One of Patrick Square's dedicated Hiking Club members, Elaine Hildebrand, took a trip to Washington State to visit her brother in late September. Together they hiked the Northern Cascades and Mt Rainier. 

Of course, Washington State is not only known as being named after our first president, but for being the "northernmost state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States."  Online resources, such as Wikipedia, will explain, "Washington borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the south, Idaho to the east, and shares an international border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north. Olympia is the state capital, and the most populous city is Seattle." 

Washington State is also home to the Northern Cascades AND active volcano, Mt. Rainier. The North Cascades National Park has over 400 miles of trails to explore and only less than three hours from Seattle. It is said to be a "landscape beacon" with a most beautiful scenic range although "geologically complex mountains". Mount Rainier has over 260 miles of maintained trails, only 59 miles southeast of Seattle. Mt. Rainier National Park has the "highest volcanic peak and the largest alpine glacial system outside of Alaska.... the world's largest volcanic glacier cave system (in the summit crater)." 

Both are certainly worth the visit but can be difficult to hike. Thus, noted to be best enjoyed by experienced and seasoned mountaineers.