adventures in the north cascades - a west coast road trip by franklyne - part 2
our first outdoor adventure takes us up north of seattle into the north cascades. a mountainous hiking paradise with over 300 glaciers and nothing but wilderness and the magical vibes of the pacific northwest.
in this part of our west coast road trip series, we show you the things we explored in the mountains up north, close to the canadian border.
5 am on the north cascades scenic highway
things we wish we knew
stay hydrated, hydro homie! during our first night, we stayed at a campsite at baker lake and we forgot to bring any water. we couldn’t find running water, so we had to ration our own water
we thought we might get eaten by bears. but no, we got eaten alive my mosquitoes. they are everywhere. bring bug spray and long sleeves
mount baker in the last light, seen from the viewpoint of our campground
our north cascades journey
we traveled straight from seattle into the north cascades. the route we traveled was filled with dramatic and unique changes in scenery:
evelyne’s heyxnatalie moment
baker lake was the gate into the cascades for us. it is surrounded by an almost rainforest like climate with tall pine trees curled with moss
the next morning we made our way into the national park itself. we visited the visitors center, swam in a glacier lake and headed eastbound onto washington pass. the national park climate is alpine with western larches that will glow golden in fall. they have a lush dark green in summer
past washington pass, the climate gets dry and you wonder whether you are still in washington state. we traveled all the way to western town winthrop to get caramelized green apples
day 1: baker lake
evelyne and the lake
frank and the lake
getting to baker lake felt like the old days where phone service got lost miles ago. we haven't done anything prior besides booking the campground on recreation.gov and navigated ourselves blindly into the national forest, into our campground. look, there’s my name on it! evelyne said. we’ve found our intimate, serene camping space just next to the deep teal painted lake surrounded by evergreen trees overgrown by a thick layer of moss, feeling like in a rainforest.
mmmmh, our breakfast the next morning, ready to start a day full of adventures!
raw moments from the campground
our camping space offered a fireplace, a parking spot, a tent spot and some trees perfect for a hammock. so evelyne built one and started playing ukulele. busy me being more of the organizer unpacked all our luggages and set up our cozy beds with fairy lights for the next month in the back of our toyota 4runner.
when we packed our dirty dishes for a rinse in the lake, we found a viewpoint to snowy mount baker in the last light. we ran back to grab our swimwear and leaped into the pitch black volcanic sand beach, into the water that was a little warmer than the outside air, heated by the sun throughout the day.
in this moment, nothing felt better when we tucked into our freshly set up sleeping bags in the back of our car, shutting out pesky mosquitoes and falling straight asleep at 8 pm.
our cozy hideaway!
day 2: the national park
in the next morning, we took a walk through the local forest trail at our campsite before heading east into the national park. visiting north cascades is free. though at our first destination, the visitors center, we got an annual america the beautiful pass for $80, which we would use throughout our entire journey. it pays itself after a few national park visits and i highly recommend getting it for your travels.
tip: if you walk behind the visitors center, there is a viewing platform to the cascade peaks
after our dip inside diablo lake. the water is surprisingly cold!
on the main road of the national park, be sure to stop by the diablo lake vista point. while we did not have luck looking for a campsite inside the national park itself, as on a weekend they were all booked out, we went out for a dip inside cold turquoise diablo lake around colonial creek.
for the afternoon, evelyne and i went for an easy, 2 mile round-trip hike from the rainy lake parking lot to rainy lake. it is an accessible, wide and paved trail that takes you to an alpine lake at 4800 ft elevation. evelyne and i sat down at the lake, took a dip into the chill water to escape the mosquitos and sang missing piece by vance joy next to giant ice blocks.
ℹ Rainy lake Google Maps - Apple Maps - OpenstreetmAPdistance: 2.0 mi (3.2 km) · elevation gain: 70 ft (21 m) · highest point: 4800 ft (1463 m)
the feeling of being wild and free. washington pass
while the evening was still young, we drove past the most impressive bend of washington pass. we got reminded of what we came for: untouched, untamed nature, wide, wild forests, chalk white stones and liberty bell mountain, with red giant rocks shooting up into the sky. read our unbelievable pasta story (coming soom) when we tried to cook pasta without fire, made a friend and watched the sun fade away in the warm and dry pine scent up in our campground we’ve found and stayed for two nights: klipchuck campground.
another evelyne’s heyxnatalie moment!
day 3: blue lake and winthrop
us, slowly on our way to blue lake!
we love to start a hike early in the morning. the trails are less crowded, the light is more magical, and the air fresh. we headed to an absolute natural wonder, blue lake through the calming scent of a dry and tall fir forest. when we heard the sound of a creek we knew we were close to the lake. right on the transition from larch trees that will turn yellow in fall into alpine meadows lies the calm glacier lake.
ℹ Blue lakeGoogle Maps - Apple Maps - Openstreetmapdistance: 4.4 mi (7.1 km) - elevation gain: 1050 ft (320 m) - highest point: 6254 ft (1906 m)frank, appreciating the view
of course, no lake is cold enough, and when the sun shined through the cracks of the clouds evelyne and i went for a swim inside the lake that washed away all of our weariness. we then calmly hiked back to our car to continue our journey. remember sky? the evening he told us we really have to check out a candy store in western village Winthrop, so we set out on an adventure further east.
the transition into east of the cascade mountains is dramatic. from lush green fields to deeply saturated evergreen forests, it suddenly changes into a golden hilly landscape (i swear it is not just because of the late afternoon light!). dry and dusty, but on the highway you follow the creek flowing down all the way into winthrop, and it is a glorious feeling knowing where the water comes from.
take me to the candy shop!
frank never though that eating an apple would be this fun!
once we dropped off our adventure mobile on the side of the road, it was time for a relaxing stroll through the old town of dark wooden western-style houses and shops. we paid a fortuneteller, and it enlightened our path into the infamous candy shop, where we got ooey gooey brownies, peanut butter cups and, most importantly, a caramellized green apple.
the village main street with all those cute little shops to explore!
if you ever get to stop at the gas station in town, be sure to check out the non-alcoholic variant of the black butte beer from deschutes brewery for a safe refreshment. it’s delicious!
day 4: driving to portland, oregon
things to not miss when you get up at 3 am: the starry night sky
so many memories! when we arrived at our campground, klipchuck the second night, we made some quick dinner, evelyne started watercoloring into our journal and both of us fell asleep quickly.
oh wait, the story doesn’t end here. for our way out of the north cascades, i decided to start driving at 3 am to beat the traffic. it was 5 am when we stepped out of our car to the sound of rooster into the misty morning light and tried to capture as much of the magic as we could.
morning magic, on our way out of the north cascades
read more
this blog post is part of our one month usa west coast road trip blog series. be sure to check out the other posts:
Useful information
feeling inspired? here are some resources you might find useful if you would like to follow our footsteps:
the franklyne route: our entire route with every spot we went to
our first night at bayview campground
north cascades national park (official nps.gov information)
our second and third night in our favorite campground: klipchuck campground
rainy lake: Google Maps - Apple Maps - OpenstreetmAP
blue lake: Google Maps - Apple Maps - Openstreetmap
