2 On the Road: North Cascades National Park

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park is the second least visited National Park in the contiguous 48 states. Can you guess the least visited?

This stuffed pika in the visitor center was the closest I've never been to one.

There are several trails just outside the Visitor Center. The shortest and most accessible is the Sterling Monro Boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk is a beautiful view of the Picket Range.

Even in person it didn't look real.

Very beautiful though.

We also walked the River Loop Trail. First we had to go down the hill.

The only way to get to and from the Visitor Center is this one lane bridge.

The Gorge Powerhouse is on the other side of Newhalem.

Read the following photos to see why there's a tunnel from the dam to the powerhouse.

This narrow bridge runs across the Skagit River to the Powerhouse.

There's also a vehicle bridge that goes to the opposite side of the powerhouse.

Read this sign then look at the following photo to see why they have this warning.

The small bridge goes to Ladder Creek Falls. Click to enlarge sign for reading.

This was the only bridge over the falls that was accessible. Notice the twisted tree under the bridge.

Click on this photo so you can see the boulders jammed between the walls of the gorge. Above the log spanning the creek.

Walking back down the stairs we could see the lights (at the base and to the left of the big tree) that used to light up the falls.

From the Falls we followed Hwy 20 along this canyon wall.

We went through two tunnels.

As one of the previous signs mentioned, the Skagit River between the Gorge Dam and the Gorge Powerhouse doesn't have much water in it because the water runs through the tunnel.