Day 4 - Journey to the "American Alps"

Day 4 brought us to the event that I was most anticipating....a trip to North Cascades National Park. The North Cascades are billed as the "American Alps" and since I've always wanted to see the real Alps, I figured this was going to be the next best thing! By now we had learned our lesson and didn't get up quite as early but were still out of the hotel by 6:30 AM. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to the entrance of the park. We had stayed in the south part of Seattle by the Airport so it was a little longer than it would have been if we had stayed further north. Since we had booked hotels ahead of time and were coming from Mount Rainier the day before we weren't sure how far North we would be able to get...in hindsight, probably would have booked something a little further North to cut down on the drive the next day.

To get to the park, we started out on Interstate 5 North and went east on Route 20 which is also known as the North Cascades Highway. Route 20 takes you directly into the park and out the other side. It is a paved two lane road which is closed to the east of the park from Mid-November through April due to heavy snows. It also doesn't have much on it so be sure to gas up before you head down the road too far. You know how I said in previous posts that something strange always happens to us...well the gas station was the weird thing this time. We got off of I-5 at Route 20 and stopped at a gas station and you couldn't get gas there. The pumps were all shut down because of a power outage in the area. We had to turn around and take I-5 south to a different exit in order to get gas. Turns out there was another town on the way that had a gas station, but you hate to take a chance!

As you enter the park, the first stop is the Visitor's Center. We stopped there and picked up a map of the park and talked to the Ranger there who gave us some helpful hints on where to stop and what to see along the way. She also pointed us out the back of the Visitor's Center to get a panoramic view of the North Cascade Mountains. Very short, handicap accessible walk and well worth it for the view. It was absolutely stunning and the best thing....no fog or cloud cover! We asked if they get as much cloud cover as Mount Rainier and St. Helen's and she said it's about the same just happened to be a clear day. We stopped at Gorge Creek Falls first. Very high falls, right next to the road...not real clearly marked. We stopped at the pull out and took another trail to a small waterfall thinking that was Gorge Creek Falls but we kept hearing another falls. We couldn't locate it and then as we were leaving the area and crossing the bridge over the gorge we saw the real Gorge Creek Falls and had to walk back and see it. If you are looking for the real falls it's the one that you can stand on the bridge and look at! The smaller one is worth walking a little bit for but not nearly as impressive as the one by the bridge!

Our second stop was at Diablo Lake. Now this is a stunner! If you are like me and like your mountains big and snow covered and sitting by a lake that reflects them then this is the spot for you! There are beautiful mountains all around the lake it was like you couldn't even begin to take it all in at once.

From Diablo Lake we continued on past Ross Lake (not as great of views here) and through the east end of the park to Washington Pass Overlook. Again, awesome views of the mountains. Short pathway to the overlook area and well worth it. They list it as handicap accessible but other than the first part, I wouldn't call it that. To complete the entire walk you have to climb up steps and rocks and down the other side. There is quite a bit of incline in places. I'm not thinking that it would be somewhere you could push a wheelchair! Just a side note there...it seemed a bit odd to me that they considered this accessible!

Once we hit Washington Pass, we turned around and went back through the park to exit. The drive through the park takes about an hour or so each way. The views from West to East are much more stunning than East to West but there some spots that are pretty good when you approach from the East. Make sure that you stop at the Visitor's Center on your way out of the park to use the restrooms because there is nothing on the drive back to I-5 for quite awhile. Also, make sure that if you are going into the park during lunch time that you pack something with you. There is no food or drinks to be had anywhere! We had a partial back of Ranch Dorito Chips, even less of a bag of pretzels, a 4 pack of Milano cookies that were free from the hotel the previous night and two half bottles of water. Probably should have planned a little better because it was a good 4-5 hours of driving to and from and through the park and back before we found a Burger King and had the best tasting Whopper I have ever eaten (actually I think anything would have tasted good at that point!) The trip to and from the park is pretty ho-hum...except for a few glimpses of the peaks of the Cascades there is really nothing much to see. However, the park itself is well worth the trip and it definitely delivers when it comes to beauty!

We made it back to our Hotel in Lynnwood, WA that night just a bit North East of Seattle. Stayed at an Embassy Suites. Now here is why I tell you that staying at the same hotel groups and gathering points is so important. Again, since my husband travels a lot for business, he has a lot of overnight stays. He has chosen to go with the Hilton HHonors program and tries to stay with Hilton as much as possible. You can choose any rewards program with any hotel chain but just try to book with them as much as possible to rack up your points and get more travel perks with them. Because of all the stays that Rod (my husband) has, he is a Diamond Member of the HHonors program. That's the highest you can get and with that comes free upgrades if the hotel has them and they are available. Doesn't happen all the time but when it does...boy is it a perk! This time when we checked in we were told that we had been given a free upgrade to the Presidential Suite! It was a great perk, especially after a long drive! It had a living room with a huge LCD TV, dining room, wet bar, half bath, large bedroom with king sized bed and a full back with jacuzzi tub and double shower! Now that is an upgrade!

We checked in and dropped off our luggage and headed back out to a casino and outlet that we had seen on our trip in. The casino, Tulalip Resort, was billed as the best in town. We didn't stay there long. Games weren't all that new and slots were very tight. If that's the best in town, then the rest are really bad! My motto is "I don't plan on winning but I at least would like to have fun while I'm losing." I can't say anything we played here was fun. Got out of there in less than an hour and decided against the outlets. It had some decent stores but seemed to be missing some of the "Outlet Standards". Had dinner at the Olive Garden nearby and decided to call it a night and head back and actually enjoy the roominess and amenities of our Presidential Suite!

Next stop: Shopping and Sightseeing in Seattle and Dinner at the Space Needle.