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grby1812 t1_j2vz04l wrote

I understand what you mean. I'm familiar with the western side of the North Cascades and it tends to be pretty homogeneous. Took the Alaska ferry to Juneau and it was beautiful but didn't see a radical change. It was wetter, flora was bigger and the glaciers were lower elevation.

There's a rain shadow from Sequim to Anacortes. Rainfall difference is as much as 26in to 56in in a 10 mile range. A hike across that transition might be pretty interesting. Elwha to Sequim maybe?

Speaking of transitions, I like the hike from Rainy Pass down into Steheiken. You start in mountain forest, ascend to alpine and drop to semi-arid desert in less than 15 miles.

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Xbalanque_ t1_j2xo1fk wrote

Steheken is not "semi arid desert".

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grby1812 t1_j2zvm97 wrote

You're right, I was thinking of Chelan. I always take the ferry to the other end of the lake. Chelan has 300 sunny days per year and receives a little over 11 inches of rain per year. Arid deserts are areas which receive less than 10 inches. Semi-arid is 10-20in. Steheiken gets 32.

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