Today, we woke up in Mount Vernon, and headed east into the heart of the Cascade Mountains. We’ll spend the whole day exploring North Cascades National Park.
Remember how I talked about how hot it was last night? And how we opened all the windows and blasted fans all night? Well, turns out, it dropped down in the 40s last night, so I woke up and couldn’t feel my feet. Thankfully, there was only one window in Walker’s room – thus preventing too much of a cross-breeze, so his room was a pleasant temperature.
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory
First thing in the morning, we loaded up the van and drove back to downtown Mount Vernon. We headed straight for Whidbey Island Bagel Factory, an outpost of the original store on its namesake island. They make all their bagels fresh daily, and offer sandwiches and other breakfast items.
We got a selection of whole bagels to split: blueberry, cinnamon raisin, and cranberry orange zest. Additionally, Dad got a sausage, egg, and cheese on a three-cheese bagel; Faith got the same but on an everything bagel; and I got an egg, bacon, lettuce, and tomato on a sea salt bagel.
All the bagels were excellent, particularly the ones we got plain. The only thing I didn’t particularly enjoy was my sea salt bagel; it was far too salty for my taste. Nonetheless, it’s rare to find bagels of this caliber, so I would recommend it.
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory
Mount Vernon, WA
Excellent bagels – they offer a wide variety of flavors, all made fresh daily.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Co-op
As we ate, we drove back to the Skagit Valley Food Co-op, seeking to pick up some to-go lunches. After browsing the store for a while, we grabbed some freshly-made packaged food from their deli – two roast beef and provolone sandwiches, a ham and swiss sandwich, an Asian salad with chicken, some Beecher’s cheddar cheese sticks, some string cheese, some Washington-grown apples, and a bag of salt and vinegar kettle chips.
Skagit Valley Food Co-op
Mount Vernon, Wa
This is an amazing little grocery store! It’s the sort of place you could spend hours looking around. They make their own ice cream, sandwiches, deli offerings, etc. The prices are very reasonable, and the quality is very high. If I had one of these nearby, it would be the primary place I’d shop for groceries.
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Apothecary Coffee
In Sedro-Woolley, we pulled into Apothecary Coffee, which appropriately shared a space with a pharmacy. In my mind, there are roughly three categories of coffee: delicious, functional, and undrinkable. This fell into the undrinkable category. Dad and I both agreed we’d never had coffee that bad before. It seemed to be freshly made, but tasted completely burnt and almost rancid. After a couple sips to confirm we weren’t just fooled by bagel aftertaste or something like that, we poured them out the next chance we got. There was no amount of cream or sugar on earth that could’ve made that swill taste good.
Visitor Center
Heading east on the North Cascades Highway, we drove through the small communities of Concrete, Rockport, and Marblemount, eventually arriving at the visitor center for North Cascades National Park. I ran inside to grab a map and snap a quick picture at the overlook behind the building. Even though this is a pretty obscure national park, and only open a couple months out of the year, it has a shockingly large (and nice) visitor center.
North Cascades National Park
"A more difficult route to travel never fell to man's lot."
Before we get any farther into the park, I’ll share some background and facts about it.
- 504,654 acres
- Highest peak is Goode Mountain at 9,220′
- Lowest elevation is 605′ at Goodell Creek
- 500+ lakes and ponds, many devoid of fish
- ~312 glaciers – the most of any national park outside Alaska
- 1/3 of the glaciers in the lower 48 states
- Boston Glacier is the largest in the park, at ~1,730 acres
- 1,630+ plant species – more than any other park
- ~400 miles of trails
- 236,000+ acres of old-growth forest
- ~240 natural alpine lakes
- 34 miles of paved roads passing by/through the recreational areas
- 6 miles of road (all unpaved) actually inside the park
- 20th largest national park, but 7th least visited
- Almost entirely protected as wilderness
- Bordered by Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
- Second-least visitors to a national park in the lower 48, behind Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park
- Only once has State Road 20, which passes through the park, remained open the entire winter
- North Cascades, unlike most national parks, has no entrance fee
- Grizzly bears will be reintroduced to the park soon, but there is no set timeline yet
- Designated a national park by Congress in 1968, although the first proposal was introduced in 1892
Rainy Pass
Breezing past some of the park’s main roadside attractions, we soon approached the easternmost park boundary. This was the only time I napped in the car the entire trip, albeit for only ~15 minutes. At Rainy Pass, we pulled over briefly to enjoy the view.
Washington Pass
Because Walker had just fallen asleep in his car seat, we decided to drive all the way to the far side of the park first, and then work our way back. Our first stop was actually outside the far end of the park, at the Washington Pass Observation Site. The pass sits below the ionic Liberty Bell Mountain. We hiked the Washington Pass Overlook Trail out to the observation point and explored the area for a while. It was another scorching day over 100°F, so we didn’t want to spend too much time on the move.
