Day Trip

This was our first road trip for the year and the first time we left Snohomish County since March 11th. I'd planned the day around a drive up the North Cascades Highway (Washington Route 20). I packed us a lunch of turkey sandwiches, apples, and assorted munchies.

We left about ten after ten in the morning. Because of a road closure on route 20 just east of the junction with Route 530, we exited I-5 onto 530 at Arlington rather than driving all the way to Burlington. Traffic was moderate on I-5 through Marysville but eased off considerably once we got through Arlington.

We had to stop just before Oso for a one-lane temporary bridge. I let a pickup truck driven by a dude with a thick dark beard in ahead of me from a side road, but he ended up turning left instead of waiting for the light. As we passed the site of the Oso landslide, signs warned that shoulder parking and U-turns were prohibited for the two-mile zone surrounding the slide, and multiple crazy swings of skid marks were all the reasons we needed as to why. Just as we approached Darrington, we had to stop to let a pickup truck back a large trailer into a lot beside a barn.

As soon as we turned off Route 530 onto the detour to Route 20, we stopped for an urgent wildflower watering session. That settled, we drove on to the Diablo Lake Overlook for pictures and lunch. A young woman had climbed over the rail to pose for pictures on a rock, which disturbed Gary to the point he had to walk away. We saw a lot of bikers this trip, including one who was lying on the pavement beside his bike at Diablo Lake Overlook taking a nap.

From Diablo Lake we proceeded east to the Washington Pass Overlook, over a mile high at 5476 feet above sea level. At first Gary thought there was just the view of Early Winters Spires South over the visitor center (which was closed), but a short walk down a flat trail brought us to a magnificent view of the pass and the peaks and ridges to our east, including Kangaroo Ridge and Snagtooth Ridge. When we returned to the parking area we stopped to read the information board and I noticed a flyer warning of mountain goats, which went into great detail about their craving for salt and instructed visitors to be careful where they pee and "do not leave sweaty clothes unattended". Goats are kinky creatures indeed. :) There were several family groups there at the time; most of the adults were wearing masks and even a few of the children were as well.

We returned to Highway 20 and proceeded west whence we'd come. On several occasions we pulled aside to let faster traffic pass us, including a pair of bikers in neon-striped protective gear who were most appreciative; we later passed them taking a break at the Darrington Ranger Station. Gary noticed people walking alongside the highway near the Diablo Dam on the other side of a concrete barrier in order to view a roadside waterfall. As we approached the site of the Oso landslide, because of the signs prohibiting stopping, Gary took some video of the signage and the slide itself. It appears the highway was relocated well away from the river to avoid any further danger from the unstable slope.

As it was getting close to 5 PM, I asked Gary to tune in the GALA Choruses webcast concert on my phone so we could listen to it through the car stereo. There were technical difficulties but we did get to hear several songs before we arrived home. At Gary's suggestion I prepared a casserole for dinner with leftover meatloaf, egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup with extra mushrooms, and frozen peas. After dinner I was feeling very tired and sore so I ended up going to bed early.