Washington, North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park to Bellingham, WA

June 11th to June 14th

We left Heart O'the Hills in Olympic National Park a day early and traveled by ferry from Port Townsend to the port of Kingston on Whidbey Island. The ferry was only 3 years old and beautiful. Very light traffic so we had no problems getting on and off with the RV.The route to North Cascades National Park was once again through small quaint towns and on good roads, but certainly not highways.  We went through Deception Pass which is the bridge from Whidbey Island to the mainland. The travel books tells us that this double bridge gets  more visitors per year than the Grand Canyon! and most get out of their cars, walk the spans and take pictures. We sure did! The current races underneath the bridge and the views of Lottie's bay are wonderful.

Although the mileage for the day was only 167, the day was long due to ferry travel and slow traffic through the towns as well as the mountain roads in the Parks. As we drove through the Park we were enthralled by all of the waterfalls we saw along the road way. The route 20 drive through the Park is considered one of the most scenic in the State of Washington. We entered the west side and only went as far as the Ross Lake overlook to the east and the views were outstanding. The signs along the road say, "Welcome to the Alps of America." We didn't stop this day with the RV, but we will definitely return to them.

Once we arrived in the Colonial Creek campground, we found a nice secluded, flat site by the rushing waters of Thunder Creek. The campfire and toasted marshmallows were welcome this night as we relaxed in the cool mountain air. Actually, we've had cool air our entire trip through Oregon and Washington..much better than hot!

The following day, we walked from our campsite to the Thunder Knob Trail head. We followed the clear rushing waters of Thunder Creek for a short while crossing over it twice on makeshift bridges and then climbed upward.

It was supposed to be a 425 foot increase in elevation but according to Tim's GPS, it was more like 600 plus. The trail was well marked with lots of switchbacks to make the ascent a little easier. We were rewarded with views of Diablo Lake and the Cascade Mountain range when we arrived at the top. Because this is supposedly bear country, I had my bear bell on my hiking stick which I lost along the trail. When we reached the top, a young woman and her son joined us and lo and behold, she had the bell with her. She said,  " I figured I'd find either the owner of the bell or the remains that the bear left behind!"  The hike down was faster and easier of course but the total round trip was 3.6 miles and was great exercise for the day.

In the afternoon, it was cool and windy, but we went off to see the waterfalls from all of the pull offs along the road. We also went in to see the Diablo Dam and we found the parking spot where folks were getting on a ferry to Ross Resort.

Ross Recreation area can only be accessed by boat or on foot. But the Resort has floating cabins to rent as well as kayaks. Most of the people we met go there every year to hike in the wilderness areas. Had we know beforehand, we might have planned a day of hiking over there, but since rains are predicted from this point on, we will forego that side trip.

The Skagit River runs through the Cascades. It is the largest head water that flows into Puget Sound and it was harnessed for power in 1918 by JD Ross with the start of the three dams; the Gorge, the Diablo and the Ross. The Seattle City Light power company controls the flow of the dams and supplies the electricity for Seattle and its surrounding towns from this source. The town of Newhalem houses the administrative buildings and the company store. The population here is now 40 down from 329 in its heyday. Between 1920 and 1940 the only way to get supplies to Newhalem was by railroad up from Rockport. In 1940, the U.S. Forest Service completed a passable road and in 1954 the road was improved and the railroad was removed.

The rain did come and stayed for the following day, so we just drove through the park again stopping as we could for more of the cascading waterfalls which were fuller because of the rains.  The weather wasn't getting any better, so we decided to leave a day early and move on to Bellingham in order to resupply and refresh ourselves before heading across into Canada. We will stay in Vancouver for a few days before heading north once again towards Prince Rupert where we will pick up the Marine Highway in to Alaska.

All in all, the North Cascades National Park is one of the prettiest we have seen with its craggy peaks and cascading waterfalls. There is much more here to see and do than we did. So if you have the chance and are inclined to do  a little hiking.. or maybe a lot.. this is the place for you.