October 2
Sorry for being a day late. But yesterday (the 2nd) was a late-night rush to get back to a hotel at SEATAC (the Seattle international airport). The Washington State Ferry going from Anacortes to Friday Harbor was over an hour late departing, and then for the return trip around 45 minutes delayed. With two more hours to get to Seattle, I hopped into bed so I could get up at 3 AM for today’s flight back east.
Enough of the excuses. Monday morning started well. I made it into Ross Lake NRA before sunrise. Some of the park’s areas are closed due to fires. I decided to stay on route WA 20, the main road which goes the width of the park, stopping at various vantage points. Ross Dam and its Ross Lake are the first views when coming in from the east. That dam then releases the water down to Diablo Lake and Diablo Dam. Then a similar sequence to Gorge Lake and Gorge Dam. I could see signs on some of the roads which branch off WA 20 saying “Closed”. After Gorge Dam you come to the village of Newhalen. This is the hub of Seattle City Light operations in the canyon. The Gorge Powerhouse and dams need to be manned 24/7/365. This is practically a company-city. The “Old Number 6” locomotive which brought materials up the canyon for the building of the dams and powerhouses is in the town park. At the west end of town is the turn-off for the North Cascades NP VC.
Depending on your perspective of Ross Lake and North Cascades boundaries, driving on WA 20 does or does not put you in the NP. Most people feel the NP encompasses the NRA. Others do not, and say you must make a dedicated effort to cross over the boundary of the NRA in order to “visit” the NP. To put the debate to rest, I had planned to hike the Thornton Lakes Trail. This is the easiest means to cross the NRA boundary, that is if you can stomach the access road. A ranger at Lake Chelan NRA had told me 2WD sedans cannot get through. Well, she was close to being correct. I have driven 2WD cars on USFS (United States Forest Service) roads to access trailheads for 14ers (mountains which are over 14,000 feet in elevation) in Colorado and those can be horrible. Just need practice, with a little luck every now and then. The twisty, steep, and rough four miles of the Thornton Lakes road was doable in a Nissan Altima, though it was not fun in some places. I then had 0.75 miles to hike into the forest to reach the NRA boundary. I went another 0.25 miles for good measure. Besides, this is the spot of the narrow wooden bridge over Thornton Creek. I sang songs, in case any black or brown furry critters were in the area.
The drive to Anacortes was uneventful. WA 20 goes directly from the North Cascades to this port city. Anacortes is the gateway, from the USA side (Sidney, BC, is the Canadian entry portal), to the San Juan Islands. Orcas Island is the largest at 57 square miles, but San Juan Island is almost as large. This is where the San Juan NHP is located. Washington State Ferry company keeps people and vehicles moving between all the islands, and Sidney. $57.55 was the round-trip fare for me and the car to Friday Harbor, the one city on San Juan Island. Many people will leave their cars in Anacortes and take the ferry to Friday Harbor for a day-trip. Plenty of shopping, restaurant eating, and lodging. Just 1.25 hours one-way. Today the only visible entity in the sky was one big white cloud. And it was low. When I reached the American Camp of the NHP the drizzle began. I commented to the staff that when I last visited 28 years ago the shiny new VC I was standing in did not exist. They laughed. Some murals and artifact displays are present. Outside is a monument to the peaceful resolution of the dispute. Go figure, the killing of one pig almost brought Britain and America to war, over territorial rights. Thirteen years later, the Emperor of Germany, William 1, said the islands belonged to the United States. The British soldiers packed up bags from their camp on the north end of San Juan and went back into Canada. Our three countries have been steadfast allies ever since.