Monday July 11, West of Winthrop in the Cascade Mountains

Enjoyed breakfast with Sherry and Terry this morning and sorted out some bits and pieces. I had bought a Verizon pay as you go Broadband modem and for the last 3 days have been trying unsuccessfully to activate it. So had to resort to phoning the company, surprisingly got a really nice guy who spoke English who sorted it out for me in no time at all. Evidently they have been doing things to the online system over the last few days and they were having issues, so it wasn’t me! Hopefully will have much more access to the net, although this evening we are camped in a Forest Service Camp in the middle of the mountains and no hope of service!

After another farewell to the Barbers our first stop was Burlington for some fresh supplies in what was probably one of the best supermarkets we have been in. The produce was so fresh, everything was clean, and they had some amazing displays. Wouldn’t want to bring the Grandies into the confectionary section.

Also called into Wholesale Sports for Ian to drool around…it is an enormous store, I had been with Sherry at the start of the trip to get my walking shoes.

Then it was East over the North Cascade Highway. What a fabulous drive. The road followed the very clear glacial Skagit River and initially wound through some old farming communities with small holdings. The lush green trees hung over the road and the white daisies and pink foxgloves grew abundantly on the roadsides. As we climbed higher in to the mountains the snow was still in patches amongst the trees and on the side of the road, and finally reached the Washington Pass Peak at 5500 feet. Everyone told us about the amazing lookout, but sadly it was closed. Can’t believe how good the road is considering it is closed for 6 months of the year with snow.

Tonight we are staying in a very nice Forest Service Campground at Klipchuck, at $12 a night it is really good value and there are a number of campers here although there is plenty of distance between the sites.