johnnyace 

Agreed. Before I commuted year-round, I would sometimes get depressed during the winter months. Now that I commute through the winter (past several years), it doesn't bother me.

We live in a pretty temperate region, here in the maritime NW. I would be much harder pressed to live in subzero/massive quantities of snow areas of the country.

Seattle Forrest

Here are some seasonally appropriate pics. These are from the Methow Valley.











I went in from Gunn Ranch Road. This is a great MTB ride (from Goat Creek) in the summer.

Here are two more from Mazama. It was -2F when I shot these.

Seattle Forrest

You can ski (on a groomed trail) all the way from Hyak to Crystal Springs, or vice versa. Great if you have a friend to shuttle you! A long round trip if you don't. I didn't, so this was a 17 mile day; I started at Crystal Springs because parking is easier.













The last one is at Hyak. You can see Rampart Ridge behind me.

Wildwood

17 miles = youdaman!

nice pics as always.
more sunscreen next time.

johnnyace 

Incredible night shots, I love the star-filled sky! What camera are you using?

Seattle Forrest

Canon 5D m3 and 24 mm f/1.4 L m2.

Seattle Forrest

Middle Fork (Snoqualmie) Trail

Medic Zero

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I relocated from Seattle to Vancouver, Washington in October of last year. My new commute isn't usually as picturesque as most of my commutes in Seattle were, but it is a lot safer.
It's right about 12 miles each way from our home in Hudsons Bay to my job in a hospital in northeast Portland.

The highlights so far:

Cycling over the Vancouver Land Bridge, next to Pearson Field and Fort Vancouver, just a mile and half from home, early on a quiet morning after working the overnight shift, with sunbeams shining down on the oldest operating airport in the US:






On the weekends, there is a LOT less traffic on Marine Drive and I can take it, Bridgeton Drive NE, and NE 33rd Drive for a nice ride through the country and alongside the river for part of my commute, pedal uninterrupted by stop signs/lights or busy intersections, and see wildlife like this hawk.

On another quiet morning the south fork of the Columbia River was fog shrouded:





Part of my commute each day is alongside the Columbia Slough, which is pleasant, sometimes picturesque, and in additional to common waterfowl sometimes sports Blue Herons or Kingfishers, both favorites of mine.





There are only two bridges over the wide Columbia River between Vancouver and Portland (the next nearest bridges are about 50 miles away). For bicycles and pedestrians crossing the river, your choices are either the path between the fast lanes on I-205, which is so high up that it is always windy, so windy you have to pedal downhill and is quite noisy. It's also a much longer bridge than the I-5 crossing, making for an interminable climb northbound.

While it's a shorter crossing, the I-5 bridge has a disconcertingly low guardrail, narrow walkway, and a series of chokepoints on the descent going northbound that are kind of hairy. Also, one of the walkways has been closed for several days twice already in the past six months, forcing the surprising number of pedestrians and all the bikes to share the mile long crossing that can only allow one bike at a time per direction. Unfortunately, this antique bridge isn't about to be replaced any time soon as dumb politics has fumbled that task twice recently.




My commute usually isn't foggy, I just love fog and so often stopped to take pictures on those rare days. I grew up in a very foggy area and miss it.












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Seattle Forrest

Icicle Road, Leavenworth







Lake Wenatchee

Seattle Forrest

Darrington

Seattle Forrest

Rider51

Sorry if this is a derailment.

As someone who lived in the PNW for decades, and rode through several winters straight through, then moved to New England, I can guarantee you from first hand experience it's much easier to ride through the winter in the PNW than anywhere in the Northeast, and likely all of the midwest (upper especially) and any of the northern mountain states. It's not even close. Just buy the right gear to deal with the rain, get out and ride, and you can not only commute, but get in good workout rides in PDX and SEA, and parts between. Riding in winter in New England, if you can do it between the snow, ice, sleet, salt, sand, wind, etc. isn't a workout, it's more like survival.

You may now go back to posting beautiful pictures.

Wildwood

Not a derailment, and I agree with you. New England has crappy winters and a terrible thaw season.

Seattle Forrest

Completely agree. I grew up in Connecticut. We'd go out and wait for the school bus as kids, feel our ears freezing solid, wonder if the bus was stuck in the ice somewhere. The summers were too muggy, too. Whenever I get nostalgic and miss the snow, I can go to the mountains and get my fix, then come home (and ride).

Seattle Forrest

Beth got a "sound of music" photo of me hiking at Harts Pass.

Mack3601

From this morning's ride

Gunga Dan

Totally agree. I grew up in Central Ohio. Winters were just snowy enough to be a PITA, save the occasional blizzard, Spring was non-stop thunderstorms, tornado watches and power failures, and the minute June rolled around, the heat & humidity would skyrocket & immediately make you miss breaking out the snow blower. The area had about 15 minutes of decent weather in the Fall of any given year. "A great place to be FROM ", as my father used to say. No place is perfect, but give me the Sound every time!

Seattle Forrest

You're a better man than I, Gunga Dan.

Gunga Dan

Seattle Forrest

A buddy and I hiked to Hidden Lake today, in the North Cascades.

mtnbud

Wildwood

Climbing to Paradise.
Time for another photo yet??? Huff, huff, huff.

FrenchFit 

These PNW bikes are not legit pictures. Where's the moss growing on the rims and bottom brackets?

Wildwood

This isn't so much a great photo.
It is taken from a hilltop south of Bellevue, looking mostly north.
Seattle on the left, Bellevue on the extreme right. That lake is Lake Washington, at least from I-90 and north.

I wish I knew the cloud level, but for an iPhone shot, it conveys the scope of the region.

WesleeC

Rowena Crest just a few miles West of The Dalles