North Cascades National Park

We were in the area for a week waiting to see if smoke would clear before going into North Cascades

View from Diablo Lake Overlook

National Park. We finally had some rain and a front push through to clear the air so the next day we headed out early. This park has just one road that cuts across it so there aren't a lot of options and things to figure out unless you want to do a long hike, then you have to figure out which trail. There are basically about a half dozen scenic overlooks along the road to stop at plus the Visitor Center in Newhalem. That's about it as 99.9 percent of the park is wilderness and must be seen on foot.

View from Diablo Lake Overlook

That being said, we took our time and enjoyed each pullout on a nice day. We came in from Burlington on the west side and went a little past Ross Lake to the east edge of the park where the road goes into the National Forest. At that point we turned around and headed back with a second stop at the Diablo Lake Overlook because it was so spectacular.

There is a designated scenic loop that continues through the National Forest and National Recreation Areas but that is a multiple day trip which we chose not to do. We have to save something for next time.

Ross Lake Overlook

Exploring Northwest Washington

Deception Pass bridge

Our next move was north of Seattle to a base near Burlington, WA. From here we did some exploring of things that interested us. The haziness of pictures is due to smoke from wildfires in Canada that was blowing down to the area.

Deception Pass State Park  

Deception Pass

This little state park is pretty and has a special feature of a bridge over the channel between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island. It is interesting to see the water rushing through the narrow channel between islands as though it were a river, when in fact, it is just tidal water flowing during the changing of the tide. There is a pretty view in both directions from the bridge. At West Beach we enjoyed a nice beach and great views of the channel, looking across to Lopez Island and out the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

Deception Pass State Park
Bowman Bay

San Juan Island

We took the ferry from Anacortes to San Juan Island and spent the day on the island. We took our car so that we had complete control over our movements but there are buses and moped rental available. We started by going to the American Camp, part of the San Juan Island National Historical Park. This is the site of the American military encampment during the conflict over possession of the islands, aka The Pig War, in the mid-1800s. The conflict turned out to be very tame but there is historical significance of what could have happened. 

Ferry ride to San Juan Island
as the fog clears

We next went to the Lime Kiln State Park where the whale watching is supposed to be good. We were there about an hour, had our picnic lunch, and had good whale watching - no whales, but the watching was fine on a nice day. We moved on to the English Camp, site of the English military encampment during the Pig War conflict. Not much remains to be seen at this location either but there are some nice old photos. Then back to Friday Harbor in time for dinner at Herb's Tavern (recommended) and the ferry ride back. It was a good day.  

Lime Kiln State Park on San
Juan Island

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

This reserve is a living rural community on Whidbey Island. There is no one place to go, no operating hours and no admission fees. There are historic buildings such as the Jacob Ebey house and historic stores in Coupeville but the reserve integrates historic farms, a seaside town, native and pioneer land use traditions, and ecologically significant areas to preserve an entire historically significant area. 

Jacob Ebey House

We went to the Jacob Ebey house (only open certain days) which is mostly the original home built in 1855, walked to the Bluff Trail for great views, and walked around historic Coupeville to complete a nice day trip.

Here are some more pictures from those day trips. 

Ferry ride to San Juan Island

American Camp - San Juan Island

English Camp - San Juan Island

Friday Harbor - San Juan Island

 

Jacob Ebey house inside

View from Bluff Trail with fog blowing
off the water - Ebey's Landing NHR

Historic stores downtown
Coupeville, WA