The current wildfires burning in North Cascades, especially the Sourdough Fire, smoked out our desire to stay in our reserved Newhalem Campground site.
We made a day trip to the park and were only able to visit for a couple of hours before the smoke was just too thick to enjoy. The fires, smoke and possible grizzly bears put the “wild” in our adventure.
North Cascades NP is an immense area in north Washington state. Signs brand it as the “American Alps” and one of the few habitats for grizzly bears in the lower 48. It has a lot to offer with Ross Lake (wildfire location) and hiking trails. It has the best entrance sign we have seen thus far.
We decided to stay in Bellingham, WA before proceeding to Mount Rainer.
The campground was southwest of the fire, and the last exit on the road before it was closed to through traffic. This is the first time we have changed planned locations.
Thankful you are safe and back in the states!