| We stopped at Okanogan overnight before continuing on through the
North Cascades National Park. This is a much newer park than many of the
others and so trails and recreational support is less present than at other
parks we have visited. The main feature is the scenic highway through the
park. The climb is fairly continuous up to 5500ft at Washington Pass. The
mountains still tower above you. |  |
 | This shows
the road almost at the top as viewed from the pass overlook. The cars and
trucks are miniscule.. |
| We understand that these are quite 'young' mountains being a mere
6 million years old, as against the 300 million years in other chains we
have visited. I just though that the detail colours and ridges here were
attractive. |  |
 | There are
major peaks which overlook the pass such as this tower (Liberty Bell) which
sits at the head of the pass. |
| Sometimes the closer shots are more impressive than the distant
shots. Other times the reverse is true. |  |
 | Further down the
road we reached the head of the Skagit Valley which has a number of
smaller hydroelectric schemes in it, creating power for Seattle. This was one of the more spectacular views from
the Lake Diablo overlook. This is probably the largest of the lakes with
fingers reaching up into several valleys. The colour was quite special too.. |
| Where the lakes are spectacular, the dams often seem quite
insignificant. It all depends on the layout and geological features. And the
photos depend upon tree growth! and luck! |  |
 | This doesn't look
like the same dam, but it is, just shot from a different angle as it is
alternately hidden and revealed by the trees.. |
| As with all these roads through the canyons, rock falls are an
occupational hazard. When it gets too bad, the highway engineers take
preemptive action. But there aren't any alternative routes to divert the
traffic onto (there isn't another road for 50 miles). So the road works (rock
removal) takes place in between the traffic. We only waited 10 minutes - it
seemed well organised. |  |
 | As we reached
the coast we stopped overnight at an excellent site on Fidalgo Island, just
before the ferry to Port Townsend. Besides being an excellent RV site, this
one also offered a stay in a real covered wagon for those who want a truly
authentic experience. We'll stick with the RV, thank you. |
| So finally to the Pacific Ocean. This was our first real look, at
Bellingham in northern Washington State. We have seen it before, from
the east coast of Australia, but it seemed to be appropriate to have a photo from the
western side of this pond. |  |
 | Finally we came to
the ferry across from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend, in Puget Sound to
the west of Seattle. There is a mass of small islands here with well organised ferries. Not cheap in a 32ft RV but the alternative was a 250 mile
trip south through Seattle to Olympia and then back north. On a holiday
Friday we opted to pay the money. Our campsite for the holiday weekend was
only a mile from the ferry terminal in Port Townsend. Time for a break. And
at sea level instead of the 5-6000ft we have been living at for the last
couple of months. |
|