August 14, 2021
All the campsites in the National Park were full, so we had to settle for a campground that was about 20 miles away. We arrived at Glacier Peak Resort on Thursday afternoon. Don't let the name fool you into thinking this is some fancy campground. I guess you could call it rustic. It wouldn't be so bad except for our neighbors. The woman in the RV right next to ours spends every waking hour sitting at her open door chain-smoking. On our first night after we had gone to bed, we had to listen to a very loud off-key songfest by her hammered husband until almost midnight. Most of our camping experiences have been very positive. We've been pretty lucky overall. The saving grace here is the campground had a laundromat and wifi, so we got our laundry done on Thursday.
On Friday, despite the smoke from the forest fires that had covered the sky, we headed for our long-awaited visit to North Cascade National Park.
I loved that they made the park sign to resemble a glacial peak. That's not the typical standard sign.
After stopping at the Visitor Center to get a map, we went directly to Diablo Lake. Diablo Lake is a reservoir created by Diablo Dam. It is located between Ross Lake and Gorge Lake on the Skagit River. It was recommended to paddle in the morning to avoid choppy water when the wind picks up in the afternoon. It's a beautiful lake, almost fiord-like, with rock cliffs on either side. It's not surprising that this area is called the American Alps.
The water was the beautiful blue-green color that we've come to know in these northwestern lakes. Sadly, only the shadow of the mountains could be seen.
The rugged shoreline reminded me a bit like those seen in Maine.
After a tranquil 5-mile paddle, we returned to shore to have our picnic lunch. After lunch we drove a little further west to see the Ross Lake Dam. This dam separates Ross Lake and Diablo Lake. We didn't realize we were going to have to hike down a very steep 1.5 mile trail to get to the dam.
On our way down, we could see the dam from an overlook. We still had a long way to go.
We were able to walk out across the dam. I was standing at the center point when I took this photo. Lee had walked to the far end. You have to zoom way in to see a tiny speck of his orange teeshirt 750 feet away. The dam is 1300 feet wide and 540 feet high.
This photo was taken from the center of the dam looking down into the smoky Skagit River gorge between the two lakes.
No hike would be complete without at least one wildlife photo. On our climb back up the hill, we saw this little Douglas Squirrel munching on a Douglas Fir cone.
Today, Saturday, is our last day here. The sky is still filled with smoke, so we decided not to go into the park again. Instead, this afternoon we went next door to the Glacier Peak Winery for a wine tasting.
We tried six different wines, a white, a rose, and four reds. Neither one of us liked any of them well enough to have more, so we just hung out on their patio relaxing for awhile.
Tomorrow we continue heading east toward home with a few stops along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment