I make a pilgrimage to the Phelps Creek Trailhead about once a year. The area is home to some of the biggest peaks in Washington, complete with beautiful meadows, lakes, and larches in the fall. This particular trip was an early season venture into Spider Meadows with the hopes of climbing Dumbbell and Greenwood – Washington's 73rd and 74th tallest mountains respectively. These peaks are in an impressive location, with intimate views of Bonanza and the Fernow group. My dad,

Silver Star Mountain makes its presence known on Highway 20, rising dramatically above the Washington Pass area. It is a big mountain with many rugged sub-peaks including the Wine Spires, which contain Burgundy Spire, known to be one of the hardest mountains to climb in the state. Thankfully for me and Fern, the true summit of Silver Star is not as hard to obtain, but still presented a fun challenge. There are two options when climbing Silver Star – a quick and dirty approach

What better place to try out a new splitboard than the summit of a stratovolcano? Baker is one of the most recognizable and striking summits in Washington, towering above its surroundings in the northwestern part of the state – only about 30 miles due east of the city of Bellingham. It is home to many glaciers and the Mount Baker Ski area holds the world record for snowfall in a year at 1,140 inches! Needless to say, this one had to be climbed. Fern and I set off to summit