Crusin' thru the Cascades!

The Washington Cascade Mountains have been on my "bucket list" for quite some time, but when one only likes to traverse mountains during the summer months, it has limited us on when we can take this adventure!  There are only a few months each summer...and so many places calling us...one has to make choices!  This year, coming out of Canada when we did, it seemed like the perfect time to do it. 

The Cascades zig zag all through the state of Washington, and it's not like you can just drive from here to there in one fell swoop, oh no.  So, Jack got out his trusty yellow marker and found just about all the scenic dotted lines on the map he could find and started connecting them all!  It started looking like a loop-de-loop, but it seemed to work, and it got us around the mountains and from one end of the state to the other!  We weren't in any hurry, so it really didn't matter.  We checked with family and friends and made a couple of corrections, checked the weather, let the rain settle down one more day, then we were on our way!

I didn't make any camping reservations until we were on the road, not really knowing how long each day would take us, or how long we were going to stay.  It didn't turn out to be a problem, other than poor cell service in a lot of areas through the mountains, but even that didn't really slow us down much. 

Traffic was pretty good most of the trip, which I was surprised considering it's still "summer" and I would have thought more people would be out there getting the last of their vacation time in, but it wasn't even very busy in the tourist towns like Leavenworth. 

We had great weather too, except for some fog patches that surprised (me)!  All of a sudden we went from sun to deep fog as we climbed up and around a bend one day!  Wow, it just swooshed in on us, but thankfully it wasn't there for very many miles.  It was pretty scary tho there for a bit.  Otherwise, no rain and no cold to speak of, which I was really surprised and very happy about!  Love that sunshine!  ;-)

We certainly went up and down a lot, from down in the valleys to as high as 5890', which my head can attest to.  I had forgotten that migraines and altitude don't really do well together (for me), so that was a down-side for me this week, but worth it, anyway (I just don't think I'll be making the trip any time again soon). 

We ended our trip, coming out through the cute little town of Twisp Washington, then into Sandpoint Idaho and into Kalispell Montana where we are today.  I'll leave you with a smattering of pictures, as that's the real story...I took tons, as you can imagine, so if you want more, you know you can always find them on my flicker account!  ;-)  To really get the flavor...you should turn on a CD of nature music, you know the kind...with orchestra music and birds singing...then you will feel like you were right there with us!  ;-)  Enjoy the trip!

Skookum Falls, Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest WA

Fog!, Chinook Scenic Byway, Snoqualmie National Forest WA

Norse Peak Wilderness, Wenatchee National Forest WA

Cascade River, Wenatche National Forest, Tumwater Canyon WA

North Cascades WA

Gorge Falls, North Cascades WA

Ross Lake, North Cascades WA

 

 

 

Silver Star Mountain (8876'), North Cascades WA

 

 

 

Tower Mountain (8444'), North Cascades WA

Okanogan Forest WA

...sitting back in Montana,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/