Park 22: North Cascades National Park, WA:  From the Olympic Peninsula, we traveled by ferry from Kingston to Edmonds to begin our day heading north to Camano Island where we visited a USNA classmate just north of Seattle.  His lovely contemporary home was perched on a bluff overlooking the Saratoga Passage between Camano and Whidbey Islands.  After a lengthy Happy Hour reliving old aviation stories, he grilled Copper River Salmon in the drizzle without a hint of concern for the clouds blowing in.  Guess you get used to that in the Pacific Northwest!   The next morning, after a delicious breakfast at his favorite local diner, we turned EAST!    



Sunset over Saratoga Passage

Ferry from Kingston to Edmunds, WA

North Cascades National Park is bisected by WA-20, a scenic highway that crosses Washington.  There are trails for hiking, but because of snow and rain, our tour was mostly car bound on 20E except for a few short hikes to overlooks of the lakes and dams across the Skagway River.  Three amazing dams provide over half the power to the Seattle area.  

Waterfall along WA-20E

This park is nicknamed the American Alps and you quickly understand why the mountain range is called the Cascades, as countless waterfalls from melting glaciers create icy cold blue-green creeks and rivers.  When we crossed the final two passes, we descended into a drier, less forested scene of grasslands and pastures.  It was only then that we could look back and glimpse a few of the snow covered mountaintops that had been obscured by clouds as we drove through the Park.  Just out of the mountains, we passed through Winthrop, WA, a small town whose entire downtown architecture is a throwback to the old West of the 1880’s.  We were now back in high desert country.  What a change!

Diablo Lake

Odometer: 9,480 miles.

Driving across Diablo Lake dam

Looking back on the Cascades