Glacier to North Cascades National Park

Glacier National Park is supposed to be one of the most beautiful National Parks. To bad we arrived a little late in the season because the construction on the Sun Road had already begun. The Sun Road, running East and West, is the only way of driving through the park. From the West side, we drove as far as possible, 14 miles, on the Sun Road before we had to turn around. Not only was I extremely disappointed about the road being closed, but the weather was disgustingly overcast with short bursts of rain.

I decided that the weather and the construction wasn’t going to stop me from taking photos. So, we left the West side of the park and drove around the park to the East side. If I could do it again, I would have started out on the East side. The mountains were just much more impressive. Unfortunately, since the park is really large, when we arrived at the East side the sun was setting. We didn’t drive over there just to turn around so we continued to drive 17 miles West on the Sun Road until we came up to the construction.

Not wanting to sleep on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, we then turned around and headed back to the West end of the park.

The mountains on the East side were the only thing that made the whole trip worth the drive.

The next morning was a bit nicer, however it was still foggy. We decided to find some showers, clean up and just drive. I didn’t plan any stops for Idaho, I figured we would just spend the … hours driving across Northern Idaho and then take route 20 out towards the North Cascade Mountains of Washington. However, after stopping for dinner in Sandpoint, we decided to stay the night at the local Wal-Mart and head to Washington in the morning.

Saw this and thought of you Dad. Miss you! 

Since Washington is such a huge state, we needed to narrow our trip down. We made an itinerary and drove straight to the North Cascades Park.

Always following the scenic route, we ended up driving through many national forest and making a few unplanned stops at a state park and the adorable ton of Winthrop.

Winthrop’s main street retains a classic western movie like appearance. Some original advertisements can still be read on the sides of a few old saloons and the general stores. I love antiques and vintage anything so I was a little disappointed when we entered a few of the shops and the interior did not match the 1900’s exterior. Regardless, walking around town was a nice change of pace from the long drive.

Winthrop was just a short trip from the North Cascades park. Unlike any of the other National Parks we have visited, we didn’t have to show our park pass to get in (it is free to drive around.)

Where's Jason?

Although much smaller than the summits of Glacier, the North Cascades was still very impressive. Stopping at every turnout, we made our way up to Washington’s Pass and over to one of the parks primitive campgrounds and set up camp right next to a river. Nothing felt as perfect then just relaxing in the fresh mountain air in the middle of the woods listening to nothing but the sounds of the water. 

This photo was taken specifically for my mother dearest. Love you!!