Our final days in Washington - North Cascades, Mt. Baker and Coulee Dam

Greetings!

The natural beauty of the North Cascades area was breathtaking with little light pollution at night.  Paul took this amazing time lapse of the night sky - enjoy.

We stayed at a KOA in Concrete, Washington which served as a great launching pad for our stay.  The first full day we went to the North Cascades National Park - about 45 minutes to get to the Visitor Center and then drove well beyond that through the park. The second full day we went to Mt. Baker Lake which was about 30 minutes from the campsite. We really enjoyed this campground - the weather was very warm - mid 90's (but low humidity) and we had lots of trees to keep our site comfy and cool!

Saturday, we went through the North Cascades National Park and it was stunning.  There is one main highway that goes through the park.  Prior to this area becoming a national park, there were 3 dams built as part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project:  (starting from the west) Gorge Dam, Diablo Dam, and Ross Dam.  These dams generate hydroelectric power for the City of Seattle and are located along the main road (Route 20) that follows the Skagit River.  The 3 dams created the reservoirs of Gorge Lake, Diablo Lake and Ross Lake.  We spent the most time in areas around Diablo Lake. 

After the visitor center, our first stop was at the Gorge Powerhouse (the actual dam was located about 3 miles further) and Ladder Falls.  

After leaving Ladder Falls, our next stop was the Gorge Dam and Gorge Lake. 

Our next stop was Diablo Lake Dam and we drove over it!  Paul took this video:

Diablo Lake was a stunner and we spent much of our day around it.  Its incredible green color is due to glacial flour, which are finely ground rock particles carried into the lake by glacial meltwater.  These suspended particles scatter sunlight, reflecting green and absorbing other wavelengths, giving the water its signature milky teal color.  The concentration of glacial flour is highest during the summer months.  Here are a few photos of the Diablo Dam:

After leaving the dam, we continued by Diablo Lake recreation area where tons of people were kayaking and paddle boarding on the lake.  Past this area, the road ascends to an overlook that offers spectacular views.

We went a little further to Ross Lake:

After spending a lot of time in the car, we decided it was time to do a hike, so we hiked the Thunder Knob Trail that ended with more spectacular views of Diablo Lake!  

The next day, we hiked along Mt. Baker Lake (also that beautiful glacial green).  Mt. Baker is often compared to Mt. Rainier for its dramatic snow caps, but it is 4,000 feet lower in elevation, however does get a great deal more of snow!  This hike was much closer to our campsite so more hiking and less driving!  The trail meandered through old growth forests mostly in the shade, which was great as the temperatures will still in the mid-90s. 

We also drove over a dam to get to the trailhead and Paul took another video of our crossing after the hike:

On Monday, we left Concrete to head East to the Grand Coulee Dam - about 4 hours.  What a drive this was!!  It took us through the North Cascade National Park again - and this time Paul took a quick time lapse:

After the time lapse, we continued East past the official park boundaries and the east side of the Cascades were dramatic and spectacular.

About halfway, we stopped in the charming town of Winthrop and had lunch.  The ride up to this point was mostly nature and scenery so it was fun to enjoy lunch in this cute little town.

After Winthrop, the drive continued through a very agricultural area and the topography was much flatter.  There were miles and miles of apple orchards and multiple areas where there were enormous stacks of apple crates.

We arrived in the late afternoon to the Grand Coulee Dam and what an incredible site!  The Grand Coulee Dam is one of the largest concrete structures in the world - it contains nearly 12 million cubic yards of concrete.  With that much concrete, you could build a sidewalk four feet wide and four inches thick and wrap it twice around the equator.  You could also build a highway from Seattle, Washington to Miami Florida.  WOW!  That's a lot of concrete!  It also is the largest hydropower producer in the United States generating more than 21 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year; enough power to supply about 2 million households in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, and parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Canada.  It also provides irrigation water to the farms that we drove through to get there!

After the visitor center, we headed to our campsite - about 5 minutes away - which was located on Banks Lake - a 23-mile reservoir which is also part of the Grand Coulee Columbia River project. 

After dinner, we headed back to the dam as they do a 30-minute laser light show on the dam every evening in the summertime.  It was great to see the dam at night and the show was projected on the spillway panels.  About 10 minutes before the show, the spillways opened and then the show began!

The next morning, we would leave Washington state after multiple weeks of amazing adventure.  Our next step would be Missoula, Montana, where we would stock up on provisions (Costco, Walmart, Grocery store) for our next legs of the journey - Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We will post about that soon!

Thanks again for following along - we appreciate all of your love and support - Jen & Paul