After leaving Canada and dealing with a much more lengthy border crossing than when we went into Canada, we did some shopping and chores. After we headed to our Harvest Host, Eagle Haven Winery, about an hour outside North Cascade Park (20Jul2023). It was a nice quiet little winery and we had a relaxing evening.
On Friday (21Jul2023) we drove into North Cascade National Park stopping at the visitor center so we could do some planning. We then decided to just find our camp spot for the night to relax and plan. After a failed attempt on some National Forest road we ended up just outside the park at a primitive site called Cascade Wagon Road Campground.
Saturday (22Jul2023) we headed out early-ish to get to Diablo Lake before the parking lot filled up. After breakfast we hiked the Diablo Lake Trail, which was beautiful but hot and lacked any really good lake views. Since it was so hot and we needed showers we drove back out of the park in search of a campsite with showers, ending up at Howard Miller Steelhead Park. It was a nice campground next to the Skagit River.
Sunday (23Jul2023) we headed to the Newhalem Campground (in the National Park). We spent most of the day just relaxing and avoiding the heat before taking a short hike/walk after dinner around the campground/visitor center area. The forest and river views were very beautiful.
Monday (24Jul2023) we headed to the Colonial Creek Campground area to hike some of the Thunder Creek Trail. It was really cool trail with lots of big old growth trees and was pleasant as the rain had cooled the area down some. We stopped at the Gorge Creek Overlook and the town of Newhalem before going back camp to chill for the evening.
Tuesday (25Jul2023) we got up early to drove to the Rainy Pass area in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. We hiked the Maple Pass Trail which butts up against and goes partly in North Cascade NP. It was hard but very rewarding. It was probably one of our top hikes we have done so far on this trip. After the hike we headed back to relax at camp for the evening.
Wednesday (26Jul2023) we hiked around the campsite to a Native American rock shelter and the cascade river. We then headed to Grady Lake Campground in Skagit County. We relaxed most of the day and took a short hike/walk after dinner and once it had cooled down.
Thursday (27Jul2023) we headed toward Seattle to see Justin's brother Jon and his wife Sarah. We stayed with them through the weekend (27Jul-30Jul) spending some time in the surrounding city but mostly just chilling and catching up with them. Some highlights were exploring Fremont and Ballard areas. We got lunch at vegan restaurant called Cycle Dog and stopped in the Theo Chocolate Factory's storefront. We also walked around their condo area that had a ton of trails basically from their doorstop.
Our next stop is Mt. Rainier National Park and then into Olympic National Park. From there we will need to figure out a game plan on which other Pacific NW areas we want to see.
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