- WA100: Washington Pass (wa100.dnr.wa.gov)
Washington Pass—accessible only about half of the year—is a stretch of the North Cascades Highway boasting steep mountains, year-round glaciers, and a gorgeous alpine forest. This section of State Route 20 climbs to elevations over 5,500 feet and is covered by up to 40 feet of snow between late Fall and early Summer. A short side road near a hairpin turn leads to the Washington Pass Overlook, where visitors can enjoy a short paved trail leading to a spectacular viewpoint. Looming above the overlook are the slopes of a breathtaking array of alpine peaks and pinnacles, including the rounded dome of Liberty Bell and the twin peaks of the North and South Early Winter Spires. This landscape is immensely popular with rock climbers, who scramble up the sheer slopes to reach high vantage points with views of Kangaroo Ridge to the east and the glacier-carved Methow River valley to the north.
- The Thing (1982 film) (Wikipedia)
The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous “Thing”, an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team’s helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, with A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles.