North Cascade Loop

 Years ago, I rode my motorbike with my traveling compadre to the sign on the western end of the Cascade loop highway. The goal was to take a picture of you, your motorbike, and a page out of a magazine, then send it via e mail to the motor company and they would send you a milestone of your accomplishment, in the post a small coin like medallion (that I still have) (but not with me))

The National Park

We should have kept going over the pass, but we didn’t. But today I am.

At Okanogan I pointed the van west on highway 20. I have spent a lot of time on highway 20 this trip and it has been worth it. I rolled through Twisp, a cute little town with an interesting name. At Winthrop was where the action was. The main street was closed off, and there was a classic car show in progress.  There was food, cooking, and traffic everywhere.

A Red Chevrolet From The 1960's

 I thought dang another place where I won’t be able to park a 21-foot van with a name. Low and behold there was a sign that read “RV PARKING” and an arrow showing the way, and even better I found the parking lot that is huge, and free to park.

I parked next to an older camper van and discovered that inside was a huge German Shepard that looked at me and barked once.  I later met this dog outside his van, after the owner’s other dog came up to my door hopped in, sat down and wanted to be petted. The Shepherd was so ferocious that unless you scratched his ears, and or gave him belly rubs, he would chomp on his tennis ball and not give it to you to throw in the river.

The dogs were fun, the cars shiny, and the taco’s tasty, but there were RV chores that needed done, including the filling of fresh water, the emptying of dirty water, and the washing of me and clothes, a commercial RV camp was needed and found, and when I asked if the price included a wash and fold. Apparently, it didn’t.

How Much More Smoke Makes It Extreme?

There are at least 3 fires burning nearby, but the road is open, so I start the climb to the pass, and soon discover that this is some rugged country with magnificent scenery.

8000 Foot Crater Mountain

The road offers numerous pullouts and viewpoints, most with picnic tables and outhouses. One of the more spectacular ones I stopped at was the Ross Lake overlook.

Ross Lake

Looking at the lake I thought that water is the same color as Kenai Lake, and Kenai is water from Glaciers. I didn’t realize until I looked it up that Washington is the second most glaciated state in amerika after alaska.

In Newhalem, a company town owned by Seattle City Light you are reminded that every drop of Water in Washington goes first to power generation then to agriculture.

Big Power Here

Just down the road is the North Cascades National Park visitor center, which let me know that the campgrounds are open and they are not very busy. Lots of camping spaces has been the theme of this trip. Maybe it the season, or maybe it’s the  almost $5.00 per gallon for petrol, and over that for Diesel in a lot of places  Eather way I’m down for no crowds.