[Adapted from email travelogue, sent Tuesday, July 22 at 11:00 p.m.]

Monday, July 21: North Cascades National Park

There's a bit of backstory to my taking this trip to North Cascades National Park the past two days. You know I'm going to insist on telling it to you! Look, you can skip over this text if you want to. Get off my back!

If you recall, my Birth Week theme this year, back in late April / early May, had been "Observation Decks & Viewpoints." My initial idea for a "viewpoint" with my dad was Washington Pass Overlook, which I thought when I first discovered it was inside North Cascades National Park (it's actually about three miles outside of it—we'll get back to that later). It looked like a spectacular viewpoint, and it was through researching this that I even discovered Washington State has three national parks—and I had only been to two. I needed to complete my state's set!

When I ran this Birth Week idea by my dad, however, he noted that Washington State Route 20—also known as North Cascades Highway—would very likely still be closed for snow at the time of my Birth Week. I looked it up, and most years this is indeed the case—only four of the past ten years has the highway opened in time for my Birth Week. Two of them were this year and last year, but this year it opened as late as April 22, and as my dad noted, a lot of the trails were probably still covered in snow.

So: I scratched that idea for my Birth Week, and it's far enough away (160 miles) that it would have sucked up two full days of my Birth Week anyway. But! Then Dad said he was planning on taking a trip to North Cascades National Park later this summer anyway. Well, shit! I was like: Okay well then I'm coming too.

North Cascades National Park Visitor Center

There's a short boardwalk trail to a spectacular overlook view right at the Visitor Center that's located just inside the west entrance of the park. (Side note: due to its comparatively remote location, North Cascades is one of the few national parks with neither an entry fee nor any parking fees for any trailheads or other points of interest located inside the park.)

Picnic at Newhalem

We found a pretty secluded picnic area in the nearby unincorporated community of Newhalem. I can find no reliable source of its population, and have found web pages indicating everything from 30, to 434, to 1000: Wikipedia says Newhalem is "owned by Seattle City Light and populated entirely by employees of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, or of local county, state or federal agencies."

Anyway! We found this charming little gazebo next to the Skagit River, and had our picnic lunch at a picnic table located right next to it. There was a path down to the river that I walked down to while Dad and Sherri packed their stuff to their car. I just found myself rather fond of the above shot, which I took while walking back to the car myself. (Shobhit was not with me as he has a work conference in Portland this week—he took the train south; I took the car north.)

Gorge Creek Falls

From this rather high vantage point, you kind of have to look closely—near lower center of this shot—to see Gorge Creek Falls. At upper right you can see a bridge that is part of State Route 20.

Gorge Lake

We had parked at the entrance to a place called Thunder Knob Trail, alongside Diablo Lake—but Dad was looking for another spot and we walked across the street, to the parking lot for Thunder Arm Campground. This taxidermied black bear happened to be on display in the parking lot, and I got this fun shot of Dad taking a photo of it—and someone else's beagles getting their own assessment done.

Diablo Lake Overlook

This might be my favorite shot I took this entire trip. We weren't even aiming for this as our next stop, but I pulled in when I saw the sign, and Dad and Sherri did the same when they saw it, without realizing I had already pulled in ahead of them. I got out and was stunned by this view.

It reminded me a lot of the San Juan Islands, actually.

Happy Creek Forest Walk

Dad and I walked this boardwalk thinking it might take us to Happy Creek Falls, and we even though this tiny bit of falls might be it—it was not. (I'll come back to this later.)

I really like this shot I got of the boardwalk though.

Washington Pass Overlook

And here we are—my whole impetus for going on this trip! The above is actually a panorama shot I took of Washington Pass Overlook—and, I must say, it did not disappoint. It was probably my favorite stop we made this trip. Even though, as I already noted, this spot is technically not inside the North Cascades National Park boundaries—looking at the park map I got at the Visitor Center, it appeared to be about three miles outside of it. Well: close enough!

Also: although this spot is about three miles from the closest park boundary, the park generally stretches in a relatively thin shape northwest to southeast, and Route 20 runs parallel to it much of the way, which means you actually drive maybe 25 miles outside the park before you actually reach this spot. Still: close enough!

Dad and me, Washington Pass Overlook. Sometimes selfies actually turn out great!

Monday, July 21: Winthrop, WA

The Virginian Resort

I had initially thought I would try to find a place to stay overnight either inside or very close to the park. Dad and Sherri decided they wanted to stay overnight in Winthrop, which is a 31-mile drive east (slightly southeast) of Washington Pass Overlook. Note also that they were coming from Olympia, another hour drive south of where I live in Seattle; they made a multiple-night trip out of it—staying in Anacortes Sunday night; in Winthrop Monday night; and they went on to stay in Wenatchee Tuesday night.

