North Cascades NP

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North Cascades

Day 11 – July 20

Drove 250 miles

On to Mazama, Washington. Passing out of Idaho, and on the way through Washington we spotted a black bear running toward the road to our left on the highway. We pulled over to watch it run off up into the hills on the other side of the road. How it got through the barbed wire fence so quickly, we don’t know…but it was agile and quick.

We also stopped to check out a functioning tiny “Roadside stop-rest-pray Prayer Chapel” along the highway, via Offbeat Attraction app. In Idaho we stopped right off the highway to see a really nice monument to men killed in the Sunshine coal mine fire back in the 70’s. It rained a little on us at the monument. We also stopped at Cabela’s in Spokane Washington and bought some additional hiking clothes. We arrived in Mazama, just outside the North Cascades late afternoon. We stayed one night at the “swanky” Freestone Inn; a beautiful rustic looking, but posh hotel. Emilie did not know that I had made reservations at such a nice place and she was pleasantly surprised. We just hung out and enjoyed the amenities…outdoor hot tub, drinks and food on the stone patio overlooking a pond, walk around the pond, sat on chairs on the front porch of an unoccupied cabin right on the river for a bit, then we finished with drinks at the fire pit on the patio.  We chatted with a couple from Washington at the fire pit under the stars.  We were due a bit of civility. Off to bed.

Maple Pass Loop Trail

Day 12- July 21

We got up early to tackle the 9.5 mile Maple Pass Loop hike (this distance includes the spur trail to Lake Ann). Had a very nice breakfast at the Freestone Inn restaurant and checked out. The Maple Pass Loop trail rivaled the Grinnell Glacier trail in Glacier as the best trail of the trip so far.  We were recommended to go on this hike by the ranger who I bought our America the Beautiful National Parks pass from back in Massachusetts.  The ranger was previously stationed at the North Cascades and had some great insights for us. This trail just kept going up, and up, and up, and up. At 1.5 miles we diverted to Lake Ann (1 mile roundtrip). This was good because as we ascended the Maple Pass trail we used Lake Ann as a reference point to how high and far we were hiking.

We were taking a bit of a chance on this trail because we were warned by reading and hearing that we may encounter unpassable snow, or lose the trail in the snow near the top of the trail. There were very few people on this trail. The vistas here were truly magnificent all along the trail. Snow caps and alpine meadows and mountains all around. We hit several sections of snow covered trail. Luckily a few people were apparently ahead of us and so we could follow the tracks in the snow to be sure we stayed on the trail. A young woman with a Saint Bernard (yes, really, a Saint Bernard) had passed us earlier so we kept looking for paw prints, and used them as a guide. The snow covered trails were tough at times but fortunately we were still ascending so at least we weren’t negotiating a descent in slippery snow. We were able to identify the path forward in the distance by locating people with our binoculars. We finally made it to the top, which was basically the ridgeline. The views of the other side of the mountain came into view, and it was just unbelievably spectacular. Glacier Peak and other huge snow capped mountains in the distance and panoramic marvel. We hung out at the ridgeline for about 15 minutes to snack and enjoy the views. Pictures could not capture the vast beauty or the fact that we were, at times, on the cutting edge of the ridge line where we could fall to our deaths with a wrong step either way. We met a family from N.H. who took our picture. The descent down the other half of the loop was just as amazing but less snowy so a little bit easier.

We should have called it a day and gone back to town after this grueling, exceptional hike but we had planned to hike the 3 mile Cut Throat Trail this day, and so we did. It was around 4:00 now. We planned hiking this not knowing how hard and long (though entirely amazing) the Maple Pass Loop Trail would be. This trail was recommended to us by our waitress at the Freestone Inn the night before, and we actually ran into her at the trailhead. The hike took us to a small lake that was beautiful, and we needed to traverse a couple of tree log bridges over water. We would have enjoyed it more had we did it another day. We also just got this hike in before thunder and rain.

