North Cascades Weekend

What a golden weekend!! On Tuesday Jodi had the great idea to go camping. Originally we were headed towards wine country, but as plans evolved we decided on Winthrop and the Methow valley. Jodi had read about a campsite, the ‘Lone Fir Campground’ and that became our first destination.




We loaded up the car, ducked out of work a couple hours early and headed for the North Cascades Highway. By 7pm we had set up camp and buffalo burgers were on the grill.



The campground itself is unremarkable. It was vacant except for a pair of back country skiers. The sites were well laid out, it was next to Early Winters creek, it was convenient, but just didn’t tickle the fancy. But we were there, settled and it worked. We started a nice campfire, saw Saturn and a bunch of stars and relaxed.



The next morning dawned cold. We were still at 3500 feet and the snow was still receding. Winter was only reluctantly giving way and at that altitude there was a definite chill. Fired up a cup of coffee, folded up the tent and away we went to find the Winthrop Bakery. Which we found. Hot coffee and baked goods. Roughing it on a camping weekend.



We also checked into the local sports / outfitter store. We were their first customers of the day and got some good tips on where to take a day hike and where to find a decent campsite. We bought a couple maps and headed out for a hike.



Jodi had scoped out the trails around Sun Mountain and we focused in on Patterson Mountain as the gal at the outfitters shop liked the views. We weren’t disappointed. A 2 something mile looping trail, with fairly decent elevation gain, Mount Patterson offered views of the Valley. It also held its share of wild flowers. Snow berry, Bitterroot (Rock roses), Bitter Brush, and far more that I can’t name. The hike was wonderful.

Back through Winthrop, we decided to set up camp at a place called ‘Flat’ on the 8 mile creek. “Lone Fir” may sound better than ‘Flat’, but ‘Flat’ beat the snockers out of Lone Fir. Flat was just one of many Forest Service campsites up the Chewach valley, but we found a sweet spot right by the creek and it felt just right. More inviting than Lone Fir.

We set up the tent and relaxed for a bit. One thing nice about this type of camping is that the car is handy and town is close by. It’s far different from backpacking. So when hunger strikes, you’re not limited to what you brought in on your back. You can go out for dinner. You can go out to a nice dinner, which is exactly what we did – to the Sun Mountain Lodge.



Coming right in from a campsite to the Sun Mountain Lodge takes a bit of an adjustment. But after an appetizer and a cold one, we fit right in. The entertainment was a lounge act, but a really good one. Good voice, great guitar work, and a wide repertoire. Perfect.



Then back to the campsite for a nice campfire then retreat into the tent for the evening.



Sunday was much warmer and the coffee hour was more leisurely. For plan for the day was to swing by the bakery (gotta love this style of camping), then get over the pass and head to Ross Lake for a day hike.

The trip back was more scenic than the trip over. There may be better scenery in other parts of the world, but being a few hours away from home, this was just fine.




We stopped at the Ross Lake Trailhead and started down to Ross Lake, not really knowing what to expect and we didn’t have a hard destination in mind. We just wanted to stretch the legs a bit.

From the map, it was clear that the trail crossed the lake, but it was unclear just how it did it. We found out. The Ross Lake Dam. It’s huge and the trail pops you right on top of it. One side is Ross Lake at an acceptable look over the side drop, but the mind rebelled at looking over the other side with a drop that is over 500 feet down.

There’s a small floating resort a couple of miles beyond the Dam, so we set out to try to get to it. The trail seemed a little longer than we had thought and we were just about to turn around when we spotted the cutoff to the resort. As we dropped down I wasn’t really thrilled about hiking all the way back.



The lake was low, and we found out later that it was rising at a couple of feet per day, but the low level of the lake combined with the floating resort made it a bit of a scramble to get down from the trail to the resort. We finally made it and the first impression of the resort was a bit spooky, but that was quickly dispelled when we found the office and found that a ‘ferry’ ride back across the lake was only $2 each and dogs rode free.



By that time Rex had befriended the resorts chocolate lab, Rosie, and even the resort pug, Lucy, was warming up to Rex. The ferry turned out to be a fast 23 aluminum boat and as we started towards it, Rosie and Lucy jumped in, followed by Rex and the Skipper. Lucy jumped up on the dashboard and we screamed across the lake, eliminating an hour of hiking. Perfect.



Jodi made lunch and then it was back in the car for the final leg home. A quick unpacking, shower, then off to the Roanoke for a steak sandwich and a cold beer. A perfect ending to a very decent weekend.



A Westfalia would have made that trip a little easier…….