North Cascades National Park

We're trying to check some things off the list so that we can get rolling again and head south and start to curve around back to Ohio. North Cascades is a huge place and encompasses three areas. North Cascades, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Lots of wilderness, glaciers, lakes and mountains on the border of the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest. Most of the things to do in these areas are hiking and camping. I can't exactly hike so we drive the roads and look for the places that I can get into or see easily. This means that me miss so much of the area because we can't get into it. What we see from the roads is awesome and I am always thankful for all the work that the government, NGOs and volunteers put into making these places accessible and building the roads to get there. Most of the parks benefited from the Great Depression because the government put many men to work building roads, clearing trails and making things easier for people to access. This gave men purpose, jobs and money and in turn gave people new access to the wilderness and set the stage for America's love affair with National Parks after World War II.
I am grateful for all we get to see and do and the Americans with Disabilities Act greatly helped those of us with disabilities to be able to access these facilities and enjoy them.
So we left little Whidbey Island (the second largest island in the contiguous US) for the mainland with a good view of Mount Baker to the north and Rainer to the south as we crossed the twin bridges separating Fidalgo Island from the mainland. I chose to run up north along the coast and then double back because I wanted to show Becky some cool houses and for some reason thought that 20 ran out of Bellingham. After checking the map (paper) we dropped back down and drove out 20 west.
We passed through lots of farming areas and lots and lots of drought stricken land, dry as a popcorn fart and ready to ignite with a small spark.
We passed Cascadian Farm on the through and back in the Skagit River Valley. We have bought their cereal and other products over the years and Becky pointed them out and we waved on the way by.
All the pictures are hazy because of several forest fires in the area. We saw a small one on the way into the park that they were working to put out with the helicopter and dip bucket. 

 The road we drove into the park was the only road through the park. Ross Lake is only accessible via a road in from Canada or hiking in. On Lake Chelan the main town is only accessible via a ferry and vehicles have to be barged in for the locals. There were several spots to stop and look or trail heads and the visitor's center but not much else on the road. The first stop of the day was at the visitor's center and then we drove through the park to NF500 better known as Mt Washington Overlook before turning around and heading back. There is a North Cascades Loop that would be an fun drive but it would take two good days to do it.

This was the first in a multiple system of dams that provides power to the surrounding area.

 We stopped at an overlook that lead out to an area to view the above dam. It was well paved and had handrails up the viewpoint. Then it dropped off in a well packed path back to the parking lot. We decided to take that path. It was steep in some parts, narrow in most with drop offs and Becky did lots of pushing but it wasn't too bad. I wished that I had brought the Free Wheel with me.
At the overlook there is a bridge that allows for the view of the waterfall. In the below pic, the stream below and the exit point into the lake. Before the lake was put in the water fall must have been fairly high to the river below. As usual with all the water flow was pretty low.

Looking back on Gorge Lake.

 From Gorge Lake the road begins to climb and then drops down to Diablo Lake. There is a nice campground on both sides of the road but like most NP campgrounds the sites are small. There is a beach that quite a few people were stopped at and relaxing in the ice cold water. The road then climbs up to a look out over Diablo Lake.

 Theses are views from the Mt Washington Overlook. The road twists around on itself and falls away ever so lovely but we didn't drop into the run. We turned back and headed home.

Patrick always seems to find the rocks to climb.

 On our way back through the park, we were brought to a halt by two workers holding signs and motioning for us to stop. Around the bend they were cleaning up a nasty head on accident between two cars. They already had one car towed away and the people had been carted out. It must have happened shortly after we went through the area.
In Marblemount, just outside the park on the west side, we had dinner at The Buffalo Run restaurant. It was a lot more expensive than the hole-in-the-wall look portrayed but the food was good and it was run by a retired Navy/Coastie Senior Chief who had been through our part of Ohio on a tour of duty. I didn't mind giving him my money but $2.75 for a soda plus .50 a refill was a bit much.

On the way across Deception Pass, we were treated to a spectacular sunset.