Family Time...
Tuesday was a driving day again. We hit the road and headed further north to Renton, WA, where we met up with Shoopie and Ross. They joined us with their own car, and we caravanned towards the North Cascades. We added another car to the caravan when Regina, GP’s sister, joined us just east of Seattle. Once we left I-5, the drive to our next stop was very pretty; idyllic farm country with trees and mountains in the background. A stop for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Darrington was surprisingly authentic tasting. We arrived to our campground, just outside of Marblemount, in the afternoon.
Wednesday morning, we headed into North Cascades National Park, one without a formal entry station, to do a hike. We chose Thunder Knob on Diablo Lake. While it was a beautiful hike, the smoke from the wildfires to the east obscured the views.
On our way back to camp, we stopped at the Gorge Overlook trail at the dam of Gorge Lake for another short walk. The obligatory stickers and other souvenirs were purchased at the North Cascades NP Visitor Center and then back to camp for a spaghetti dinner.
With continued smoky conditions (a theme for our entire stay in this area) we decided to head west to the Mt. Baker National Recreation Area for our Thursday adventure. We found a long forest service road that led to a trailhead where we hiked a few miles on the Park Butte Trail. The trail was flanked by numerous wild blueberry bushes that still had ripe berries on them (it evoked memories of the childhood book, Blueberries for Sal).
We followed up the hike with another on the Shadow of the Sentinels interpretive trail through an old-growth stand of Douglas Firs. All the hiking for the day earned us some delicious milkshakes and snacks at Cascade Burgers in Concrete!
Back in camp we were hopeful for improved air quality but it seems that may not happen for us. Plans for the rest of our North Cascades stay will depend on how that goes…
