North Cascades

August 27 - September 2, 2023

Cruise Directors: Connie and Brenda

Sheep: Sue, Lisa L, Peggy, Lisa R and Julie

Day 1 - Sunday, August 27, 2023

After lunch, we headed to Costco where we did our major purchasing of food and drinks for the trip then off to Camano Island where we stopped at an IAG grocery to pick up the rest of the things that we needed. We got to the Camano Island Oasis around 4:30 and proceeded to unload the van and check out our new home.

We tried to FaceTime Lisa R. so that we could have a joint toasting time with her but she didn’t answer so we went ahead and did toasting time anyway.  At six it was time to eat and people started putting the food together.  Our first meal together was rotisserie chicken, vegetables, and tossed salad. 

We were all extremely tired from the early start and by 8:30 we were headed to bed.

We got up, had breakfast and left the house at 8. We headed to Camano Beach State Park to check out the tide pools that were supposed to be best at 8:30.

We got to the ranger station a little after eight but it didn’t open till 9am so we weren’t able to buy a pass. We spoke with a maintenance worker who told us that it would be alright if we down to the beach and bought out pass on the way back.  He did not know about any tide pools.   Come to find out he was correct, there were no tide pools.

On the way out, we took a different turn and didn’t go past the ranger station so we didn’t get our pass at that point either. We went on down to Camano Island State Park Boat Ramp and took a short excursion along the beach and took some pictures.  Close to the water, we saw sprays of water coming up from the sand like geysers.  We thought it was probably clams, but we didn't have shovels to find out.

On the way back out, we stopped at the Camano Beach Ranger Station and bought our annual pass. We talked to a Ranger who was a wealth of information telling us about the history of the beach.  It was privately owned until the 1990s when the families donated much of land to the State and worked with the State Legislature to make it a State Park which it became in 2006.  The families did not want it turned into a resort, they wanted to preserve the natural landscape.  Three Cheers to those family members!

We got to Deception Pass State Park about 2pm and missed the photo op by the sign, but got it later. Our first photos were from an overlook just before the two bridges.  Deception Pass got it's name from Captain Salvador Fidalgo of Spain in 1792.  He thought the pass was the mouth of a river.  He had been deceived due to the the narrow waterway.  The current through the pass can reach speeds of 9 knots and is challenging to sail through.  The bridges is 180 feet above the water.

Peggy was upset that we could not climb on the bridge! The bridge had a small pedestrian path on both sides.   It was very narrow and we were close to traffic, but we got to the other side, took a few pictures and then walked back on the other side. We crossed the road by taking a staircase/trail under the bridge. 

We spotted a sign saying they were hiring roof cleaners.  Not long after that we stopped two men sweeping the roof on the restrooms.  From what we saw there is plenty of work available as most of the roofs needed a good sweep.

While we were walking across the bridge, Connie and Sue got a map and found out that we could drive down to the North Beach on the Whidbey Island side of the Pass. We went down to the beach and did some rock skipping and took some more pictures of the bridge.

Our next stop was Rosario Beach. It was around 3:30 and we were getting hungry. Once we got there it started to rain so we found a picnic table under a tree and grabbed the cooler for lunch.

After lunch we went for about a walk down to Rosario Beach and saw where the tide pools would be but it’s high tide so they’re covered in water.  We had fun anyway, and found some shells that look like they could be used for dentures. Peggy found some that really make her look long in the tooth.  It was also a great place to skip rocks.

This is the Maiden of Deception Pass, Kokwatalwoot.  It is not a "totem pole", it is a Cedar Post made by a Fadalgo Island Artist for the Samish people in 1983.  It was made to celebrate their survival and honor their traditions.  Kokwatalwoot is a legend of the Samish people, she is both from the land and the sea.

