triyoda wrote:Sahale looks a nice challenge. Is it within a 3 hour drive of Seattle?
If, as you say, you don't have any experience in the Washington Cascades, you should know that these mountains get a heavier snowpack than any other range in the continental US, and will still be very snowbound at the end of May. This will affect what you can accomplish within your own guidelines.
Sahale is a great destination, and normally it is within a three hour drive of Seattle. But if you're coming to Seattle at the end of May, I don't know if the Cascade River Road will be open all the way to the end. It might have been last year that it was heavily damaged. Whatever you do, contact the closest US Forest Service Ranger Station to find out road conditions. For Sahale, even if you can get to the road end, the entire route will be on snow and will take you more than 8 hours. It is, after all, 5200 feet elevation gain.
If you're coming at the end of May, I'd check out the Teanaway area in the Eastern Cascades. It melts out earlier, and it is about a 2-2.5 hour drive from Seattle. For an 8-hour excursion, there are many scramble peaks such as Hawkins Mtn. or South Ingalls Peak, Navaho, or Esmeralda Peaks. Stuart, also in the Teanaway area, is one of the great peaks of Washington, but unless you're very fit, it will be more than an 8-hour trip.