North Cascades Trip Day 13 & 14

Wednesday, September 10 -- Yesterday day was the start of two travel days, the first one was from Darrington to Seattle, and the second one Seattle home to Portland.   I am writing this final post after arriving home on Thursday.

We left Darrington on Wednesday by driving around the Mountain Loop Scenic Byway.  The first segment was south on paved road, followed by a climb to a pass on a gravel road (14 miles of potholes and washboarding --I wonder if the younger generations even know what a washboard is?), and then descending on a nice paved road to Granite Falls.  We stopped at the Big Four Mountain/Ice Cave Trail, which is a one-mile walk (and 200 feet vertical) to an overlook about 100 yards from the remnant of a glacier toe.  Melt water from snow fields and glaciers higher up the cliff face flows through the ice and hollows out the ice caves.

Ice Caves.

This was also the site of early inn beside a historic railroad line.  The railroad was used to bring timber down from the mountains and to ferry passengers to the inn.  The railroad failed and was sold off to a timber company in 1929; the inn lasted until 1949, burning down then.  The rail tracks were removed, but the area still looks like a good place to vacation.

The Inn.

The Inn's fireplace, the only thing remaining.

We drove into Granite Falls, passing a series of National Forest campgrounds before arriving.  The road follows the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River and goes south of the Boulder River Wilderness.  It is place to explore the many trails and lakes, though the valley sides are steep.  Once in Granite Falls, we stopped at Hook, Line and Expresso for coffee and breakfast sandwiches.  

We next drove over to Interstate 5 and into Seattle, a short distance.  We checked into the Silver Cloud Hotel, across the street from T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, and went for a stroll.  We visited the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, which located in the original (but restored) Cadillac Hotel.  The gold rush of 1897 was instrumental in creating the metropolis of Seattle.  One hundred thousand people went north to Dawson (10% women), but only 1% of these got rich.  And the 'stampede' only lasted for 2 years, leaving behind substantial environmental damage (mercury contamination  is still a problem in the local soil and water).

Cadillac Hotel and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park.

We walked up the esplanade, admiring the very attractive improvements to the urban landscape that the city installed after removing the former Alaskan Way viaduct.  We climbed up to Pike Market, stopping at our favorite map store (Metsker Maps) before heading back to the hotel.

We rested a bit, and then went out for A1 Sausages before entering the baseball park for the game between the Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.  It was the last of 3 games against St. Louis and a number of Cardinal fans were sitting around us.  The first pitch was at 6:40 pm and the last pitch was 3 hours and 44 minutes later.  The game was a defensive battle which extended into 13 innings.  After the extra innings began, neither team could end it, even though they had numerous chances.  During the extra innings, each team gets an "automatic" base runner who starts on second base, which improves the chances for scoring runs.  Each team scored one run in the eleventh inning, so the game continued.  In the bottom of the 13th inning, a new DH (designated hitter) for the Mariners hit his first pitch for a dramatic (and welcome) home run.  Game over, Seattle won 4 to 2, completing a 3-game sweep of the Cardinals.  Seattle used 7 pitchers during the game.  The only other thing to note -- this was "Bark in the Park" night.  All sizes and shapes of dogs were allowed in the stadium and, in-between innings, the camera people showed fans holding up their pets.  After the game was over, though we did not wait around to see it, fans could walk their dogs around the bases on the field.

The final tally.

Thursday, September 11 -- We slept in, retrieved our car, and started south on I-5.  We stopped in Tacoma for breakfast and then came the rest of the way home to Portland, arriving at 2:30.  Trip successfully completed and all is well at home.  Sophie, our cat, was well taken care of since she did not bother with us as we unpacked and started domestic chores such as looking at e-mail.