6-26-17

By 9:30 last night it was cool enough to be comfortable and I fell asleep before the sky was even dark.  I do remember waking in the night to pull up the blankets and looking up to see the big dipper in the sky.  At 4:45 this morning I woke up to a light and clouded sky that looked like waves on the sand.  Not sure why I was awake so early but I lay there listening to nature all around.  In the distance, I heard what I would guess was a coyote call and another answer on a nearby hill.  I watched two different birds land on the poles of our tent over a sleeping Lorelei and all I could think was that I hoped they would not poop on her.  I checked my email and generally enjoyed being awake in my cozy blanket and sleeping bag.

My alarm was set for 6:00 but I got up a few minutes before it and let Lorelei sleep about 30 minutes longer.  With no showers in the campground, our morning routine was quick and we were pulling out of the campground by 7:30 after dropping off our recycling at the bins.

We had about 20 drops of rain as we were leaving the Fort Spokane area but those quickly disappeared and we enjoyed another sunny day.  It was a long drive to get to Ross Lake and North Cascades National Park.  It was hampered by the fact that we had to detour around our planned route because Highway 20 was closed due to a mudslide and water on the roadway and the detour route also had construction in the town of Winthrop.  We stopped at the Coulee Dam and a couple of other places to get gas and to see an overlook or two.  We tried to stop at the Rainy Pass picnic area which is on the east side of the park and at around 4700 feet but the drive into the picnic area had heavy snow spots and I didn't dare risk getting stuck in the low clearance Camry.

We stopped for lunch at the Diablo Lake overlook and the lake was beautiful and a green color that .  This was from glacial melt coming into the falls, streams and eventually the lake.  The falls along the way were amazing.  From heights several thousand feet up the water had been carving paths down the mountains and cold water flowed in sheets.  The temperature was much better today, between 70 and 80 depending on how high we were or the direction of the wind.  After lunch we rode down to the lake and walked the shoreline to feel how cold the water was.

On to the visitor center so Lorelei could do her junior ranger, we also got the stamps for Ross lake NRA, Lake Chelan NRA and the Pacific Crest Trail (the one that the book Wild is about).  I looked at the trail maps and the majority of the hikes were still in snow.  It is truly a wilderness park and if we had more time I would love to stay and explore because the combination of mountains, trees and snow/glaciers is my favorite.  But the coast calls and we had plans to replenish groceries, eat pizza and enjoy a night of tv watching in a hotel room.  The shower with no flip flops was amazing and having been fed and clean, we cozied up in our beds for some movies and things like balancing the trip budget and work emails.  Tomorrow we catch the ferry for San Juan Island.