The “crown jewel” of North Cascades National Park is Diablo Lake. It is a stunning turquoise green lake. We had intended on putting the canoe in and fishing, but the wind didn’t really cooperate the days we were there. Instead, we took a scenic drive to a town that used to be. Called Diablo, like the lake, it was a small town with cookie cutter, institutional looking houses that were obviously government built decades ago. There were maybe 3 houses that looked occupied with a car in the driveway, but otherwise it had a very creepy deserted feel, like we were waiting for the zombies to show up. Apparently it was going to be restored but then 9.11 hit and that plan was cancelled. A highlight of the day was driving our Jeep across the Diablo Lake Dam. It was a single lane road so we couldn’t stop and grab a picture en route or other cars wouldn’t have been able to cross.
All this exploring made us hungry so we pulled over at a cute little old railroad car BBQ joint Mark had spotted for some hot pulled pork and brisket sandwiches. Oh my were they good! Mark also made a stop at the Glacier Peak Winery for me to taste.
We played some cornhole and enjoyed some down time reading at our campsite. Before our trip, my dad made us a set of cornhole boards. Mark spent a lot of time staining and sanding them. This was the first chance that we really had to pull them out and just chill. I would be remiss if I did not report that I lost every single game. Pretty badly too. There, the truth has been told.
In total, I’ve got 1 1/2 gallons of blackberries that I picked, washed, and individually froze. I’m planning to make a batch of blackberry jam when I get home. Yum, yum!
There are 4 sections to this park: North Cascades North unit (inaccessible by car), North Cascades South unit (Hwy 20 which is the main road) with just a few turnouts, Ross National Recreation area, and Chelan Recreation area. We didn’t explore the two rec areas, though I would really like to come back to Lake Chelan and take the ferry to Stehekin when we don’t have Molly with us and can do some backpacking in that area. This National Park was interesting in that it didn’t have an entrance with a booth like every other park we went to. The main highway runs through the park and there are towns and houses throughout the middle of it (Hwy 20). We thought this was definitely unusual.
We are off to Winthrop, WA tomorrow!
Wow oh wow. You have really made this into a trip-of-a-lifetime but you still have a lifetime to live. PERFECT! Lloyd and I spent 2 weeks on Ross Lake camping and fishing with our canoe years ago. Lovely.