North Cascades National Park, Day 2

Much of North Cascades National Park is accessible off of Route 20, which runs from Marblemount on the west side to Mazama on the east side. There is a further area that is accessible only by a 6-hour ferry ride or 21-mile overland hike, but we decided to limit ourselves to the parts on 20. Having gotten a small start on it the day before, we set out early to pick up where we left off, beginning with a hike to Thunder Knob:

From the base of the hike

This hike literally started with us having to walk single file across a ladder stretched across a stream

Pretty marshlands at the base of the mountain

First overlook

Second overlook

We made it to the top! The view was a big payoff for 2 pretty steep miles

From Thunder Knob, we started making our way east on Route 20, stopping at all of the major overlooks:

Diablo Lake Overlook

Ross Lake Overlook

We tried for a second shorter hike at Rainy Lake, but we only made it partway because the route was very muddy and still covered in snow. We did see a couple of cool waterfalls/snow melts:

Our last stop was Washington Pass, which was the last portion of the road to be completed. It was a long, multiyear project because of the sheer size of the mountains and the need to blast through them to make the road. The height of the pass here and the size of the mountains were dizzying:

From Washington Pass, we exited out of the park on the east, stopping briefly in Mazama for snacks before heading on to Winthrop where we would spend the night. The entire town of Winthrop is western-themed, and most of it is only open in the summer. We enjoyed walking down the main street and taking in all the sites before dinner:

After dinner, we headed out to enjoy the summer resort atmosphere of Winthrop. We played Western-themed mini golf and had waffle cones from a homemade ice cream stand before retiring to our room where we could sit out on the balcony and watch the sun set over the town:

North Cascades National Park, Day 1

We left Seattle late morning and made the drive to North Cascades, arriving in the mid-afternoon. We bypassed our hotel since it was too early to check-in, and instead made our way to the Visitor Center, where the rangers told us about a few hikes closer to the west end of the park where we were staying:

Driving into the park, the terrain got very mountainous

Our first hike was ladder falls, which is actually on the grounds of the hydro-electric plant that supplies the Skagit Valley. The original owner of the plant created a whole landscape to get people in and show them how the dam was good for the environment:

The power plant. You could go inside for exhibits, but we took a pass in favor of more hiking

Some of the landscape work

The actual falls were visible through a rock crevice

This little bridge connected the parking to the hike and had great views on both sides

From ladder falls, we headed to the first big viewpoint on Route 20, which also had a short hike with a series of overlooks:

Across the street from the viewpoint was a pedestrian bridge looking over another waterfall, which was much taller:

The river coming off of the falls and joining the lake

By this time it was after 6, so we headed back towards the hotel and some dinner, saving the rest of Route 20 for the next day.