It’s a northern border state with lots of trees and people who like to get outdoors, so I figured Washington state must have a lot in common with Minnesota.
At times, Washington did feel a lot like home, though its peaks are a lot bigger than northeastern Minnesota’s Sawtooth Mountains and its ocean is a lot bigger than our sea called Lake Superior.
The roadtrip was the final of my four big Western journeys of the summer during a planned break between jobs. The first drive took me to southern California and Arizona, the second to California’s Sierra Nevadas, and the third to northern California and Oregon.
But Washington has so much to offer that I had set it aside for its own a two-week adventure, and it did not disappoint.
After several days of leisurely interstate driving across North Dakota, Montana, and the Idaho panhandle, my first stop was the Grand Coulee Dam. It wasn’t actually on my agenda, but it was one of those moments where I saw a sign and thought, “I’ve heard of that” and had to stop.
Grand Coulee Dam was one of those much-hyped public works projects of the 1930s that became a tourist attraction complete with its own commemorative plates. Nowadays, displays explain construction and operation of the dam in a large facility designed for more people than were in attendance on this late August day.
The journey north of the dam on Highway 155 offered great views of the Columbia River valley followed by the forest.
And then, even better views on the North Cascades Highway (Highway 20). Heading west, the views get grander and grander with a spectacular overlook before the highway even reaches the North Cascades National Park complex. I rubbed elbows with travelers from a few continents to snap a few photos.
Entering the park from the east, the first views are of Ross Lake, where one sign points out that you can see Desolation Peak in the distance. That’s the spot where Jack Kerouac worked for a few months as a fire lookout, inspiring several works. (I’ve got some reading to do.)
The road continues to an even more spectacular lookout at Diablo Lake, which bears a turquoise color due to the mineral runoff from the mountains. The view reminded me of Crater Lake, and I made sure to return in the morning to get another view when the sun was shining from the east.
Arriving at my campsite at Newhalem Campground on the western end of the park, I was surprised to find that it was 95 degrees. This, despite it being a late August day in a mountainous park near the Canadian border. The campground is actually in a valley, so it’s a lot warmer than the surrounding mountains, and the entire west coast was experiencing a near-record heat wave.
Adding to the heat, there was a whiff of smoke in the air from wildfires burning in the northwestern part of the park. The heat and potential for air quality problems dissuaded me from going on any long hikes. Despite a lot of people visiting the area, I found a parking lot where no one else had stopped and ended up having Happy Creek Falls all to myself!
The thing about North Cascades National Park is that it’s pretty difficult to visit the park itself. The area along the highway is actually the Ross Lake National Recreation Area (though the signs still say North Cascades National Park.) A visit to the national park requires a long hike, a boat, a drive through Canada, or a drive down a long gravel road.
I’d originally planned to hike to Cascade Pass, within the park boundary, but dropped that plan due to the conditions. Still, I decided to drive up the long road to the trailhead, and the views did not disappoint!
Of all of the trips I’ve taken to national parks across the west, including the Rockies, this drive was the one that felt the most like I was actually headed up the side of a mountain. The views are like something you’d see in a documentary about mountain climbing. My pictures don’t begin to convey the feeling of magnitude you get driving up the narrow road.
Next time, I’ll make that drive again, and hopefully be up for the hike, too! (There’s a national forest campground along the road to Cascade Pass that would make a great spot for my next visit.)
My summer roadtrips have been all about the parks, saving city visits for future vacations. But after several days in the North Cascades, my journey was going to take me directly through Seattle. Why not see the Space Needle?
So, I cleaned myself up for a brief visit to the city.
Parking on the sunny Friday afternoon of Labor Day weekend was surprisingly easy in a large, clean garage a block from Seattle Center. There are a few museums, the monorail, a shopping mall, and two TV stations in the neighborhood, but my focus was on the iconic Space Needle, built for the 1962 World’s Fair (see more through the lens of Mystery Science Theater 3000).
The entrance price almost turned me away. $35 per person? I initially walked away from the automatic ticket machine in disgust. But after taking a few pictures from the ground, I figured that I might as well pay up after driving so far.
Then, a lot of waiting. You show your ticket. You go through security. Then you wait in line to show your ticket again. Then you wait in line for the elevator. Then you finally get to rise up into the sky in the glass elevator.
The views from the top are exactly what you’d expect: amazing. I rounded the top level a couple of times, navigating through hundreds of people all trying to pose for pictures, and then headed “downstairs.” The area that was originally a rotating restaurant has been renovated to have a glass floor, allowing you to see not only the gears but the earth so far below. I found a non-glass spot and enjoyed the rotating view until dizziness began to set in. Time to head down.
After spending more than I probably should have in the gift shop, I headed out of town, stopping for supplies as I headed back into the forest for more camping and crowds. I hadn’t realized it would be the first time I would visit a national park on a holiday weekend.
NEXT TIME: Navigating the crowds at Mount Rainier, taking the bumpy ride to Mount St. Helens, and roadtripping Olympic National Park
1 thought on “Off Topic: Like Minnesota, But With Taller Mountains and a Bigger Sea”
Comments are closed.