In the interest of saving money on lodging, and figuring I could get what I needed out of this trip with one night, I drove up early Monday morning, and met Dad and Sherri at their hotel in Anacortes. We then drove our separate cars on the same schedule across the North Cascades, and then on to Winthrop—which is a Western-themed town just east of the North Cascades, in much the same way Leavenworth is a German-themed town, in the Cascades 115 miles south/southwest of Winthrop. I didn't even know about this town until Dad and Sherri told me about it.

We tried to find cabins we could book separately in the same hotel, but weren't able. I found a second-floor room in this place called The Virginian Resort, about a mile south of where Dad and Sherri stayed—although both our "resorts" were located along the Methow (pronounced "Met-how") River. Indeed, I could see the river from my balcony.

Winthrop Store

The "Winthrop Store" has the oldest functioning gas station I think I have ever seen. It looks just like gas stations did in the Old West!

Sherri & Dad ... at Sheri's Sweet Shoppe

There's a bunch of these saddles outside establishments in Winthrop. When we walked past these, Sherri said, "You want a picture of me on it?" Uh, yes!

River's Edge Resort

After I checked into my room at The Virginian, I decided to walk over to Dad and Sherri's cabin at River's Edge Resort. We walked from there to a restaurant for dinner, where they took a solid hour to bring our food after we wordered. At least the place is fun. (I even saw at least two Progress Pride flags hung among the ton of kitsch all over their walls—there was another restaurant out on the main road with a rainbow flag, which I was comforted to see.)

Anyway, after dinner I walked back to my hotel, then grabbed my swim trunks and drove back to Dad and Sherri's cabin, where they had a small hot tub, and I soaked in it with Dad for a while. You can see him climbing into it in the above shot—and Sherri's silhouette through the window.

Winthrop had a vibe I felt was very similar to Wallace, Idaho, the old mining town in the Idaho Panhandle (population: 791). Wallace relies heavily on tourism linked to its mining history whose heydey was decades ago, and Winthrop (population: 504) relies on a fully contrived "Western" theme, but they are both still tiny towns with an economy hugely reliant on regional tourism. I have taken photos of a sleepy Wallace after dark that are very much like this shot I took of Winthrop on my drive back to my hotel after hot tubbing with Dad.

Tuesday, July 22: Withrop, WA

A view of "downtown" Winthrop on Tuesday morning, as Dad and Sherri and I browsed the shops after going out for breakfast.

Dad looks on as Sherri attempts to cross the North Cascades.

Sherri didn't want me to drive home without any food, so she made me a cheese sandwich to go. It proved much more delicious than I even expected. Maybe it was that loving mother's touch, sealed by her literally kissing the plastic container after she snapped the lid closed.

Winthrop Visitor Information Center

Just before I left town, we all visited the new Winthrop VIsitor Information Center—where Dad and Sherri unfortunately got into a bit of trouble.

Tuesday, July 22: North Cascades National Park

Return to Happy Creek

The drive up on Monday had taken a lot longer, but by design, with many stops through the North Cascades National Park, and then to Winthrop. My drive home on Tuesday was much more of a straight shot—except, I stopped again at Happy Creek Forest Walk and Falls Trail.

"Forest Walk" was the boardwalk trail Dad and I had spent just a few minutes walking, and then we walked a bit further on the trail, but not convinced that there were larger falls to see than the small bit (already mentioned earlier in this email) we had already seen. I decided I would stop and walk further on my way back, though.

This was how I figured out that the Happy Creek Falls are 1.2 miles past the end of the boardwalk trail. The very small parking lot at the trailhead was full, so I parked across the street on Route 20. I then hauled ass, which was a bit exhausting considering the elevation gain: I entered the trailhead at 2:15, and returned to it at 3:15. I was so quick about it that a woman I had passed on the way up and then who saw me again on my way back down said, "Wow, you're speed hiking!"

So, were Happy Creek Falls worth the effort, which resulted in my getting home probably at least 90 minutes later than I would have otherwise thanks to getting back into town right at rush hour? Debatable. But at least now I know enough to engage in that debate, and I won't have to wonder!

This whole trip was worth it, I can tell you that much! I love our national parks, and feel they are absolutely worth preserving—and all three of them in Washington are spectacular.

North Cascades National Park / Winthrop 2025

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