Road Trip: North Cascades

When we left Glacier, our next stop was North Cascades National Park in WA. We had heard that the wildfires might interfere with our plans to get there, but I couldn't google an exact answer to how would be affected. So we just drove and hoped we would be able to get where we wanted.

Well, that didn't work out so well.

 

As we got closer to our hotel, the smoke got thicker.

Some places looked like wastelands.

When the sun started setting, it was pretty.

By the time we got to our hotel in Winthrop,

the sky looked like it was ON FIRE.

It was beautiful and creepy at the same time.

Our little hotel was cute, but it felt like we shouldn't

be there. Everyone else that we saw were either fire

fighters or family members of fire fighters who came to visit.

Even though Winthrop is only one hour from North Cascades,

the road between them was closed because of the fire.

So we ended up taking a three hour detour and rearranging things a bit.

We had to drive southwest along Lake Chelan.

Still very smoky.

Our last-minute fun stop ended up being at High Trek Chelan

where we did a ropes course and zip line.

It was so fun and scary.

And it was also hot outside.

Care Bear ended up getting a heat stroke

or dehydrated or something.

She was shaky and couldn't see and I had to run

down to the bottom and get her a cold bottle of water.

After she had a few drinks she felt better and kept going.

When you're just watching it, it doesn't look bad.

But when you're doing it, it is SCARY!

Even though you're hooked in and know you won't fall.

Zip line!

You can do this 50 foot free fall at the end to get off the course.

Care Bear did it with no problem or hesitation.

But oh my gosh, it is so scary!

I had the hardest time making myself step off that ledge!

The ropes course is right next to a water park.

We didn't go there, but we got to watch the

people surfing for a few minutes.

It looks so cool!

I'm sure I'd fall on my face right away.

We ended up staying the night in Everett,

just north of Seattle and then heading to

North Cascades the next morning.

I'd never even heard of North Cascades National Park before this trip.

Have you?

I LOVED the views, especially of the teal-colored 

glacier-fed lakes.

But it wasn't a very well-labeled park.

I didn't even know where the park officially started or stopped.

We never had to pay at a gate.

This is called Diablo Lake.

It is absolutely gorgeous and if I have the chance to go back 

to NCNP, I would try to rent a kayak or canoe and spend 

some time on that beautiful water.

I'm on top of the world!

This is at the Washington Pass Observation Site.

You can do a short (less than half a mile) walk to a

beautiful viewpoint.

Ross Lake

We also did a hike around Ladder Creek Falls.

I couldn't find the right starting point,

so I think I made it longer than it needed to be.

We parked across the street from the

Skagit General Store (which was closed bc of COVID)

and ended up walking from there.

We got our steps in.

Ladder Falls was nice.

Gorge Dam

They have a great little nature walk

called Trail of the Cedars.

It's shaded and flat.

There's a little creek/pool of water at the end and

I couldn't believe how CLEAR the water was.

You can see right through this tree.

Skagit River

You don't see totem poles in NC.

There is also a SUPER short hike you can do at the 

North Cascades Visitors Center.

I think it was a five minute hike.

Maybe you should just call it a stroll.

But it leads to a gorgeous view at the end.

These are out of order,

but we also drove through a super cute Alpine-type

town called Leavenworth, WA.

If we weren't already driving three hours out of the way,

I would've loved to stop and explore a bit.

Maybe next time.

I've been to Washington before, but it was just the very southern part when Paul and Daneen were living in Oregon. I'm glad C and I had the chance to see some of the beauty here.