When Dave and I arrived at Marblemount, WA, on Monday, we headed to the national park in the afternoon. It wasn't raining then, so we knew we should try to see and do as much as we could.
The visitor's center was our first stop. We always try to see the movie first, but on Tuesday they were doing a ranger training about bears, so there was no movie. We came back on Wednesday to see the movie, which had some nice scenery but didn't tell us anything about the park, even when it was established. 
We walked on the short Sterling Munro Trail to the lookout area near the visitor's center. Even though it was cloudy, we had a spectacular view. 
This is the same view as above, but I focused on the snow and clouds for this photo!
We walked on part of the River Loop Trail, but decided to come back another time when we were wearing our bug spray. We encountered mosquitoes. We never did get back to do this trail since it rained all day on Wednesday.
I got my national park passport stamped with four different stamps. By the way, there is no charge for any part of North Cascades National Park, except for the campgrounds. Here's a view of the art work located just inside the door of the visitor's center.
We drove further east on Highway 20 and saw the village of Newhalem where the dam workers lived while they were building the dam, and where workers still live. Then it was on to the waterfall area.
What is it about tunnels? They always fascinate me!
Gorge Creek Falls as viewed from the trail.
Gorge Creek as seen from the paved Gorge Overlook Trail.
One of the dam powerhouses along Gorge Creek.
This waterfall was across the highway and was very long. My picture only shows the top fourth of the total waterfall.
And another waterfall run-off from snow melt. We couldn't stop to get a picture of all the waterfalls that we saw along the highway, but these three were accessible from a parking area.
A view from inside the tunnel.
Even though it rained on Wednesday, we took a drive to see some more of the national park. I'll share those photos next time.
It's been too long since I've been to Washington to enjoy that gorgeous scenery.
ReplyDeleteRain and mosquitoes...not a good combination.
ReplyDeleteThe Gorge Creek area looks lovely. Looks like you two had a wonderful day.
Washington is still missing from our visit map:( We definitely will have to correct that.
ReplyDeleteI love waterfalls. Something about all those millions of gallons of water pouring over the rocks - the sound is so incredible.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about your visit to this park. We've never been there, and you make it look very interesting. I think we will have to get up there some time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Russ, let's get going!! Thanks Carol, I enjoyed the photos and it does make me want to get out and see something new. Love the waterfalls.
ReplyDeleteWell now, here we are in Oregon, have never been to North Cascades National Park, lots of unscheduled time ahead of us this summer. What should we do? We'll probably stay in Oregon, 'cause there's a lot to see here. But we appreciate seeing North Cascades through your camera lens!
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