Barney Scout Mann

It was so strange. After decades as a confident skier, Sandy's left turns became ragged. When she fell, she needed help getting up. The following year, I thought my hearing was going: when she spoke, I had to move close to understand. Then in 2015, Sandy developed a tremor. She was 57. What's wrong with my wife? Today, over one million Americans have Parkinson's Disease (PD). It's not just seniors, too. Those under 50 have their own acronym: Young-Onset Parkinson's Disease (YOPD).

(Photo: Barney Scout Mann) Two-and-a-half feet high and 28 pounds, that's a respectable pack weight and size for an overnight backpack. It's also the size and weight of the toddler we're hiking with. We took her father backpacking before he was 1 year old. My parents were horrified: " You're taking our first grandchild where?" But my mom and dad drove two hours to pick us up and shuttle us to our car. I cringed when they spotted their dirt-grimed grandson.

Feast your eyes on the Diablo Lake Trail. Main course? A lake the color of jeweler's turquoise. Side Dish? The finest accessible views of the "American Alps." Where? In North Cascades National Park, the least visited in the Lower 48. There are multiple routes on the Diablo Lake Trail, and you can't lose on either one. Each immerses you in old-growth forest, provides views of Diablo Lake either waterside or from vertigo-inducing heights, and spreads out before you, like it's a movie set.