Cascade Crossing

Seattle to the volcano, the long way round

A tourco run that leaves Seattle's rain-grey music city, climbs east over the Cascade crest to a fjord-deep lake, drops into the high desert at Spokane and the wine country of Walla Walla, then turns west to close on the mountain that blew its own top off. Five landings, the whole width of Washington under the wings.

Itinerary

1. The City's Frequency — Begin in Seattle, where a listener-funded radio station became the sound of a generation.
2. The Fjord in the Mountains — Climb over the Cascade crest to Lake Chelan — fifty miles long and over a thousand feet deep.
3. The Falls and the Fair — Drop into the Inland Empire's capital, where a 1974 World's Fair reclaimed a river.
4. Walla Walla — Turn south to the wheat hills and vineyards of Walla Walla — a frontier town gone to wine.
5. The Mountain That Moved — Run west for the finale: the crater Mount St. Helens tore open on a May morning in 1980.