When we awoke this morning, we checked the status of our planned hikes. Things had changed. At about 1 am, Route 20 through the park was closed near the Sourdough fire. Our hikes were on the other side of the road closure. There was no way to get to our hikes. Essentially, the park was closed.
It was time for Plan B. Instead of a 150 mile, three hour drive through the park with some hikes, we now had a five and a half hour, 276 mile drive back through Seattle. We asked some locals for any short cuts. They said we could drive through Darrington, Washington on some back roads. It was not any less miles, but we would not face the Seattle traffic again. We took their advice.
Instead of traffic in Seattle, we got to see the mountains of the Cascades. We noticed that after we crossed over the Cascade Mountains, the colors changed. It was now brown instead of green. We also got to see the Columbia River a little sooner than expected. You have to be flexible when traveling through national parks.
You never know what surprises might come your way. We missed the Ross Dam and Thunder Knob Trail. Instead, we got to see some other mountains and the Columbia River. We also saw an unusual waterfall over the side of a mountain. Not a bad trade off.
