North Cascades National Park

We arrived at Skagit River Campground in Marblemount Washington on Friday 19 September 2025. We wanted to see North Cascades National Park and the surrounding area which includes Mt. Baker and the Marblemount Fish Hatchery. We made it to the Visitor Center before they closed to get hiking trail information and we even got to watch the park film.

We attended an early vigil mass at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Concrete WA Saturday morning at 8:30am. After mass we had lots of errands to take care of, so our Saturday was soon spent. Sunday morning it rained till a little after lunch, so we went for a drive in the afternoon. We drove through Cascades National Park and stopped at a few lookouts while it was sunny. We even got a little hiking in at a couple of the lookouts. We learned about three hydroelectric dams on our drive: Gorge, Diablo and Ross. We did the Ladder Creek Falls hike from the Gorge Power Plant.

Anita was awed by Washington Pass. Sunday morning was so dreary and rainy and all we had done was read, but then we saw this amazing mountain when we came around a curve in the park. It was like nothing we've seen before. I'm sure it looks different depending on the time of year and even the time of day and of course with weather but we happened upon it in full sunlight while it was just breathtaking.

St. Catherine Catholic Church - Concrete Washington - 20 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Power House

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Ladder Creek Falls

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse - Ladder Creek Falls Gardens

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse - Ladder Creek Falls Gardens

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse - Ladder Creek Falls Gardens

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Gorge Powerhouse

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

One of the lookouts...

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Diablo Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Diablo Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Diablo Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Ross Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Diablo Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Ross Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass - Silver Star Mountain

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass - Liberty Bell Mountain on the right

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass - View of road below...

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Washington Pass

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Canyon Gorge Falls

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Canyon Gorge Falls

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

Ross Lake

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 21 September 2025

On Monday (22 September) we drove through North Cascades National Park past Washington Pass to hike to Cutthroat Lake. The trailhead is about 4 miles east of Washington Pass. There were differences between the information provided by the Visitor Center and the information at the trailhead about the distance for the hike. Fortunately all information accurately said it was "a gentle slope", so we enjoyed the hike and by the end of the day, with a couple of nature trail walks we had walked 6 miles. Cutthroat Lake wasn't what we expected, but beautiful nonetheless. We had our lunch there and then headed back. We stopped to do a couple of short nature trails on the way home.

Cutthroat Lake Hike - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake Hike - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake Hike - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake Hike - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake Hike - 22 September 2025

Cutthroat Lake Hike - 22 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 22 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - 22 September 2025

On Tuesday Anita had a hair appointment at 2pm that afternoon in Sedro-Woolley, so we took the morning to see Mt. Baker, the third highest mountain in Washington along the way and to take care of yet more errands.

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker is an active andesitic stratovolcano

Baker Lake - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker - 23 September 2025

Mt. Baker - 23 September 2025

Hints of Fall - 23 September 2025

On our last day for sightseeing, we checked out the Marblemount Fish Hatchery and hiked a couple of the the trails we missed due to rain or timing earlier in the week. At the fish hatchery, there were a couple of workers separating full grown coho salmon for volunteers to take to a Veterans organization. The hatchery removes the eggs from the females and then they are also donated.

Marblemount Fish Hatchery - 24 September 2025

Marblemount Fish Hatchery - 24 September 2025

Marblemount Fish Hatchery - 24 September 2025

Some of the fish being donated...

Marblemount Fish Hatchery - 24 September 2025

Anglers' fish for the taking...

Marblemount Fish Hatchery - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

Smokey

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

Children's Cave today...

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - Trail of the Cedars - 24 September 2025

Western Red Cedar tree

North Cascades National Park - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - River Loop Trail - 24 September 2025

Smokey

North Cascades National Park - River Loop Trail - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - River Loop Trail - 24 September 2025

American Dipper bird, A few large salmon in the water...

North Cascades National Park - River Loop Trail - 24 September 2025

North Cascades National Park - River Loop Trail - 24 September 2025

King Salmon washed ashore...

North Cascades National Park - River Loop Trail - 24 September 2025

Our week here has flown by. We had many odds and ends to catch up on, but with having to drive so far for most things, it's gone by quickly. We'll likely be in another somewhat remote location for our next stop too, so we plan to stop along the way for groceries. That way all of our time can be devoted to sightseeing once we're there. The weather forecast shows rain while we're there, but often we get enough of a window with no rain in a day to get out and see things. We don't have reservations beyond our next stop so we can be flexible.

Today has been a day of chores. We got laundry done, paid bills, dealt with mail and now we've gotten a blog post completed. Anita started around 9:30am and it's now almost 5pm. It almost feels like a job! We've gotten into the routine of doing chores along with getting things ready to travel the day before we leave. Steve's errand and chore was putting air in the camper tires and getting our propane tank filled. The campground has a scheduled power outage tonight from 9pm till 5am (at the latest) in the morning. Anita's hoping it's not till 5am as it's been getting cold here at night. Tomorrow (26 September 2025) we're heading to Packwood Washington for four nights to see Mt. Rainier and Mount St. Helens. We wanted a week at the campground, but they only have 4 nights available. If we get rained out, we'll book more time in the area to see what we're there to see.