Our plans for today include four hikes on the western side of North Cascades National Park. We began with a drive to the North Cascades Visitor Center. Route 20, the road through the park, follows the Skagit River. The haziness seemed to be increasing. We checked at the visitor center. They said there was a wildfire on Sourdough Mountain not far from the visitors center. They also said nothing that we wanted to see today was closed because of the fire.
The Skagit River Loop Trail starts at the Visitor Center. It goes downhill to the Skagit River. It then winds through the trees until you reach the river. The river does not appear to be very deep, but it is very cold. While much of what we saw here was slow moving water, there were a few places with white water. It was a nice hike.
Our next stop was at Ladder Creek Falls Trail. This trail is on the property of The Gorge Powerhouse. It was an early hydropower plant. The owner used some of the power to light up a beautiful waterfall at the back of the powerhouse. He also built a trail and garden around the falls. There are many levels to the falls. The trail the owner built makes it relatively easy to climb the steep grade to the top of the falls.
The powerhouse is driven by water that flows through tunnels built into the mountain to redirect a portion of the Skagit River from the top of the surrounding hills through the powerhouse and back into the Skagit River.
From the river, you can see that the surrounding mountains provide a great source of waterpower to drive the plant. You can also tell from the fast moving water below the plant that there is power generated here.
Not far from the Gorge Powerhouse is the Cedars Nature Walk Trail. There are several stops along the trail that explain the interaction of the river, the mountains, and the forest through the cycles of wet seasons, dry seasons, fires, and the recovery from the results of each.
The Gorge Creek Falls Trail and Overlook took us around the area of the Gorge Creek Dam. During the hike, we saw small waterfalls and Gorge Lake behind the dam.
After we finished the trail loop, we went to the overlook for a different view of the Gorge Lake and to see a much longer waterfall that flows into the reservoir. At 242 feet, the larger Gorge Waterfall at the overlook did not fit into a single photo. So we got as much as we could into one photo and then took some close ups of parts of the waterfall to try to capture it all.
After we finished at the Gorge Overlook, we drove back to our hotel in Concrete. The haziness seemed to be increasing.
Later that evening, while on a walk through the town, we noticed the smoke from Sourdough Wildfire. We checked on the status of the fire later that evening. Most everything was still open.
