Hot, hot, hot! Seattle was having unseasonably warm
temperatures with highs each day in the upper 80s and lower 90s. After leaving Seattle,
our intent was to slowly make our way east toward Glacier National Park. We
wanted to explore new places we’d never seen in western Washington and Idaho
especially. And we hoped to find cooler temperatures. This took longer than
expected!
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| Our classic entrance sign photo |
Our first stop was North Cascades National Park, less
than three hours north of Seattle. We had no formal plan so we stopped at the
park’s visitor center, which happened to also have a nearby campground so we
decided to stay there for a night. Walden was happy to find a huge light-up map
in the visitor center that had more buttons than he could press before it
became a chore. A thunderstorm was triggered when you walked into one of the
exhibits which delighted Walden and had to be revisited five times. We picked
up a Junior Ranger book at the information desk and were pleasantly surprised
that the book was age-appropriate, with “3-5 year olds” on the cover. It was
the best Junior Ranger book we’d seen on the trip and Walden was occupied for
the rest of the evening and morning with dot-to-dots, mazes, and Bingo games.
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| Typical night at the campground |
There was a network of trails around the campground which was ideal for the
time we had to explore after supper. We hiked through giant moss covered trees
to a light turquoise colored glacial stream.
A road runs through the center of North Cascades National
Park and follows a river with three dams on it. Due to the dams and the
reservoir lakes, this part of the park is actually designated a National
Recreation Area, which means there is significant human impact that can be
observed. The dams supply 25% of the power for the city of Seattle, so massive
towers and power lines run the length of the park. The majority of the “real park”
is remote wilderness only accessible by steep back country trails.
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| Our little ranger |
In the morning, we went back to the visitor center so
Walden could get his Junior Ranger patch and experience the lightning and thunder
one last time. Then we drove east to a small town called Newhalem that was
created during the building of the dam. Seattle Light, in partnership with the
National Park Service, runs a new visitor center in the tiny town, but many of
the historic buildings are still in use. We hiked the Trail of the Cedars through
a scenic cedar grove next to the river, visited a rock shelter used by natives
for 1200 years, and explored the Gorge hydroelectric plant. They allow visitors
into the plant to view the giant turbines from behind huge glass windows. When
the dam and power plants were built in the 1920s, tourists from Seattle flocked
to the area for three-day tours that included train and boat rides to view the
engineering marvels. To showcase the wonders of electricity, Superintendent
J.D. Ross created a tropical garden behind the Gorge Powerhouse in 1929, built
trails through the forest lit by lights in the trees, played music in the
forest to set the mood, and got permission to light up a waterfall with
multicolored lights at night. You can still tour what is left of the garden,
climb the fairytale trails, and even see the lighted waterfall (recently
restored with power saving LED lights). We, unfortunately, weren’t there at
night, but the natural waterfall is a beautiful cascade that shoots through
several levels of a narrow gorge.
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| Splashing in the glacial water |
Our next stop was a viewpoint to see the Gorge Dam, about
3 miles upstream from the powerhouse (water is sent via a large pipe to
increase pressure), and Gorge Creek Falls. Then we settled into the Colonial
Creek Campground on Diablo Lake, which is created by a second dam. The lake is
an amazing deep aqua color from the glacial water and was inviting on such a
hot day. After supper we headed down for a swim, but could barely put our feet
in the icy water before they went numb from the cold. We had fun splashing
around and daring one another to go deeper into the water.
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| View from Thunder Knob |
In the morning, we took a hike up Thunder Knob to get a
better view of Diablo Lake. There are craggy, pyramid mountain peaks that
surround the lake, but unfortunately, while we were there, the sky was hazy due
to several wild fires burning. We could see snow patches on the mountains, but
didn’t experience the crystal clear views we’d seen in Joey and Kendra’s
photos. After returning to the campsite, we debated more hikes and another
night just outside the park, but it was so hot we decided to move on. After the
weeks of unusually hot weather in Seattle, we were shocked to discover it was
only hotter here in the park. Actually, as we drove over Washington Pass and
moved into the rain shadow, the temperatures got even hotter – 100 degrees in
some places!
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| Picking (well, eating) huckleberries |
We decided that we’d drive until we found cooler weather,
but that never really happened. At the top of some of the passes, it would cool
down a bit (ie, mid-80s), but there was never any place to camp up there.
Hiking up mountains or even to a waterfall just wasn’t appealing in this
weather. We finally drove as far as we were willing and stopped at Canyon Creek
Campground (Gifford Pinchot National Forest) just west of Kettle Falls, WA. We were pleased to
discover the entire campground was filled with ripe huckleberries (which we
mistook for blueberries at first).
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| Moss beards |
We picked and ate until our mouths were
purple. That evening we cooled off (and bathed) in the rocky Canyon Creek and
were thrilled that the temperatures cooled off for good sleeping. In the
morning, we took a hike on a paved path that led to an old log flume
interpretive site before the heat set in. We decided to take a rest and catch
up day which meant drafting blogs, writing postcards, picking berries, and
playing in the stream. Despite the high of 100 degrees in the Burro that
afternoon, Walden crashed and took a much needed nap. Thanks to a tip from a
Canadian in the campground, we were introduced to serviceberries which grew
prolifically near the stream. Now our cooler is loaded with berries for a few
days!
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| Chicken, potatoes, and veggies |
In the morning, we pressed east again still searching for
cooler weather. After a short stop in town for ice, propane, Internet, and a
roadside produce stand, we decided to scrap our plans for exploring any more
until it cooled off. None of us had been to eastern Washington before and were
surprised by how dry it was. There were trees and hills, but it was more like a
desert than we’d imagined. The man at the propane place told us that this was
normal weather, and temperatures had been in the 100s since June 1. The
combination of a big lunch at the Internet Café (Walden ate an entire grown-up
cheeseburger), twisty mountain roads, hot weather, and reading a Highlights
magazine took its toll on Walden. The poor boy had his first experience getting
car sick and we all sprang into action on the side of the road trying to clean
up (yep, a full on cheeseburger puke in 90 degree weather). Walden kept asking
“What did I do?” trying to understand what had just happened to his body.
Finally, back in the car we pressed on hoping for relief from the heat (and
smell!). After only an hour, we passed through Idaho and were into Montana. We
were surprised that most of what we’d seen in Idaho and far western Montana was
huge areas of reservoir created by dams. It was not bad to look at, but was a
little unsettling for some reason. Perhaps because we knew it was created by
humans and we wondered what it would look like if left natural.
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