Rainy Lake
Driving back west through Rainy Pass, we stopped at Rainy Lake picnic area to eat our lunch. Turns out, we were the ones about to be eaten…we found a perfect picnic table in the shade, but quickly realized the mosquitos were swarming like I’d never seen before. Abandoning our picnic plan, we scrambled back to the parking lot and ate our lunches in the van. All the sandwiches from the Co-op were delicious, and definitely a step above what you’d typically expect from a grocery store.
Ross Lake
Soon, we arrived back at Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and pulled into a couple of the overlooks to enjoy the view.
Diablo Lake
Diablo Lake is just west of Ross Lake, and is the most accessible part of the national park. Its turquoise water is more vibrant than many other glacial-fed lakes. The sprawling, web-like shape contrasts perfectly with the surrounding mountains – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lake quite like this before. At this point, the heat really started getting to us, so we decided we’d limit our stops for the rest of the day.
Gorge Lake
Gorge Lake is the final body of water you come to when heading west on the North Cascades Highway. After the lake, the Skagit River resumes its regular flow back towards Mount Vernon and eventually the Puget Sound.
Gorge Creek Falls
Taking the pullout for Gorge Creek Falls, we walked over the bridge (which didn’t seem to be much more than a metal grate) to get a closer look at the waterfall and the gorge below.
Visitor Center, Again
Back at the visitor center, we stayed indoors for a while, browsing the gift shop and exhibits, but mostly enjoying the shade and A/C. They had a great children’s play section, and Walker had fun playing there.
Driving
Even though it was still fairly early in the afternoon, we decided to throw in the towel because of the heat, and started back towards Mount Vernon. While I’d originally planned to do more hiking in the park, it was simply too hot – definitely too hot for a pregnant woman and a one-year-old to be exposed to the sun for that long. The drive back was beautiful, but the most wonderful thing was have the A/C on full blast in the car.
Il Granaio Authentic Italian Restaurant
Back in Mount Vernon, we headed to Il Granaio Authentic Italian Restaurant, which (like its name suggests) sits inside an old grain silo now converted to retail space. Our meal was very good; we arrived just in time to get the “sunset special”, which includes bread, an appetizer (bruschetta), a Caesar salad, an entree, and a dessert. Dad got spaghetti and meatballs; Mom got fettuccine del granaio (fettuccine with chicken breast, broccoli, and mushrooms, served in a white wine cream sauce); Faith got fettuccine con gamberetti e funghi (fettuccine tossed with sauteed bay shrimp and mushrooms, and served in cream sauce); and I got pollo (chicken) picatta.
For dessert, I got panna cotta with raspberry sauce, Mom and Dad each got a slice of cheesecake, and Faith got mango sorbet. All were excellent, especially the panna cotta. Overall, it was a very nice meal, and really surprised us in a lot of ways. I regret not getting a picture of the Caesar salads; they were really the star of the meal – not to cast shade on anything else.
Il Granaio Authentic Italian Restaurant
Mount Vernon, WA
Excellent Italian food with great specials, and a plethora of choices. Very good desserts, too!
* – Would definitely visit again
** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area
*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there
Bedtime
The A-frame was thankfully not quite as hot as last night, but when we arrived back we had to immediately start the window-opening/fan-starting process all over again. We put Walker down for bed, and took some time to reorganize our things before the final stretch of our trip tomorrow.
Walmart, Again
Dad and I made yet another Walmart run to get a pack of baby wipes, Go-Go squeezes, and [believe it or not] more fruit for Walker. While there, I spotted a special flavor of Tillamook ice cream that’s not available on the east coast: sea salt & honeycomb toffee. I’d actually tried this during our visit to the Tillamook factory in 2018, and instantly recognized it. We took it back to the house, but had to eat it very quickly before it melted.
Video
Here’s a short video from today’s adventures.
The Best Things we Saw Today
Isaac
The best thing I saw today was… “Washington Pass”.
The best thing I ate today was… “chicken picatta or the cranberry-orange bagel”.
Faith
The best thing I saw today was… “Washington Pass”.
The best thing I ate today was… “the shrimp pasta”.
Jerry
The best thing I saw today was… “Washington Pass”.
The best thing I ate today was… “the Caesar salad”.
Amy
The best thing I saw today was… “Diablo Lake”.
The best thing I ate today was… “my Caesar salad and pasta”.
Conclusion
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Tomorrow, we’re heading into Seattle city proper, and continuing south towards Mt. Rainier.
– Isaac, Faith, Jerry, Amy, and Walker
2 Responses
The lakes were beautiful!
Your Italian meals sounded and looked delicious!
Hope you got your house cooled down.
Isaac’s photo editing is impressive. The photos really reflect how it actually was!