CONCRETE, WA – We hit the road again this morning after three nights at a KOA campground a few miles west of this small town, a stay that included a visit on Monday to North Cascades National Park.
The North Cascades are called “the American Alps,” but we were only able to enjoy a small slice of the park. We hiked 1.8 miles out to a lookout called Thunder Knob above Lake Diablo. Back in the car we drove a few miles along the North Cascades Highway (U.S. 20) to a roadside lookout that offered an even better view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. The overcast day obscured the more distant peaks, but it was still a beautiful vista, as you can see from this pano shot.
Slideshow below: 1) Looking at the spectacular Gorge Creek Falls on the way to Lake Diablo; 2) Crossing a creek on the way to Thunder Knob; 3) Our view of the Cascades from our lunch spot along the Thunder Knob Trail.
North Cascades marks the 16th national park we’ve visited during our four-month RV trip. Enjoying the parks has been one of the themes of our adventure. Some folks get a stamp in their national park “passport” every time they visit a park. We collect the official maps and brochures, which are typically very informative and useful. Here’s a montage of the official guides we’ve collected since we entered the Pacific Time Zone a couple of months ago.
Alas, we were not able to visit Crater Lake National Park because its rim road was still snowed in when we entered Oregon in late May. We also had to skip Mt. Rainier National Park because of a lack of time–we have campground reservations for Glacier N.P. on June 21 and Yellowstone N.P. on June 30. Perhaps we can return to this part of the country in a future summer to take in the two parks we missed on this trip.
Dashboard:
Days on the road: 128;
Miles towing the RV: 5,604;
RV parks stayed at: 35;
National parks visited: 16.
The road ahead (Lord willing): Coeur d’Alene ID and Glacier National Park.
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