We climbed back up to Chelan to find a breakfast spot, gas, and a grocery store before heading to North Cascades National Park. Our scenic route was along the Columbia River, vineyards, cherry and apple orchards. We stopped at the Diablo Lake Overlook for a picnic lunch in the 111-degree heat looking at the snow-capped mountains and the green glacier-fed lake. We found our campsite at the Newhalem Creek campground without any shade. We headed to the gift shop at the Visitor Center and hiked the shady river loop trail. The rangers told us we could move to any campsite with an open sign that indicated "no show".
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| Tunneling through the mountain on Cascades Loop |
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| Diablo Lake Overlook |
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| North Cascades National Park gift shop |
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| Cold green Skagit River |
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| Huge shady campsite at Nwhalem Creek |
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| gigantic Western Cedar and Douglas firs |
In the middle of the heatwave, we still managed to hike 7 miles taking all the local hikes starting with the Connecting Trail to Newhalem, the site of the 1920's power plant. The original buildings have been maintained along with the Ladder and Gardens Trail up to the waterfalls. We took the Two Cedars Trail and also the Get to Know Your Trees trail back to the river with our lawn chairs to soak our feet in the creek to try and beat the heat of 107 degrees.
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| Generating plant |
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| Huge trees |
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| Towards Ladder, Waterfall, and Gardens Trail |
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| Newhalem natives |
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| From power plant |
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| Two Cedars Trail |
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| Gardens along power plant |
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| Gorgeous falls sending out a cooling spray |
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| Blooms among the ferns |
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| Shaky bridge |
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| Green waters |
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| Garden sculpture |
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| Pigeon Range |
We decided to cancel our next night's stay at Purple Star Winery where it was predicted to be 118 degrees. Instead, we moved campsites and the next morning drove back toward Gorge Creek Falls and hiked the Overlook Trail and then continued back to Diablo Lake and Colonial Creek campground to hike the Thunder Knob Trail and then after a picnic lunch, we hiked the Thunder Creek Trail for a total of 10 miles. The temperature only rose to 85 so it was comfortable relaxing at the campground.
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| Heading up Thunder Knob Trail |
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| Stunning vistas |
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| Climbed up and up |
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| Lots of switchbacks made the incline easier |
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| View from Thunder Knob overlook |
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| Dainty flowers along Thunder Creek Trail |
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| Massive tree trunks |
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| Backpacker took our picture on their way back from pass |
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| Luxurious ferns |
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