Friday, July 25, 2014, Driving the Cascade Loop

We got an early start for a drive on the "Cascade Loop" at 8:05. It was advised to drive it counter-clockwise for the best views, so we are starting eastward.
Upon arriving in the Wenatchee Valley, we passed miles of lush, green orchards of apples, pears, cherries and apricots.. These semi-arid flatlands and foothills combine with hot summer sun and abundant irrigation water from the Columbia River to yield ideal produce growing conditions.

Our first stop was world class Ohme Gardens, a 70+ year old oasis perched high on a bluff overlooking the entire valley. It sounded beautiful, but unfortunately did not open until 9:00 and we were there at 8:35. (www.ohmegardens.com)

The next stop was the Rocky Reach Dam on the Columbia River. Once again, we arrived at 8:45 and it didn't open until 9:00.  http://www.chelanpud.org/visitor-center.html . Oh, well......

Driving on Hwy 97-A thru the Wenatchee Valley following the Columbia River, there were brown scrub-covered hillsides.










The terrain looked parched, then there would be pockets of green, where someone was irrigating to grow crops. We were at 750 ft. elevation.









At 9:15, we arrived at Chelan , a resort community located at the lower end of Lake Chelan and we made a brief stop. There were interesting murals painted on some buildings.
Lake Chelan is a narrow, pristine 50-mile long glacial lake. Listed as one of the most lakes in the world, it is the third-deepest lake in the US and situated in a valley deeper than the Grand Canyon. Along the drive, we passed many vineyards.
The Lake Chelan Wine Valley became Washington State's 11th American Viticultural Area comprised of numerous boutique wineries, growing more than 150 acres of vineyards, and estate winery vineyards with 110 acres of additional grape production.

Soon after getting back on the Hwy, we were passing blackened acreage from the recent wildfires just south of the town of Pateros. Apparently, the highway was just re-opened a couple of weeks ago. There were homes and vehicles totally destroyed by the fires. It was surprising to see where the fire had burned right up to some homes but the homes were untouched!
It wasn't until we reached Carlton that we saw the end of the fire zone.



As we went higher (1735 ft), the hillsides are covered with Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir.  It was a beautiful forested drive.










At noon, we reached 4768 ft on the North Cascades Highway and there was SNOW!

























After negotiating a series of hairpin turns, we reached Washington Pass, the highest point on the North Cascades Highway at 5,477 ft.We took a short side trip to the Overlook, which offered incredible vistas. It was hard to decide which pics to include!













It was all downhill from there! The next stop was the Diablo Lake Overlook, at 1705 ft. Once again, amazing views!

We wrapped up the tour by going west out of the Cascades National Park and meeting up with southbound Interstate 5,then back on Hwy 2 to arrive back at the RV park at 6:30. Total drive 644 km.