North Cascades

The Monday after graduation we packed up and drove off for five days of adventure and relaxation. The first stop on our list was North Cascades National Park, where we spent two nights camping . This is a huge, beautiful area in northern Washington. We had the opportunity to drive through it last year, so we were excited about returning. It was a relief leave behind I-5 traffic and head out into the wilderness.

When we got to Colonial Creek campground, it was already raining. The rain got heavier as we continued to try to set up camp. We ate a very quick dinner, then piled into the tent, since it was the only dry place in the camping spot. Even then, you couldn't touch the sides of the tent, because they were covered in condensation.

The next day was a lot better. We took a couple hikes. We were fascinated by the native slugs that we saw on our first hike, a fairly short but very steep "nature trail." I guess they were banana slugs. I know this is a rather disgusting picture, but we thought it was pretty funny; it actually turned out quite well--if you like pictures of slugs, of course.

The views from our second hike, Thunderknob, were really beautiful. This is Diablo Lake, as seen from the top of Thunderknob Mountain.

I'm not sure what mountain peak this is, but we could see it from Thunderknob Mountain, a little taste of the beautiful peaks that were hiding in the clouds.
Diablo Lake is a man-made lake caused by a dam. Its water is very bluish-green because of the glacier silt in it. Colonial Creek campground is right on its shore.