Despite what you might have heard, it does not rain all the time in Western Washington. Come summer, we'll have several months of sunny weather, not too-hot…practically perfect.
The thing is -- though trees are budding out and some folks are outdoors cutting grass and washing cars and doing Summer Stuff -- it is only Spring. The weather one day can be just nice enough to get you wanting for more of this goodness. And then, the next day, it gets gray and chilly and rains. And rains. And rains.
This is the time of year when my hiking friends and I are grateful for the Cascade Mountain rain shadow.
You see, our wet weather here generally moves in off the Pacific, soaks Western Washington and makes all the tall trees, ferns and mosses happy, then bumps up against the Cascades. More often than not the rain does not make it over the mountains. And so, when it is rainy in Seattle, chances are that it is dry just east of the Cascades.
Five friends and I crammed into a van Sunday and headed east, destination: Black Canyon, between Ellensburg and Yakima. It was raining, hard, when we left Seattle; but, once over the mountains, we found sunshine. Sweet, blessed sunshine.
We hiked in sagebrush, and through stands of aspen trees, not yet budded out.
Six adults, playing outside. And taking maximum advantage of the Cascade Mountain rain shadow.
