Northern Cascades in Washington to Montana Robert Van Den Hoven, August 23, 2023August 23, 2023 Hi All Just one hour south of the border with Canada lays Bellingham and its Fairhaven Historic District. The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest runs along the slopes of the Cascade Mountains, with North Cascades National Park to the south and the Canadian border to the north. This area has some of the best ski fields in Washington. On the Mount Baker Highway, the town of Glacier is the closest base camp to the peak of Mt Baker. At the end of the highway at Artist Point, we had amazing views of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. The North Cascades we were told are some off the most unspoiled tracts of country in the United States. Following the North Cascades Scenic Byway offers amazing scenery and views. BUT more bad luck. Just before we entered Cascade NP we were stopped, and the road was closed due to Bushfires. Pictures shown of the Cascade NP are not ours. We missed out on our planned visit to Cascade NP and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, this area is still on our to do list and in a few years when we are enroute to Vancouver Canada we may cross the border and revisit the area. It was early afternoon and we decided to turn around to Bellingham and change our plan and drive towards the German town of Leavenworth., located on the southern side of the Cascade Mountains. It is promoted that it resembles something from Germany or the Swiss Alps (not sure if this is true) I call it more like Disneyland in the USA. However, the town is best known for its October fest and the Christmas Lighting Festival. During summer it does create a European atmosphere with lots of outdoor seating, beer gardens, Live German Music, bratwurst sausages (not the best) and German beers. And for those looking for German souvenirs beer steins, cuckoo clocks, nutcrackers, and Christmas decorations and more all are for sale, From here we ventured into Eastern Washington which is a lot sunnier than the west most of the year. It is a lot less populated, and farmland takes over the scenery. After a quick stop in Spokane, we continued our journey into Idaho. The narrow Northern strip wedged between Washington and Montana shares a small portion with the Canadian province of British Columbia. We also had to bring our clock one hour forward to Central Mountain time. Idaho’s nickname is the Gem state, an expression based on the natural beauty of the State. 38% of Idaho’s land is managed by the United States Forest service, this is the highest of any state in the USA. Idaho is also known for its Potato crop. Enroute to our next destination (Glacier National Park in Montana) we explored Lake Coeur d’ Alene. This lake is a natural dam. It is 40km long and between 1.5 and 5KM wide. Major attraction nice beaches and great scenery. Till Next time from Glazier National Park in Montana. Latest Update