On some good advice from my roommates I drove out to North Bend and hiked Rattlesnake Ridge. Its not a terribly hard hike. Its about a mile and a half to the top from the parking lot. Its not very high either, but it is clear of trees at the top so the view is well worth it.

There's a lake at the foot of the mountain that used to be a small railroad town way back when. A little ways off a river was damned for hydroelectric power, and it cause the ground water in the watershed above it to flood this area.

Hiking in this area is fantastic! Even the sections of the trail with no view have a certain moss-covered charm.

I've got a 360-degree panoramic below, but its a huge file. This picture and the following two are subsets of that one if you're in a hurry. This picture is of Mt. Si (pronounced: Sigh), which I would later hike with Carl.

Though Mt. Si is higher I think the view of this particular valley is much better from Rattlesnake.

Another fabulous valley.

Here's the panoramic and its absolutely incredible. I apologize for the size of these files, but they're worth it.