theladysnarkydame: (Default)
We went camping in Newhalem this last weekend - it's a campsite near a tiny company town of the same name (owned by the Seattle City Light company, and populated entirely by either government employees, or employees of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project).

The campsite is one of our favorites - we've been there once a year since we moved to Washington. We go there when we want a really relaxed kind of camp, since it has proper flushing toilets and rangers on site. This year they've added Bear Safes to all the sites (last year they'd only added them to one of the three loops) which is nice, since it's in the North Cascades National Park and bears are definitely a thing to be aware of, even though we've never seen one yet.

Last year we walked all the hiking trails that actually meet up at the campground - some really lovely trails through some old-growth cedar forests near the river, a trail that winds through meadows that are what's taking over an area that caught fire a few years ago (the burnt out stumps and stark, bare trees are very dramatic against the riot of purple fireweed and bright green new growth), and a trail that overlooks a 1400 year old hunting camp (lined with educational signs and kept up by the forest service).

Since we did that last year we ranged farther afield this time - we drove about an hour or two through the bordering Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest and looped back into the North Cascades National Park to find the trailhead for the Cascade Pass - one of the most popular hikes in the area, but we haven't done much hiking, so it was new to us.

The trail goes up via 30 plus switchbacks through towering trees - near the end of the switchbacks you start to see glimpses of the valley and the mountains nearby. The trail then leaves the trees and crosses steep meadows filled with wildflowers, and a scree field that echoes with marmot whistles and the squeaky cries of pikas (one of these adorable things ran right up to Chad and my shoes as we hiked down - either very curious, or just wanting to get us further away from its hideyhole). Shortly past the scree field there's the pass itself - a flat spot lined with stones that looks down an impressive spread of valley and peaks. We stopped there, rested, and turned back, because a 7 mile round trip hike is plenty for us right now. Alternatively, we could have followed the path all the way to Stehekin - 30 miles further on - but we definitely weren't prepared for that sort of trek.

pictures of the hike )pictures of the hike )

 I took about 230 more pictures of the hike, just using my phone -- nothing's edited, yet.  

I can't wait to do it again.  Or to take more of the many many more hikes around - we've lived with the North Cascades in our backyard for almost five years now and barely scratched the surface of it all!
theladysnarkydame: Moon and Chime from The Books of the Raksura! (What?)
So the Cascade Loop is a road trip that takes about 9 hours of driving time and fills it with 4 or 5 days worth of stuff to do and things to see. It gives a traveler a broad overview of the climate and surroundings of Washington, and is generally pretty awesome. Chad and I are thinking of making it an annual thing -- there's enough stuff to do that we can pick one or two "destinations" on the Loop and spend the rest of the time camping and enjoying the scenery. :D

We took the Loop clockwise, basically, starting with the ferry to Whidbey Island and then mostly following HWY 20 around. We stopped and camped the first night in Newhalem, in the North Cascades National Park, which was chilly and mountainous and covered in pine trees. Then we drove through the touristy old west town of Winthrop to an AirBnB in Wenatchee, which is in the part of Washington full of scrubby desert and heat and vineyards and orchards. The third day we backtracked to take a swim in Lake Chelan, which is, no lie, the most beautiful water I've ever seen -- the lake was so clear, and so blue, it looked tropical even though it was JUST the right side of too cold. (this was very welcome, because our van doesn't have working A/C, and that side of Washington, like I said before, is HOT). There were ducks swimming around with us, Mallards I think, bobbing along and staying just out of reach of the kids in the water. Then we went through some more rocky mountains and over some impressive curves before camping for the night at Moneycreek, in the Mt. Baker-Snowqualmie National Forest. It's an old growth forest, full of massive Red Cedars and hoary, moss covered Fir. Really impressive, we'll definitely be back -- I didn't get many good pictures there, because the light was too low for my slow old workhorse camera. Next year, maybe. The fourth day we did a bit more sightseeing and touristy stuff, and then we came home!

Here are some of the best pictures:

lots of pictures )

July 2021

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