Sauk Mountain (6/26)

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The trail climbs out of the forest beneath a backdrop of waking birdsong, wind moving through the ravines, and the steady rhythm of footsteps along the switchbacks. As dawn spreads across the ridge, the North Cascades slowly emerge from shadow—layer after layer of peaks beginning to separate in the growing light. Patches of lingering snow still line sections of the upper trail, while alpine phlox, paintbrush, and other early wildflowers are beginning to bloom across the subalpine terrain.