We then went to have dinner and walk around the boardwalks in the small, rustic, Old-West style touristy town of Winthrop after checking in to the Rio Vista Motel there. A nice motel right at the edge of town overlooking a river and mountains. We had a nice private balcony over the river. I found it online the day before. Good choice. We looked at some stars from the balcony with our new iPad stargazing app, had a drink, and went to bed.

Blue Lake Trail & Winthrop

Day 13 – July 22

We ate a late breakfast at the 3 Bears Quilt and Café which was about a 10 minute walk from the motel. A quaint, upscale breakfast café and quilt shop. We ate outside on the patio.  Then it became rainy. We spent some time hanging out in Winthrop. This is a cool replica western town with a wooden boardwalk on both sides of the street. We went into some shops. I tried on a cool steampunk hat with a glass eye on it. We sent a photo of it on my head to Suzannah and she said Dad could NOT buy that hat!

We did buy a bottle of local vineyard wine from a wine shop, though. The proprietor of an REI type shop in town recommended to us the rainforest in Olympic National Park as a possible diversion from Seattle in a couple of days. (See July 25 summary).

Then we went to the Forest Service Station in Winthrop to get some park information since the National Park Ranger station was on the other side of the Cascades.

We then went on an afternoon hike up Blue Lake Trail. This is a 4.4 mile loop trail. We weren’t sure if the rain really ended for the day but we were determined to get a hike in. A few other cars showed up at the trailhead too, so we weren’t the only ones determined to get a hike in. Turned out to be a good afternoon for a hike. Several others were on the trail, and it was a nice, not too challenging trail with beautiful scenery and vistas…again. Blue Lake was beautiful, and though very tempting, the water and air made it too cold to swim. Joining about ten other people we had some food on a large rock overlooking the lake and the mountains that dropped into the lake with snow along the lake shore. Another local hiker pointed out the Liberty Bell, Lexington, and Concord mountain peaks looking down on us.

After the hike we headed back to Winthrop and had mediocre dinner at the Schoolhouse Brewery. Then we hung out on our balcony at the Rio Vista hotel looking at stars and satellites via our stargazing app, then went to bed.

Diablo Lake Trail & North Cascade Drive

Day 14 – July 23

We left Winthrop for the western part of the North Cascade Drive. This fantastic scenic road is the Cascade’s version of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier NP. We stopped for one last Cascades hike and did the six mile Diablo Lake Trail. This trail was unexpectedly dangerous, in a fun way, with some steep drop-offs along a narrow trail toward the Ross Dam. One again there was amazing scenery and vistas, and towering, lush old growth forest.

There was little wildlife found in the Cascades, except for an occasional deer. I ventured out on to a very dangerous overlook of the dam. I didn’t go all the way, though, as it was pretty treacherous, and I had to run back up a small rocky hill, without looking down, in order to get back to safety. We then descended down toward the dam and the suspension bridge there.  We considered taking the ferry back to the Diablo Lake Trail trailhead but the timing didn’t work, so we rested and had some food by the ferry dock at the dam. We needed to walk through a mountainside tunnel with metal mesh holding up falling rocks to get to the ferry dock. We saw a couple of speed boats with dam facility workers in them whizzing by us really fast…they were having a great time on the job! On the way back toward the trail, from the suspension bridge we waved at passengers on one of the Lake and Dam boat tours. (boats are for wimps!).

After this surprisingly tiring hike, we got back on Rt. 20 (the official name of the North Cascade Drive). We stopped a short while later on the side of the road to see Gorge Creek Falls where we also ran into a family from Nashua, NH., recognized via a Patriots shirt the father was wearing. We had a filling and homey dinner near the end of the Cascade drive on Rt. 20 at the Marblemount Diner in Newhalem. Surprisingly excellent food. We tried to go to Q BBQ based on the recommendation of the ranger at West Hill Dam where we got our National Parks pass, but it was closed. We arrived at our friend’s house in Lacey, WA around 8:30 pm. Chatted until bed time.  North Cascades and Glacier were all we talked about as we fell asleep.

 

Next: Seattle / Olympia National Forest / Mount St. Helens