July 6 - The American Alps

Or as they're named on the map, the Northern Cascades.  Wow, what views.  These mountains are craggy and dark, giving them almost a blue color.  And waterfalls everywhere.  First though, here's a bit of the ride on the motorcycle for you.  (Sorry for the sometimes crummy sound from the wind)

Here's one of the great views, from the Diablo Lake Overview.

 One picture just doesn't do it justice though, so here's a panorama shot from the overview.

There were waterfalls everywhere.  Whenever we rode by one, the temps dropped about 20 degrees because the water running off the snow-covered mountains is so cold.  One of the other "sensations" you get from a motorcycle ride.  The other is the intense smell from all the Douglas Firs...nothing but fresh air!

Here's a shot of Gorge Creek Falls, one of the best ones.

When we got to the highest pass on Highway 20, the views were even more unbelievable.  Here's another panorama of the view from the Washington Pass Overlook.

And we zoomed in close to one area where the snow was hanging over the edge of the mountain.

Once we arrived at a little town, if you can call a store with a gas station a town (Mazana it was called), the temperature was 90 degrees!  So time to lose the coats for the 120 mile ride back to Burlington, WA.  And a great ride it was, getting to see it all over again instead of having to look in the rear view mirror.

We'll miss our free parking spot here at the Camping World in Burlington, WA, but we're heading into Canada and Whistler on July 7. Hopefully we'll find enough places along the way with Wifi so we can keep the blog up to date.