Camping w/ Dad: Day 3

The last day of camping we woke up early because we had heard horror stories of being stuck in construction and hour long delays over Highway 20. Ross had to be at work by 2pm and we didn't want him to be late, so we booked it outta there - though we went slowly by the Winthrop Police...

Until we realized that it was a dummy! The car had been sitting in the same spot the whole time we were there, and sure enough there was a paper sack with a hat on top in the front seat! Well, it worked, I most definitely did not speed through this area. 

And as it turned out - there was no construction! 

Which meant we had time for a short 1-mile hike to Rainy Lake on the Rainy Lake Trail 

This is perhaps the most beautiful completely accessible trail you may ever walk - it's paved the whole way from the Rainy Pass parking area. It winds through the shadowed fir forest, the snow finally melting and the ferns just now unfurling their fiddleheads, and as it opens you come upon this beautiful alpine lake, a cascading waterfall and a glacier to gaze upon. 

This is a classic glacier carved u-shaped valley whose lake is dammed by a terminal moraine (the rocks and gravel that glacier moved around) and filled with glacial meltwater.  

What a place of beauty and wonder. 

Camping w/ Dad: Day 1

Just got back from another fun camping trip! My Dad had a few vacation days and decided to fly out from Colorado to do some camping. It was gray and cloudy on the west side of the the Cascades - so we went east for some sun and heat! 

We picked my Dad up from the shuttle around noontime, so we started with lunch, of course, at Que Car BBQ in Marblemount. 

My Dad. He had the smoked beef brisket. 

Oh. My. Goodness. These sandwiches are huge! 1/2 pound of meat! 

Ross & me. 

Ross had the pulled pork BBQ sandwich. 

I had a Chicken teryaki BBQ sandwich - so good it was painful. I am pretty much meated out for a while. Worth it? Yes, though next time I'll get the kids size.

Good thing they gave us these! 

We were so full that I was glad we had a hike planned to walk it off - we headed to the Thunder Knob Trail in the North Cascades National Park Complex. 

View of Diablo Lake from the top. (It's actually a reservoir - don't be fooled!) 

Love the wind blown shot my dad captured! 

Then we finished the scenic drive along Highway 20 - the North Cascades Scenic Highway. 

Washington Pass Area. 

We got to Pearrygin State Park in Winthrop around 7:30pm and we were lucky to get the last campsite!!! Definitely make reservations if you plan on camping here. 

We set up camp and made dinner.

Normally I love Trader Joe's pre-cooked chicken sausages for camping - they are so simple! But I really regret not having a veggie option after the heavy lunch. 

The camp store was closed by the time we realized we wanted to buy firewood - but I found a fellow Western student who had some to spare! It was so nice that other campers were willing to share! 

We enjoyed the fire and stargazed. I even saw a shooting star! There wasn't a cloud in the sky or a marine layer like we tend to get in Bellingham - the stars were wonderfully brilliant and mesmerizing. We were definitely ready to crawl into our sleeping bags after sitting by the fire for a while, and I fell asleep almost immediately. 

Stay tuned for Day 2!