TUESDAY,
SEPT 23:
Left
around 9:30 this morning and drove north on I-5 til the junction of Hwy 20,
heading east. This took us through North
Cascades National Park. We stopped at a
Visitors Center right off the highway.
Was a lovely, spacious building without frills, which kind of echoes the
nature of this National Park. It’s
largely wilderness . . . no lodging, other than campgrounds, no restaurants, only
one road, no crowds.
The exhibits in the Visitors Center
focused on the 7 or 8 different
eco-zones found in the Park, depending on elevation, rainfall, latitude, &
other factors. So, as we drove through
the Park from west to east and ascended in elevation, we experienced a moisture-loving
Douglas Fir/red cedar/western hemlock
forest, lovely subalpine meadows (showy
with wildflowers in the summertime, now given over to splashes of fall colors) surrounded
by large stands of lacey Hemlocks, and then a second temperate forest of Ponderosa
and Lodgepole pines and spruce trees as we descended again on the considerably
drier eastern slope. Scenes of alpine ecosystems, where the major features are
rock, snow, and ice, can only be seen in the distance from the road, or from a
strenuous hike.
We made a
couple of stops at overlooks. However,
the day was cloudy, and it even started to rain lightly, so we only had
glimpses of this mountain wilderness, which is considered by some to be the
most beautiful in the U.S., with its high jagged peaks, abundant glaciers,
sheer-walled cliffs, spires, and ridges, glacier-fed turquoise lakes, and cascading
waterfalls. Glad we were privileged to have
a taste of this pristine Park.
Even if
the weather had been better, I’m not sure that we would have spent much more
time here, as the climb was hard on the engine, and coming down the east slope
was a killer on the brakes. When we pulled over to stop, smoke poured from them. Bill was really stressed and concerned, and said
that it was better for us to keep going and let the cool temperature and rain
help cool the brakes. Between my fear of
heights and brake issues with the truck pulling the RV, our next trip might be
to Kansas!
A few
miles later, at 5:00, we were in the quaint Western town of Winthrop, where we stayed
for the night. This little town promotes
its western pioneer & mining heritage with wooden sidewalks, an old-style
saloon (actually the oldest legal saloon in the state), re-enactments of Old West shoot-outs,
etc. But for us, all we wanted was a place
to spend a restorative evening & night.
The RV park we found offered just that!
Called the Pine Near (it took me a long time to figure out that it’s a
corny pun for “Pioneer”, it’s a real gem - all grass, including the sites, set against the high desert bluffs. And fantastic WiFi - almost as fast as home!
Made spaghetti for dinner, and went to bed pretty
early. We only drove about 150 miles today, but it was enough!
We’ve made a full transition to fall now. The air is definitely chilled & crisp,
fall colors, though subtle here, are dominant now, and it’s pitch black by
7:30. What a change from 3 months ago!
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