Don’t you think it’s about time that we did some hiking? Well, actually we’ve done some along the way but none of these hikes took took long - remember the rain that has been on and off for the last 3 days? We hiked along the river between Newhalem and the campground, crossing the suspension bridge and waking among some huge Douglas Firs. The river is higher than normal and lots of the trees along the banks are under water now and sometimes the trail is covered in water.
We also took a trail in the campground that circled near the river and up to the Visitor Center. Here we took a picture of the Picket Range in back of the VC. It was a bit cloudy at the time and we could not see the top. However, the next day, in the sun, we drove back after another hike and took this picture. We could finally see the craggy tops of the Pickets.
We also took a hike to the top of a knob where we could look down on Diablo Lake.
I, who always thought mountain lakes looked blue was surprised to see the green color of this lake. That comes from the minerals that wash down out of the surrounding mountains. But aren’t the views stunning? Everywhere you look in the Cascades the views are amazing. There are 314 glaciers up here and we could see some but, unless you backpack into the interior, you won’t be able to see some of the largest.
We also took a hike straight down to the Ross Dam site. Very neat trail with a marvelous log bridge over a rushing creek.
At the bottom, we turned right and headed over to the boat landing where a boat will take you over to Ross Dam Resort, which is right on the lake. And, when I say ‘on’ the lake I mean that it is a floating resort: the cabins actually float on Ross Lake. You have to take a boat to get to them. There are 11 cabins with refrigerator, stove and furniture. These cabins are reserved almost constantly and, if you want to stay there, you’d better reserve early. The look really neat and I can see why they are popular. Right on the lake and you can rent a boat for the day to explore the lake. Or swim like the family we saw or relax.
We walked back and turned left to get to Ross Dam which we could actually walk over. We had expected much more security and were terribly surprised when we saw no one up here. No one near the dam, no one in the power house, no one near the dam at all - but us. Now, I know they have cameras in Seattle and watch everything on the dam but there were no humans but us and a few other hikers.
Of course, now we have to hike up the hill. We passed a family with packs who had stayed in the Resort over night and were now hiking out. Hmmm - hike in with all your clothing and food for as long as you are going to stay and now hike back with dirty clothing and left-overs? Doesn’t sound like a resort that would be reserved full all the time. Ah, later we found out that to get to the resort, you park at Diablo Dam, get on the ferry and they take you and your luggage and food to the lake. This family just hiked in for fun.
We did not take the Easy Pass trail which is 14 miles long, rated strenuous with an elevation gain of 1980’. Nothing easy about this trail.
Our last day in Newhalem we took a final trail that curved along Diablo Lake. Well, at least the map showed curving near Diablo Lake. However, what the map failed to note was that it went up the cliffs by Diablo Lake and then curved around. Note to self: next time, check the terrain maps. Actually, it was a beautiful trail, winding through lush forests, over rushing creeks and around huge rocks. It also went through the bottom of a rock slide.
Now, I don’t like hiking along the bottoms of rock slides. My insides do a double take, I walk a bit fast and am relieved when I get to the other side. All I can imagine as I am carefully, softly putting my feet down is that I will catch the edge of a bottom rock, push it out of place and the rest of the pile of rocks will come tumbling down. I don’t like walking over grates and I don’t like walking through the bottoms of rock slides. BTW, tops of rock slides are not better than bottoms.
One day as we were driving to a trail head, we saw this couple from France. They had biked from San Diego with the ultimate goal of reaching Chicago where they would board their plane back home. They knew they would not make it that far in the time they had but were going to get as far as they could. Pretty unique bike they have.
We have seen both stories of the North Cascades NP, the story of JD Ross and the building of the Skagit River Project and the tumbling cascades, high glaciers, craggy peaks, mountain lakes and green forests of the National Park. However, I have to tell you, I was quite surprised when I took a closer look at the map and realized that we had never touched the National Park, we had only been in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. But, it is managed as all the same park and the Rangers we met all worked for the NP. The National Park is almost all wilderness and they mean to keep it that way. The NRA is more accessible and used.
It seems to me that the greens are greener and the blues bluer at National Parks.
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