Photos and text by Dan Ransom
www.danransom.com

I am starting to master the overnight drink-a-dozen-rockstars drive, but this one certainly tops them all. I can honestly tell you that taurine and caffeine no longer stimulate the body after 10 hours of driving in the middle of the night. Luckily, Tom and I tagged team the drive, and we turned in a time of just shy of 13 hours to drive the eight hundred and some-odd miles to Seattle. After the epic drive up here, I blankly stared at the rest of the week we had planned ahead of us, and wondered if I would recover. Five days, five canyons. And 600 more miles of driving to get to them all. And this is vacation?

Fortunately, the PNW canyons don't actually have approaches. Or exits, for that matter. You just show up, gear up, and giddy-up. And the bang for the buck? Simply unbeatable. The canyons are action packed, full of water, and ridiculously beautiful.

Our trip would take us from the Alpine Lakes Wilderness outside of Seattle, up north to North Cascades National Park, and then even farther north to Vancouver for the finale. First up: South Fork of Snoqualmie.

S. Fork Snoqualmie - A technically easy canyon with a nice big rappel down Franklin Falls, and plenty of jumps and swims.

Denny Creek - Another easy canyon, close to Snoqualmie. Not quite as much to offer as it's neighbor, but has two big raps down waterfalls.

Gorge Creek - This one gets high marks for quick and easy access, interesting technical challenges, and raw beauty.

Thornton Creek - Big multistage waterfall rappels, boiling potholes, natural anchor problems and huge flow. It's the real deal.

Cypress Creek - A fantastic canyon with a deep gorge and lots of pools and downclimbs, located right in the city of Vancouver. Also home to the best rappel of the weeklong fest.