Day 3 - Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Brenda got up and put the egg bake that Sue made the night before in the oven at 6:30. Peggy put the coffee on at seven and breakfast was served at 7:30.  The plan was to leave the house by 8am; Brenda said it would be 8:15 and she was right. We were in the car at 8:15. Heading to SeaTac international airport to pick up our friend Lisa R. 

We arrived at the airport at just as Lisa texted and said she had landed. We parked (in the no parking area) by the arrival doors and waited. Once we saw her she threw her bag in jumped in the car and we were off. It’s now an official BE trip, we are all together.

Our first stop, was the Highline Seatac Botanical Garden. We met one of the gardeners, Allison, and she told us about the history of the of the park. The garden used to be located where the SeaTac third runway is located. The land was taken through eminent domain and the plants were moved to this new location. She told us they are now looking at taking the new location too.

The botanical garden included a Rose Garden and a Japanese Garden that we walked through.  Then we walked over to the senior center and walked through through their flower gardens. 

We left there and headed to Lincoln Park. There we found a fort made out of driftwood and a couple of boys playing in it. We asked them if there was room for us and they said sure come on in.  Sebastian offered to take our picture, he’s going to start second grade this year.  His brother Felix is kind of in the picture.

Our next siting was a sculpture by Thomas Dambo - the Northwest Trolls the Way of the Bird king. A few days later this showed up on my phone as an article of interest. Tell me big brother is not watching us. Anyway… Thomas Dambo is an artist from Denmark. He has made several pieces in the area. They are installed for 3 years.

Then we watched the fishermen for a while. Even saw a few of them catch a salmon. One close by got a Dogfish.   At that point it started to rain and we headed to the car.

On the way to the car, Connie received a call that her son was in ER. We said a group prayer for him and she tried to learn more about his condition to know if she needed to fly back. We were close to the airport, so instead on leaving the area we decided to spend some time in a nearby library until she knew more. 

About 5 o’clock he finally got to see a doctor and they started running a bunch of tests. Connie decided she wouldn’t be going back at this point, so we headed back to the house. It was going to be around 7:30 by the time we got to the house, so we ordered a pizza online to be ready for pick up when we got close to the house. 

After we ate, Connie found out her son has viral meningitis and was admitted to the hospital. She was the one that suggested they test him for that.

We sat around and looked at pictures and talked and toasted until about 1130. We decided since it was going to rain at North Cascades tomorrow we wouldn’t go to there until Friday.  The plan for tomorrow is to sleep in and do some more hiking around Camano Island.

The last of us had lights out around midnight.

Day 4 - Wednesday, August 30, 2023

The house started to slowly wake up around 8am.  We were moving pretty slow.  Finally at 11:30, Julie got bossy and said "we are burning daylight".  It’s gonna be cloudy starting at 2pm. So we all got our shoes on and headed to Christopher‘s Barn. The barn was closed on Wednesday so we decided to head for a Camano Island State Park again. 

When we got there, we took a group picture in front of the state park sign. This is a sign that we missed the first time we were here.

We stopped at the Al Emerson Nature Trail which is a short half a mile hike.  Here we checked out the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest. We spotted several slugs, nettles and large leaves.

Then we headed back to the boat ramp beach. The tide was higher than when we were there on Monday morning. We walked along the beach skipping rocks and climbing on them and driftwood. Headed back to the house around 2:30 for a ‘clean out the fridge lunch’. 

After lunch we drove to the Columbia Store Outlet in Maryville to find some bargains.  It was about 4:30 when we got there and we shopped for over an hour.  It was time to start dinner when we got back to Camano Island, so Brenda dropped Connie, Sue, Peggy and Julie at the house to start dinner and the rest of the group went back to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Connie and Sue made shrimp fettuccine, mixed vegetables, and a Caesar salad; Peggy and Julie worked on a lemon meringue pie. 

After dinner, we started talking about the next trip, the top contenders after the first round of discussion was Shenandoah, the Tetons, Northern California, and the three parks in Colorado, with no clear leader.  We decided we would talk again and come up with a decision.

