Summer Vacation Trip - Day 13

We woke up at 0545 and ate breakfast at the hotel. Most mornings on this trip, we've had to answer a question as we've departed our hotel: mountains or ocean? I chose the former today and it looked like a big mistake, initially (rain showers). Fortunately, the weather around here is unpredictable and constantly changing so it didn't turn out badly. We left at around 0715, got gas and later stopped at Deception Pass so Mollie could take photos. We used WA-20 (plus a bit of I-5 and back roads) to get to Marblemount. It was raining all the way there from the NAS and I was afraid we’d made a bad choice on the direction for our day. We visited the local Fish Hatchery (our fourth such stop) and this turned out to be a good idea because they had an informative video about the whole process. Also, it stopped raining by the time we finished our visit (0900). I recommended that Mollie send a postcard to Matthew and Emily and she wrote one (we just needed the mailing address). We drove east again until we reached the North Cascades National Park Visitors Center near Newhalem. Mollie got another Passport stamp and, at her request, I got her some cute bear paw earrings, which required her to reopen her piercings (they had closed up from not wearing earrings in a long time) so she could wear them. Our itinerary was flexible and we considered driving down to Chelan to catch the ferry up to the Lake Chelan NRA drive. But the weather was iffy and the drive would have been very long so we decided to stay in the Cascades and Ross Lake NRA area for the day. This proved to be the right decision and we were treated with clearer skies and low 60s as soon as we reached the Gorge Dam. The last time I was here (2010), I didn't go farther east - this meant that all of the places we visited today were new to both of us. We took nature walks at the Gorge Overlook Trail, the Happy Creek Forest Walk and the Canyon Creek Trail. We ate lunch (bologna and cheese sandwiches, cheezits, apples), that we packed. When we passed the eastern boundary of the parks, we were amazed at the views of the mountains behind us. Fortunately, we got to drive through a long valley with plenty of roadside pull-offs for photos. We next hiked a few miles on the PCT (north side of WA-20 to Porcupine Creek and then back to the road). This gave us even nicer panoramas of the snowcapped peaks. The highlight of the whole day was when we took a walk the Overlook Trail at Washington Pass. Of all our stops on this trip, I don't believe had such a beautiful view! The weather was spectacular and the visibility practically unlimited. After relaxing for a bit, we retraced our steps towards Fidalgo Island, stopping at the Gorge Dam for a lesson in hydroelectric power, and the Visitors Center again for souvenirs (1515) before we were done with the National Park. My friend, Eileen, had just completed a multi-day kayaking race in Yukon Territory and Mollie kept asking me to find out what her prize for the race was (for finishing 14th place). Mollie also asked me to request horse riding photos from Red Hawk Stables (the owner sent them on her own later in the evening). We drove into Anacortes and ate dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Brown Lantern Ale House. Mollie even tried oysters (shooters)! After we were done (1830), we walked around in town for a little while and saw Mount Baker. Back at the Navy Lodge, Mollie borrowed a movie (“Planes”) from the Front Desk and we had fun watching it. We went to bed at 2200. Another amazing day - wish we never had to leave!