3 Day Family Trip At North Cascades
View along the 4.6-mile Blue Lake trail
We heard little about North Cascades National Park, and never had it on our radar screen, until, well, now!
In fact, North Cascades National Park was one of the least visited national parks in the US.
Oh why oh why?
Road side view near Washington Pass
After spending 3 days here, we absolutely fell in love with it, and would highly recommend anyone to see it. It is a real gem!
Road side view near Washington Pass
Similar to our last trip to Mt Baker, we started day zero on Friday afternoon. But it wasn’t a pleasant start.
15 minutes after we left our home, the weather suddenly changed. We found out at the Port Townsend ferry terminal that our ferry was cancelled due to the wind storm and rain. As a result, our 3-hour road trip turned into 6.
The darkness plus the rain outside didn’t allow us to see much along the way. Our 6 yo held his pee all the way, until he couldn’t anymore. He had an accident on my seat before stepping out of the car. Yikes!
We finally settled in our Airbnb at Rockport after 9pm, and called it for the night.
Road side view of Washington Pass
We started the first morning in an overcast drive to the park. The first impression wasn’t that great. There were powerlines everywhere. Together with a dam and the transmission towers, these were all part of the infrastructure that supplies power to the Seattle area.
Different from most of the other national parks we have visited, you don’t immediately get the untouched nature feel from North Cascades. But don’t let this discourage you, as you will find spectacular views easily, as you drive more eastward.
The Diablo lake
This is the iconic view for North Cascades, and was recommended to us as a must stop by a neighbor.
The above photos were taken in the first afternoon and second morning (right image) in different weather. It’s breathtaking!
The view is from an overlook, and doesn’t require any hike. So it’s easy for anyone.
Thunder Knob hike
Thunder Knob Trail
We picked Thunder Knob Trail as our first hike on day 1. It’s 3.6 mile round trip, and offers great view of Diablo Lake.
The hike was relatively easy. But we didn’t finish it. There was rain forecast for the afternoon, and we weren’t quite sure if and when that would happen. Plus, we were eager to explore other locations of the park on our first day, so we can decide where we would like to do the “deep-dive” on day 2 and 3.
So we turned back 2/3 way in and would like to call this a quick warm up.
We made a quick ranger stop and asked for landscape photography vantage point and family hike recommendations. Together with the tips from our Airbnb host (we always treasure local tips), we had a rough idea of what we wanted to explore.
This is a very typical first day for any trips. We usually call it our “recon” day.
Thunder Knob trail
Washington Pass
This was high on our list after the initial research. It was near the eastmost point of North Cascades. Despite many viewpoints and trailheads along the way, we drove directly to it after our Thunder Krob hike. It certainly didn’t disappoint.
Selfie at Washington Pass, ISO100, 24mm, f/6.3, 1/400sec
My husband and I went separately up onto the lookout at Washington Pass, as both of our kids didn’t want to do another hike and preferred to stay in the car.
To say the view was spectacular was an understatement. I was completely in awe with the magnificence of our mother nature. The winding road below added some human touch to the picture, allowing you to create however interesting composition you want. I tried a number of angles, and truly didn’t want to come down.
Didn’t I say there was rain forecast? We must have been truly lucky to have the blue sky.
Blue Lake Trail
This was on top of the recommendation list among all hikes within North Cascades by our Airbnb host. It was 4.6 miles. It was raining on day 2. Nevertheless, we decided to go for it.
As you can see from our latest trips at the Pacific coast of Olympic National Park and Mt Baker earlier this month, rain, fog, overcast were a common theme. We didn’t set very high expectations for this hike, but it turned out to be absolutely amazing!
We finished the hike! Orion walked all the way up on the mountain top by himself, in an ongoing drizzle!
We walked through the forest, and onto the meadows, and back into the forest, and after an 1000+ ft elevation, we arrived at this tranquil lake surrounded by granite and snow.
The fall colors were among my favorite views along the hike.
So were the patches of snow.
This also marked as the longest hike we’ve completed with our kids, topping off our Cerro Torre snow hike in Patagonia, Argentina 2 years ago.
We made a few more stops near Washington Pass, our favorite spot in North Cascades, in an on and off rain, and drove back to our base before sunset.
Sauk Mountain
Day 3 was Monday, our Airbnb checkout day.
Sauk Mountain is very close to our Airbnb outside of North Cascades, and turned out to be an amazing place to enjoy the mountain view.
We spent a good 30 minutes driving up a narrow winding mountain road, reaching to a parking lot perched over the mountain slope. In good weather, the view from there is already good enough that worth the drive.
The hike from the parking lot to the mountain top is 3.8-mile round trip. We weren’t sure if our crew could all make it, given the 4.6-mile hike we just finished the day before. Although the distance was shorter, the hike was a constant climb on a very narrow trail that fit only one person. Next to the trail was the near vertical slope, so it felt a lot steeper.
To our surprise, Orion hiked up the mountain by himself again!
We were told in good weather, we could see the peaks of nearly all the major mountains in Washington, from 360 degrees on mountain top.
Our view was mostly covered by clouds or fog. While it was a wonderful feeling to sit on top of clouds, we didn’t see that many peaks. We could only use our imagination to vaguely map out the location of each mountain.
Apollo spent a good amount of time mimicking wolf howling, as he claimed he could talk to wolves. We weren’t sure that was a good hobby but were pleased so far he hadn’t attracted any wolf packs to join our hikes.
Orion and I continued a bit further on the mountain top, where the trail was getting harder to identify. He was certainly a trooper that kept me going.
We left everything behind but my camera and our stamina, and I had to take this selfie with him to celebrate our special moment on the mountain top. I left the camera on a rock and let the shutter run for 20-30 times with 1 second interval. We scored quite a good shots, including my favorite one below. (check out my 30-day photo tips, my free ebook on how to take pictures of family and kids on the go.)
Selfie at Sauk Mountain top, ISO100, 24mm, f/3.5, 1/320sec
Did I mention how Orion came down the mountain in both hikes? I only mentioned he went up by himself.
OK, no need to guess. I had to carry him on my back.
He’s heavier than my camera bag now, and isn’t easy to carry. I had to look at the upside - it was good exercise for me, and part of the reason I lost a ton of weight this year.
Just like any weekend trips, three days are too short.
This was our first trip to North Cascades, and certainly won’t be our last.
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