There’s a reason Instagram has thousands of pictures with the hashtag ‘northwestisbest’ and over a million with the hashtag ‘pnw’. Even if the rain is murder to you, you can’t stand the liberalism, or you’re partial to your own state, a person cannot deny the awe and beauty the Northwest produces, especially the Snoqualmie Pass area.  A current resident of California, I went home to the motherland, North Bend, for a visit with my family, particularly my brother. To my pleasant surprise, I had time to go trail running and for a 7 mile solo hike up Bandera Mountain and on to Mason Lake. The weather was perfect with a couple days of sun and a couple days of overcast clouds. Here are a few pictures of my short journey home. To minimize packing, I decided not to take my camera as this was a quick visit, so all photos were taken with my iPhone.