North. Waaaaayyyyy North.

     North Cascades National Park is one of the least visited parks in the entire National Parks system, and definitely the least visited one on our itinerary. And I get it. It’s hard to get to, way up near the Canadian border, where cell reception is almost nil and stores and restaurants are few and far between. But I’m not sure where you can get views like this all to yourself. As you can see, if you’re willing to make the effort, the rewards are many.

 

 

    Our campsite bears a special mention. It was one of the more nicely situated ones we’ve had, nestled among big trees in a wildly verdant sort of grotto (did I just use the word grotto? Is that even allowed anymore?). Hard to explain, and the pics won’t do it justice, but trust me, very cool.

 

 

 Another interesting thing to point out is the fact that we’ve been in grizzly country since Yellowstone, so bear protocols apply. That means jamming all of your food and cooking gear into the supplied metal bear boxes or locked into your car, and hiking with bear spray handy. It makes things more difficult, but it’s a necessary precaution.

    The big attraction at North Cascades NP are the glaciers, which is why it’s a good alternative to extremely crowded Glacier NP. They are everywhere you look, and feed into lakes of shimmering emerald green. Yet another moment on this trip where my brain couldn’t quite compute the beauty I was seeing. And, as I told the kids, when’s the next time you’ll get the chance to take a dip in a glacial lake? So we had to jump in. News flash: glacial lakes are a new level of cold.  Anne, wisely, was not swayed by my logic, and restrained herself. She is obviously the brains of this outfit.

 

    A final highlight was a hike to see Ross Dam. Hydropower is prevalent up there, and while a hike to a dam didn’t seem like it would be all that special, something about the scale of it really took my breath away. 

 

I’m not sure North Cascades will ever become more popular, due to its remoteness and lack of amenities. But that’s just fine with me. It’s perfect the way it is.