Then we looked at pictures and headed to bed around 11:30.

Day 5 - Thursday, August 31, 2023

We took our picture with a statue of a CCC. Civilian Conservation Corp built many of the structures and trails in this park during the Great Depression.  Then we packed up and headed for a hike to the lighthouse. It’s about a 2 1/2 mile hike. The first part of the trail was a steep climb to the cliff overlooking the water.  When we stopped for this picture a couple of guys told us we went the hard hard way, they were hiking along the beach.  We tried that route on the way back, but the tide was too high by then.

We had lots of great views of the bridge and water from this trail. We heard from other hikers along the way that there is not an actual lighthouse. It’s a light beacon. We took a bunch of pictures of a point with a tree on it thinking that was the lighthouse that were mistaken. Further down the trail we actually saw the light beacon.

There were a lot of scenic vistas where we would stop and pictures. At one point where we were at the top of the bluff looking over the water in one direction and back up to a higher bluff the other direction. There was a couple at the top looking down at us. I shouted do you want us to take your picture. So I took there picture and they told me their phone number and I texted it to them. Then they took our picture and returned the favor. 

Back on the trail we ran into the best view of the trail and a fellow hiker offered to take out picture – this is my favorite picture of the trip.

A short way down the trail is when we actually saw the “light house”. And a bit further we came around a turn and were able to see deception bridge. There is also a place where there could be some more rock skipping. Lisa L. became enthralled with Kelp.

By this time we were getting hungry so when we got back to the car we looked for a place for lunch but all the picnic benches were in the sun. There were a couple picnic tables at campsites that were not currently being used. So we decided to have lunch there and just move if anybody came. 

After we started looking at pictures. Lisa L found out her daughter’s ex-husband had passed away – what a trip this has been. Sue was still not feeling well, so Brenda and Connie went to the store to get her some over the counter medicine. When they were there, they got their pictures taken with Kevin Costner again! 

Called it an early night and went to bed around 10pm.

Day 6 - Friday, September 1, 2023

Today is the day we are finally going to North Cascades! It’s about a 2 hour drive, we got up with the plan to leave 8 am. We almost made it and left at 8:21.  We reached the North Cascade National Park sign at 10:01 and promptly assumed the position.

Two miles down the road was the Newhalem Visitor Center. We talked to a Ranger to find out what areas of the park were open. Most of the park is closed due to fires. Sterline Munro Trail was a short 300 foot trail right out the back door of the Visitor Center to the Picket Range. This was our chance to see one of the 300 glaciers in the park.  We thought we better get a picture while it was still there. 

We left the Visitor Center and headed west on Highway 20. The Ranger warned us that most of the places would be closed and that this was drive-through only road. The first pull-off we came to, there was another car parked so we pulled over and walked across the bridge near Gorge Creek Falls. While we walking the firefighters came to close the parking lot. Lisa R was ahead of us and got busted!  She was escorted back to the rest of us.

The Fire Fighters were great. They apologized for making us leave but they had to close the parking lot and all trails. We told them we understood. One Fire Fighter, Alex talked to us for a bit and told us about the fires and how they started and how they fight them. Most of the park is closed due to two active fires. They have had over 300 lightening strike fires this year due to the extreme drought they are experiencing.

We left there and came to the Diablo Lake Overlook parking lot. It was still open so we pulled in and took a quick look and lots of pictures. While we were there, the firefighters came and started chasing people out so we got in the car and left. It was all so beautiful and we really wished we could do some hikes and see more views, but it wasn't possible.

We drove a few more miles up the road a before we decided to turn around since we really can’t see anything from the car and we’re not allowed to get out.   On the way back we did pull over one last time for a quick view of Ross Lake.

