We drove across Eastern Washington through the massive apple orchards to North Cascades National Park. We knew we were getting closer to Seattle while driving through two little hip, vegetarian, biking mountain communities. Again, we followed and crossed some of the most appealing paddling rivers! The North Cascades are beautiful mountains with still lots of snow and over 300 glaciers! There are a lot more trees here and definitely wetter with the rainforest "feel." With a series of dams, there are scattered lakes through this area. The park is actually divided into two sections with a road in between that is a National Reserve. It's all very confusing and a little odd with towns and huge power lines amidst the magnificent scenery. Some of the mountains were covered with ominous-looking clouds, and we were getting a sprinkle every now and then. But the threat of rain ended up being good for us because there was a ton of camping sites to choose from when we reached Colonial Creek Campground. We got set up and headed to the Visitor's Center for Junior Ranger books. We were immediately welcomed by Ranger Daphnie Leigh when we arrived!! Daphnie is a good friend of ours from Austin. We haven't seen her since our trip to Yellowstone a couple of years ago. The rain then started to come down!! We ventured on a little hike anyways with some beginning signs of major meltdown with the Hope Troops. We pushed through, made dinner, read through the Junior Ranger books, and prepared to see Ranger Daphnie's presentation on wolves at 8:30p. At 8:00p the 2012 Pacific Northwest Hope Meltdown occurred! Yes, this was a total family meltdown, including Steve & I, so we all crawled into bed for some much needed sleep! Sorry, Daphnie, for missing your presentation :( Thankfully, our drive today to Port Angeles is only 3.5 hours, so the troops are sleeping in!! The weather is perfect for snoozing...dark and rainy!
Day 7 miles-317, total (so far)-2804
Wow, breathtaking...every picture!
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