Highway 20

Years ago I went on a magic trip through the northern Rockies in Canada and thought that no way it could ever be matched in beauty.  Highway 20 through the North Cascades proved i was wrong.   We left Anacortes, tried to find a campsite at a mosquito lake and were sort of sulking through the Skagit Valley thinking, is this the big deal?  Then some mountains showed up, steep, sheer and covered in green hemlock, firs and pine.  Then the big surprise of all at Washington Pass and we were in love with the whole deal. Only 4,500' but this altitude was comparable to 8000' in the Sierras.  It was late afternoon, but we found the misnamed Lone Fir Campground and settled in to think about the majesty of the Cascades.  We had been disgruntled at not finding good campsites in the National Park, as backpackers seem to be the rule, but we were alongside   Early Winters creek in the federal forest and happy..  We had free wood, deep forests, the river frontage and peace for two days.

A small cutoff leads you to an overlook of the mountains and the highway below - about 1000' - but you have to stand on an overlook rock on the side of the mountain.  We are trusting people about overlooks, having stood on Glacier Point in Yosemite one year, with loads of cross country skiers - all crazy, because they could slip off the point easily.  This point had high fences but I still raced out, took the photo, raced back into the trees and oohhed and aaahhed at the scene.  Acrophobia be damned, we needed to get a shot of this place.