The Cascade Loop

Paula and I arranged to met Patty at Sea-Tac airport because she was going to be seeing someone off at the same time that we were meeting Bridget and Daniel. We sent them up to Burlington for a few days while we went and met Kerrie, another teacher from Australia, and one of her cousins, Regeena.

We picked them up in Seattle and headed for Everett where we turned off I5 to start the Cascade Loop. The road heads towards the Cascades through the farming area of Monroe and climbs towards Stevens Pass, which also has a ski area with nordic and downhill facilities. The pass is 4,061 feet (1,238 m) above sea level. The trees begin to thin as you head east over the mountains.

We followed the Wenatchee River down the valley to Leavenworth, which is a beautiful village that has a Bavarian flavour. Back in the 1960's the logging industry was falling apart and the town decided to remodel with a Bavarian influence to attract tourism. We spent some time exploring the shops and admiring the scenery. There are many shops catering for tourists, and most of the hotels seemed to be full.

We travelled further along the Wenatchee River to Wenatchee, which is in the centre of a large apple growing area. It is also where the Wenatchee River meets the Columbia River. It has a population of around 30,000 and has a nickname of "The apple capital of the world".

The next day we had a bit of a drive around Wenatchee, crossing the Columbia River twice, before heading further up the Columbia River. The country is so dry along the river valley. It is like a desert. There are no trees in sight, and it is amazing that there is so much water in the river, but that the countryside nearby looks so dry. The valley is obviously very fertile because wherever there is some available land, it is irrigated and producing a variety of fruit crops.

We stopped at Lake Chelan, which is the 3rd deepest lake in the US, and the 24th deepest in the world. We walked along the main street, checking out the shops and local galleries, and then headed towards Winthrop. There was a smoky haze in the sky, which restricted our view of the mountains. There have been fires in BC, and we wondered where this smoke was coming from. It was also quite warm, but it wasn't until we got to Twisp and called in at a supermarket, that we found out how hot. It was 108 degrees Fahrenheit. We stopped at the supermarket in Twisp to get some lunch and also to view the displays inside. The owner is a hunter, and has stuffed trophies on display on the walls and above the upright freezer aisles. He has many types of deer from around here, and a bison, and black bear. He also has lots of animals from other parts of the world including safaris in Africa. At the information counter there are photos of his latest acquisition - a fully grown bull elephant. I didn't think you were allowed to hunt like that anymore.

We stopped several times during the trip, and I issued warnings to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes if we stepped off the side of the road. I have heard several stories of the rattlesnakes in this area. Luckily we didn't see, or hear any.

Winthrop is a tourist town with a cowboy, western appearance. There are covered verandahs with wooden boardwalks on both sides of the street. It was in 1972 when Highway 20 was nearing completion across the North Cascades that the locals decided to restore the town with the American Old Western theme. It attracts tourists throughout the year and has over 100 miles of groomed snow trails in winter.

We began the climb into the mountains, which were mainly hidden from view by the smoke haze. It actually created an eerie kind of scene as mountains appeared out of the haze, and had an orangish tinge as the sunlight shone through the smoke. We still stopped several times for photos, and found that there were still patches of ice that hadn't yet melted along the side of the road. When we got to the viewpoint over Ross Lake there was a sign from the National Parks Service stating that they were monitoring at least 12 fires in the National Park that ranged in size from a single tree to quite large fires. Some of the fires had been burning for over two months. The lake was a brilliant milky aqua colour, which sparkled with the sunlight.

The road follows the Skagit River, which had very little water flowing in it below the dam. It began to grow as other streams and rivers flowed into it. Near Concrete we stopped for a view of part of the local elk herd grazing near the river. There would have been around 30 animals in the herd. We continued down the Skagit Valley towards Burlington where we caught up with Bridget and Daniel. Paula stayed here with them and I drove Kerrie and Regeena back to Vancouver.