August 2, 2014

August 2, 2014

We slept in this morning enjoying the fact we know we are here for two days. After breakfast we went to the Visitor Center, tried to watch most of the park movie (pretty lame) and got the alternatives for actually setting foot in the North Cascades National Park. The Visitor Center and campgrounds are actually in Ross Lake NRA and North Cascades National Park lies on either side of this Skagit River gorge. None of our options are too good without a four-wheel drive vehicle. There are a few hikes but because the North Cascades are so vertical, the shortest hike is still straight up.

We drive back up the highway a few miles to the Sourdough Mountain trailhead. The hike is only three miles to the park boundary but it is steep and unrelenting. We are drenched in sweat.  Several times I think we should turn around, but we persevere. It doesn’t help that we are getting old and probably not in the best shape. After 2.5 hours the park sign appears as a miracle. Looking out at the vista it seems we are almost equal with the snowy peaks of the neighboring mountains. We finished our lunch and started picking some of the huckleberries around us. Just then Aimee spots a bear also grazing in the huckleberries, so I stash our bag of berries in Aimee’s fanny pack and she makes a beeline down the trail. Because of the steepness it almost takes us as long to descend. Unfortunately near the bottom Aimee takes a tumble banging her knees pretty good. She makes it out all right but is in significant pain a couple hours later after her right knee swells up.