From Ranier we headed North to the less often visited, but very beautiful North Cascades National Park.
After a fairly long day of driving we arrived in the gorgeous town of Marblemount. Our tiny house Airbnb was right on the river.The tiny house, very comfortable.Next day we headed into the park. It’s pretty rugged, and this was the only thing at this particular entrance.We did the Cascade Pass trail. We agree that this is the most beautiful hike we’ve ever done.Most of the way you are looking across the valley at this incredible mountain.It’s named Johannesburg mountain. I was surprised enough that I looked into it and it’s just a mistake! Was meant to be called Johnson, but someone made a mistake!We simply could not get enough of this view. We have hundreds of similar photos.Jules had mentioned to me that there is a kind of weasel in the mountains known as an ermine. In a stroke of luck, we saw one! It had grabbed some prey and was very quickly making off with it.A still from the video showing the light underside and dark upper coat.We also saw this pair of mountain goats up above us.At the top you arrive at the Cascade Pass. Also just incredibly beautiful. From here there are mutliple other excellent options, but we had run out of time. Another day!This beetle landed on Julie’s shoulder and caused a brief panic.This is a pika – one of many that we saw along the way.They’re extremely cute!We also saw this marmot moving it’s baby further up the hill. We wondered if this was at all related to the ermine we’d earlier seen heading that way.While digging around in the bag for trail mix we found some beers!!A beautiful aspect of the hike was the many little streams and waterfalls coming out of the snow.That evening we settled into our campsite right along the river. We’d struck gold by finding a first come, first serve site right on the water.I was quite pleased with my tech setup. A solar panel generating more than enough power, feeding into a battery, powering a Starlink Mini. Jules had me try out her paint set while we were relaxing.Exploring the river from our campsite.In the distance you can see the top of our tent poking out. It was such a magic spot.I love the giggle from Jules as I make my way back along this natural weir.Although the water was cold, we both swam in the river. Including some skinny dipping later in the evening!Our palace. It’s a large tent, but since we are only using it car camping that makes sense.Sadly, it was time to leave. But the road through the park on our way was gorgeous. And included views of the amazing Diablo Lake.We also made time along the way for a hike!This time up to Blue Lake which was extremely beautiful.We saw lots of little trout swimming about.It’s impossible to really capture the color of the lake.