We got back to Newhalem about 1:30 and stopped for lunch at a little picnic area before taking the next hike to Ladder Bridge and Gardens. Nearby was the hydroelectric plant and we saw several waterfalls cascading over ladder creek like a ladder. We also spotted a beautiful moth that camouflaged itself by closing it’s wings. Before we got back in the car, Lisa L had to teach Julie a lesson for forgetting to move the seat so she and Sue could get out of the car.

The next hike was the Trail of the Cedars it’s a 1 mile loop along the river.  Sue wasn’t feeling well so she decided to sit the hike out. The river was sparkling, we saw nursing trees, fire damage from a fire in 1920, and some fun stumps to climb on.

We were almost done with the hike when Lisa got a phone call from her husband that her daughter is in the hospital.  When will the bad news/health stop on this trip? 

By then it was a little after 4pm, so we decided to head to the car and pick up Sue and head to head back to the house.  We got back to the house at 6 o’clock sat on the deck and talked about how lucky we were that we actually got to get in the park.  Around 7:30 people starting getting hungry so we had a "clean out the fridge of leftovers" dinner.   

Around 10 o'clock a few people decided to head to the bed and the rest of us headed to the game room for a rousing game of ping-pong where we proceeded to keep the downstairs people up until 11 when we decided to go to bed too.

Day 7 - Saturday, September 2, 2023

We’re going to have a nice lazy day today and spend some time exploring Camano Island before we have to take Lisa R to a hotel closer to the airport for her 8am flight in the morning.  Sue wasn't feeling well, so she decided to stay at the house.

We left the house around 10am and arrived at the Over the Rainbow Quilt Shop right after they opened. Wow what a quilt shop, more fabric than you can imagine. They’re primarily an online shipping company.  Peggy and Julie were both in their happy space and it was hard to get them out. They both made purchases, but neither one bought fabric. The rest were a bit intimated and waited outside.

While we were gone our neighbor Dennis who we talk to earlier while he was barbecuing ribs brought over a plate of ribs for us. They were delicious barbecued ribs Camano Island style with butter, honey and brown sugar.   Sue had a nice chat with him.  We picked up a pair of Fall Socks for her a the Quilt Shop to cheer her up.

Then we went to Iversen Spit. It was hard to find because it was surrounded by private property with big no trespassing signs. We preserved and found the beach. Peggy, who is known as the Poop Princess (she is a Dietician who is interested in the input and output of her patients) was surprised to learn that there is no Poop Fairy. 

The trail away from the beach was hot. There are a lot of berries and that means lots of pollinators. Brenda is allergic to bees so we kept moving.

Towards the end of the trail we ran into a hobbit trail, which was maybe a quarter of a mile long but there were thousands of gnomes, hobbits, angels and all types of knickknacks and in the trees.

On the way back to the car we ran into some ripe raspberry bushes and they were delicious.

We stopped back at the house to check on Sue, give her some socks, and have lunch. The we headed to Matzke Fine Art and Sculpture Park. We had read about this place in the literature left in the house for guests. Several of us bought jewelry. Peggy twisted Julie‘s arm to buy a print, which will be shipped to her house in a couple of weeks. It’s the same place on the Lighthouse Trail where the couple took our picture down from the top of the cliff. Karla Manzke is the owner of the gallery. She showed us her place and encouraged us to explore the sculpture gardens outside.

We called Sue and she was feeling better so we stopped by the house to pick her up before we left for Everett. We arrived in Everett at 5:30 and Lisa R. checked into her hotel room and got recommendations for dinner. We ended up at the Buzz Inn steakhouse - it was an old supper club with good food and nothing fancy. It was our last meal as a full group of the BVE.

After dinner, we dropped Lisa off at our hotel and said our farewells before heading back to the house for our final night. We got back a little after seven. 

We finished cleaning out the fridge and shared pictures one last time. About 9:30, Sue headed to bed and the rest of us played ping-pong, foosball and hoops. At 11 we decided it was time for bed and headed upstairs.  Connie and Peggy decided that was the time to talk about kitchen remodeling and stayed up talking.  Good thing they are sharing a room.