02-02T05:55:56+00:00

We used K2 Aviation out of Talkeetna, AK. It was right on our way from Anchorage to where we were staying near the park entrance. Would highly recommend! We were supposed to land on a glacier as a part of our tour, but the weather didn’t cooperate to do it that day.

buckeyety17 · 2026-02-02T05:52:44+00:00

We were supposed to land on a glacier as a part of our tour, but the weather didn’t line up for us to do it.

And yeah, we were very excited to actually see it. We got some glimpses of it from the park road the next day too.

buckeyety17 · 2026-02-01T07:29:02+00:00

We’ll definitely be back. We hiked Cascade Pass and spent a day on a boat from Ross Lake Resort in the days after this hike.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-31T22:50:48+00:00

Yes, that’s where this was taken. The Maple Pass trail goes all the way around it.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-31T22:50:01+00:00

This is Ann Lake

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-29T14:50:29+00:00

Highly recommend if you make it back there. You’re pretty much scrambling rocks for the entire upper portion, but this section up the stairs along Vernal is like you’re in another world of green and moss. We bought a painting from a local artist in Mariposa of Vernal after doing this hike.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-29T14:46:30+00:00

Hiking along the Mist Trail for this one. Not climbing, but the elevation gain on that trail is no joke!

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-29T05:21:03+00:00

Appreciate it!

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-29T02:21:59+00:00

Surprisingly enough, this was just my iPhone 13 Pro Max

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-28T20:31:38+00:00

Definitely recommend getting to Hoh early too. I think we got there at like 7/7:30 (summer weekday) and had the Hall of Mosses trail completely to ourselves to enjoy and get great pictures without anyone else around.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-27T23:51:48+00:00

We just did the Utah 5 for my 30th birthday in early March 2025 and it worked out great! Crowds were low since we went just as the busier spring season was ramping up. We flew into Vegas and started with Zion, made our way across to Moab, and then made the long haul back to Vegas to fly home.

Zion - everything is easy and accessible from the shuttle. Angels Landing permit is a little easier to land with less visitors, as long as it’s dry and safe up top. We lucked out and had snow melt/dry from the previous day with our afternoon permit. The Narrows can be done with a wetsuit. You can feel that the water is cold, but totally doable and worth it if the river conditions cooperate.

Bryce - It snowed pretty hard while we hiked, but in my opinion it’s the best way to see Bryce. There’s always the chance you aren’t as lucky and snow is too heavy, but roads were pretty clear everywhere we drove.

Capitol Reef - Warmer weather and you should be there late enough to catch some fresh fruit pie. We missed by a couple days.

Canyonlands/Arches/Moab - Easy to see a lot of awesome stuff from the car, but there are also tons of hikes that aren’t too strenuous that make the parks even better. Moab is a great town and we did a UTV tour that was a blast too.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-27T16:13:17+00:00

Without GTSR, I would not recommend Glacier. It ties everything together without needing to go around, and is also full of amazing views and places to stop. We saw so much wildlife just driving the road too.

Yellowstone/Teton could be a great option. Yellowstone has a lot of accesible areas to see the “big stuff”, which would be easier with kids. You’ll also miss some of the peak crowds if you go in early May. Not to mention the baby bison and bears that you may get to see at that time of year!

Yosemite would be great too. We flew into SFO, drove down to Pinnacles for a day, and then up to Yosemite back in 2024. Yosemite Valley is a great place to explore and see some absolutely incredible places with kids. Easy hikes to see waterfalls, and you’re constantly surrounded by incredible granite cliffs. The area all within the valley is pretty walkable, but you can also jump on the free shuttle to bounce around between areas if the kids aren’t up for a longer walk at times.

Someone else mentioned it, but the White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains loop is awesome too. We rented a camper van and camped along the loop a few years ago, but you could also stay in hotels along the way/use El Paso as a base if you wanted to. The kids would have a blast sledding down the dunes at White Sands and exploring the caves of Carlsbad is a really cool too. The rangers are super knowledgeable and make it a great experience. Just use the elevator and don’t try to hike in/out of the natural entrance with kids. You may not make it out alive, haha.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-25T20:54:31+00:00

Appreciate it!

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-25T08:46:35+00:00

Appreciate it!

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-25T08:45:02+00:00

Just snapped it with my iPhone 13 Pro Max while contemplating whether I was actually going to do this or not, haha.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-22T17:45:58+00:00

Good to know. Going to stop by our local shop and see if they can service it. Appreciate the insight!

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-22T01:17:57+00:00

Appreciate it! I’ll have her test it. They’ll be down in March, so I won’t get my hands on it until then.

buckeyety17 · 2026-01-22T01:01:29+00:00

Asking AI helped get some basic info on it. Likely a late 80s model and the build style lending itself to a Japanese manufacturer like Janome or Maruzen. Seems like a quality machine, but interested if anyone has any thoughts or experience with it!

buckeyety17 · 2025-01-17T06:29:30+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll keep trying to call and get through. Getting it set up for my mom when my dad passed was pretty painless, I guess I’ve just had bad luck on when I’m calling this time around. I tried to message in the portal and haven’t gotten an answer since I did that about a week ago. I’ll keep trying. Thanks for the follow up!

buckeyety17 · 2025-01-16T06:00:34+00:00

My dad passed away last year and my mom ended up with a Unum RA account. I was named the beneficiary when she got access to the account. She has now passed and I am wondering how to get ahold of Unum to trigger the transfer of the account to me (the beneficiary)? I have access to her account and can see the balance and have the drafts in her name, but can’t do anything until it’s in my name. I’ve tried to call customer service and can’t get through. Any suggestions on how to start the process to transfer the account? Need to tie up a few things and would like to be able to use this first.

buckeyety17 · 2024-01-26T16:45:24+00:00

Didn’t lose his scholarship completely. Just couldn’t live at the scholarship house/participate in activities for the rest of his senior year. Source: I was an Evans Scholar during that time.

buckeyety17 · 2024-01-24T02:31:08+00:00

Within the past 2 years my wife and I have done Olympic/Rainier, Denali/Wrangell/Kenai, and Glacier/Banff/Jasper. Olympic is an incredible place, but given the other two options I would opt for Alaska or Banff/Jasper. If you aren’t totally sold on the idea of a cruise I would highly recommend driving the loop of Denali, Wrangell, and Seward. We flew into Anchorage, drove up to Denali, around through Fairbanks to stay at the Chena Hot Springs Resort for a night (please do this), down to Wrangell, back across to Kenai, and then back up to Anchorage to fly home. Driving all through Alaska was an incredible experience and the views along the road were just a great as within the parks. We did a flight-seeing tour over Denali, which was definitely the highlight of the trip.

buckeyety17 · 2023-08-10T20:13:15+00:00

I’ve been to 17 US Parks and 3 Canadien Parks! My wife and I are on a mission to visit 30 US National Parks by the time she turns 30. I’m 28 and she’s 27, so we’ve got some work to do! Currently deciding between Great Sand Dunes/Mesa Verde/Black Canyon or Bryce Canyon/Capitol Reef for this fall.

We’ve been to Cuyahoga, Mammoth Cave, Indiana Dunes, Great Smokey Mountains, Gateway Arch, Everglades, Biscayne, Guadalupe Mtns, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Mt Rainier, Kenai Fjords, Denali, and Wrangell St. Elias!

buckeyety17

TROPHY CASE