a coast-to-coast trip

Four days in the Pacific North West

In May 2024, I traveled by train from the US east coast to the west coast, a journey that took a total of three days! I boarded the train in Boston and spent 22 hours traveling to Chicago. There, I transferred to the Empire Builder, which (in ‘only’ 45-hour) took me all the way to Washington State. In Seattle, I met up with a friend and spent the following days hiking and exploring the Pacific Northwest.

I had missed the landscape ever since I first saw it in October 2022 and was excited to discover more hikes in the area, especially after sitting on a train for three days. The lush green forests and snow-covered mountains made for a perfect start to summer, in my opinion!

The question I got most after my trip was ‘How was the train ride? Would you do it again?’. My honest answer: It was exhausting (surprising, given that all you do is sit, eat, and look out of the window for 3 days), but I’m happy I did it. It was really interesting to drive through all these different states. My favorite parts were

seeing Upstate New York (which was surprisingly green!),
snaking along the Mississippi River, which represents the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota,
driving past Glacier National Park during sundown.

On board of the EMPIRE BUILDER 🚞

Amtrak Trains are incredibly spacious. Plus, not many people seem to take a 70h train on weekdays, so I had plenty of room to stretch out. I spent my mornings drinking coffee and enjoying the views in the observation cart, read a couple of books and articles. While many of the people made use of the dining cart and enjoyed proper meals, I ate the food I brought onto the train with me. My 38L backpack was filled to the brim, with food and snacks and snacks and more snacks.

Exploring the Pacific North West

Ever since I visited Washington back in September 2022, I knew I had to return. The landscapes, forests, and coast lines fascinated me. I was so psyched to be back, ready to explore the Pacific Northwest in a different season. My friend picked me up at the train station in Seattle, and we packed us much as we could into the four days we had:

Day 1:

Hiked to Lake Twenty Two in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
watched the Northern Light in front of our AirBnB 🤯

Day 2:

Rented snow shoes and hiked the Skyline Loop Trail at the foot of Mount Rainier
Then drove up to Port Angeles to meet my friends collegue and stayed with them for the night.

Day 3:

Helena and I woke up at 3am to drive up to the Hurricane Ridge to watch the sunrise, then drove back to the others and had breakfast together.
Afterwards, we hiked Mount Storm King, which offered great views over Lake Crescent.
Later that day, we drove to Lake Cushman and watched the sun set over the water

Day 4: