Glacier National Park to North Cascades National Park

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Entry 20: Glacier National Park, Mont. to Cascades National Park, Washington: Two Daze Worth of Tired Driving
Thursday, Aug. 5 - Sat. August 7, 2010

A $63 Dollar Luxury: Motel 6!

Getting a late leaving time, as Glacier had cast its cool spell of Sophie the dog and me, I was totally exhausted. The sign to Kalispell read 70 miles, and although Sophie was sleeping soundly next to me, I had to try and stay awake. It was my original goal to leave earlier, driving further west with the next large goal of North Cascades National Park (with the ultimate destination of Seattle). But, I was getting a little antsy about not actually publishing onto the blog (some of the writing and photos were done, but there was no way to post all the data with such a week internet signal and the long battery charges).

A holing up in a Motel 6 would do the trick, and I found one in the Kalispell, Mont. area. After leaving so late from Glacier, I arrived at around 7 p.m., I paid the $63, and dropped back into (close to) the modern world—showers, television (with cable), and two beds, one for me and one for Sophie the dog.
Of interesting note: I was delighted that the desk worker informed me that there had been new carpet put in yesterday! I could walk shoeless around the room, being the first to put my own brand o’ stank on the new carpet.
After plugging the 4 rechargeables (computer, phone, Ipod, and camera’s 2 batteries), I took only my second hot shower in 2 weeks (although, once again, I had been swimming in many bodies of the cleanest water on the planet). I have to admit, it felt great, although the shaving was still difficult, as I had started to take on my “mountain man” look.
Sophie crashed out immediately, but I had to drive to Taco John’s to get my convenience fast-food fix. I can’t really recommend the place…

Clicking through the 30 cable channels, and finding nothing on, I finally started simultaneously writing and editing photos to catch up the blog. Although exhausted, I felt I needed to get the unbridled time with the electricity, and I worked through the night, finally falling asleep at 7 a.m. local time. My phone woke me up at 10:00 a.m., and I worked the two hours until the noon check-out time. I chatted on the phone with Jennifer while wandering through a huge Mega-Thrift store just next to the hotel.

I pulled out of Kalispell at one p.m. and sped 200 miles westward to a county campground just north of Spokane. I was a bit disappointed that I could more thoroughly check out Idaho’s north-most Panhandle status, but I was too tired and felt that I was still trying to break free of Montana’s strong lure.


First Glance at Washington in 20 Years…
It was probably around 6 when I pulled into the strange campground. There were at least 50 spots, but only 1 other one was occupied (and I didn’t see any people). I drove to the top of the hill, and there was an interesting, albeit trashed-up, couple of sites containing my first real glimpse of the huge trees Washington State is known for.
I walked around a bit, snapping photos and crawled into the tent for a nap while Sophie slept right outside the tent’s doors. I awoke around 10 p.m., typed on the blog for awhile, and fell asleep, deeply, and awoke at 10:00 the next morning, knowing that I would actually be hitting Cascades National Park today.

A Harley rider had arrived sometime during the night, but I never heard his engine. I heard it now, though, as he was roaring out of the apparent crash-site camping area. I tried to pay for the spot ($10), but there were no pens or envelopes at the self-pay station, so I walked a couple of quick trails back to the stove for some coffee. I ducked out quickly and hit my old friend, Highway 2 heading west.

Spokane, Washington
It was about 70 miles to Spokane, a somewhat large-sized town on in Eastern Washington. The economy seems to be doing well here, as there’s 5 miles worth of strip malls, with accompanying chain restaurants and stores. I was hungry, and passed restaurant after restaurant until I hit pay dirt: Indian buffet (my favorite food and my favorite way to enjoy it). For $9.99, I gorged on Kofi and dal, pompadom and garlic Nan. I also read a week’s worth of the local newspaper, finding out that in the case of the Yellowstone bear attacks, the possible source of the deadly mauling was man, not the bear itself. A wildlife photographer had been “baiting” the area with food to attract wildlife, including bears, to the area for photos.

Spokane’s most famous feature is its falls, which cascade from two sides right through downtown. A quick walk with Sophie and a couple of photos held our interest for a half hour. After, it was onto the Interstate I-90 for 10 miles, before again exiting off onto Hwy 2 heading due west. Eastern Washington, although mountain less for miles and miles, does have plenty of good dirt from the mountains—it’s has the appearance of the middle-American states, Iowa, Kansas and the like. Miles of bright-yellow grain grows and grows. The flat landscape finally begins to change with rolling hills, then larger rolling hills with exposed boulders, then, finally, great mountains in the distance.

The roads heading north took me to the Grand Coulee Dam, built in 1942. In its small but crowed dam museum, I learned that Woody Guthrie was paid a couple of hundred dollars to write a song about the dam. Bob Dylan has also referenced it in his song “Idiot Wind.” It was one of those required stops, as I knew that I probably would never be here again in my life.

Now north of Hwy 2, I took the scenic drive 155 through the Colville Indian Reservation. The experience was interesting, as many of the homes looked somewhat ragged, and a few “touristy” signs lined the roadside. In the small town of Omak, I was letting Sophie the dog run around the grassy area of a closed high school when a woman approached with her own dog. While the two played (Sophie’s good with other dogs if she’s off-leash), I listened to the 34-year old describe the depressed conditions of the town (Mill’s closed, Meth in town, unemployment). She had grown up here her whole life, and for some reason, could not escape. “There’s nothing here” and “I’ve done every job there is to do in this town—waitress at the two restaurants, working in hotels, the Wal-Mart,” she stated. She also stated that the Native American and Caucasian groups do not interact with each other.
This small town gave me the creeps, and I scooped Sophie up, heading the final, long 60 miles to Cascade National Park, my 3rd on the trip.

As I’ve come to learn, in the road atlas, the from point “A” to point “B” might by 70 miles, but the up and down, tight turns, various stops for photos, etc. make the trip longer the usual hour. I was a little tired and anxious about going to North Cascades National Park, as there were not the usual roads, paved or otherwise that actually go into and around the park. I was taking a chance passing all the National Forest trailheads and campgrounds by continuing on towards the entrance.
After chatting with a couple who had come from the other direction, I learned that, in fact, North Cascades National Park is a very remote “Park”; it’s actually does only have a one forest service road that goes into it. The main road, on which I was not traveling, is Hwy 20. North Cascades National Park is surrounded by a variety of National Forests, the Okanogan bordering it on the east. Hwy 20 offers really nice views, and I made a note of the Pacific Coast Trailhead for a possible later hike.

Colonial Campground, North Cascades National Park
As it was getting late (again), I made the decision to camp at the Colonial Campground within the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Because of two dams, Ross Lake and Diablo Lake were created. Damming rivers/water access issues are a hot button-issue in the West, but it does need to be noted that the hydroelectric (and, thus, somewhat environmentally-friendly) dams do change the landscape. And in this case, provide a nice lakeside campsite for Sophie the dog and me…

Thanks for reading the blog! Chicago Dave and Sophie the dog!

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Comments

[Jeanie and Randy]

Nice Blog!
Enjoyed your writing and hope you have fun!

[ChicagoDave]

Thank you for the nice comment.