FALLING EVEN MORE IN LOVE WITH THE NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK

I'm pretty sure we saved the best hike in this entire park for last. There's a bear and her cub. We got company on the trail. Look at this amazing little marmot hole. Wouldn't it be fun if one just came out right now. Trail's closed. This is the best way down. Have that throw snowball at Drew as he flinches. We are Brittany and Drew and for the past six years we've been exploring the world by van. From the U.S. to Canada, Europe to Africa, finding so much peace, inspiration, and joy in immersing ourselves in the great unknown. But now with our world changing what feels like every single day, our route feels more unknown than ever before. But luckily we have found comfort and direction in exploring our country's awe-inspiring national parks. And in today's episode we're taking you with for part two of our expectation exceeding time spent in one of the most notoriously difficult parks to access. Also making it one of the least visited national parks in the lower 48. With over 300 glaciers, 700,000 acres of rugged wilderness, and 400 miles of wooded river laced trails, this park is cascading with opportunities to unlock the treasures of one of the best kept secrets of the national parks. Welcome back to another exciting adventure in the North Cascades. We invite you to subscribe and buckle up as we embark on yet another adventure together. Let's take in a deep breath and let it out. It's so cold out here. I feel like a dragon. All right on the road now. We awoke bright and early that morning making our way from the east side of the park continuing our westward journey along the North Cascades highway in hopes of being able to enjoy a day off of our feet because after the hikes you saw in last week's episode our legs are completely dead. We're really feeling it today. So while we drive into the park and head into the Ross Lake recreational area where there's also Diablo Lake in the views of both of those, it's supposed to be so beautiful. I'm really excited for this. We're going to tell you guys about the kind sponsor of today's episode, Jackery, because when it comes to living off-grid having a portable power station is crucial to how we stay powered in the outdoors. What's especially useful is on hot summer days when we're parked under the shade preventing the solar panels on our roof from charging up we can place our 1000 watt Jackery unit along with our two daisy-chained 100 watt solar panels in the blazing sun allowing them to soak in the sunshine while we stay cool in the shade. Then once the sun has set we can use our Jackery Explore 1000 and plug in our devices that require the most power ultimately allowing us to preserve our in-house battery bank and remain in our beautifully shady spots longer. Whether using a Jackery unit for supplemental purposes like us or as your main power source when car camping you can click on the link below to learn more and get a Jackery unit to take on your very own adventures. Speaking of adventures, ah yes where were we? I believe we are right here overlooking Diablo Lake and it's a beauty look at this this is the lake that we were hoping to be on today. We just gotta find out how we get down there. That is stunning. Usually there's a boat that will take you across the lakes and you can do boat in campsites. This is one of the boat in campsites you can stay at. Super cool. Thunder point. Cold water splashing. Could you imagine how amazing that would be but unfortunately right now because of covid all of those boats and shuttles are not running and so none of that is allowed to happen right now. Bummer. Can you guys see that little breakwater right there? Hopefully we'll be paddling right through that in a little bit. Boat passage. We are passing. Under these glaciers. When exploring the North Cascades make sure to fill up your gas in one of the two towns sandwiching the North Cascades because there is zero places to get gas out here and we've been on empty for a little while. We're keeping our fingers crossed. We know Spirit has a big reserve tank but we just don't know with the ups and downs and the mountain passes how far we really can go. 62 miles left to leave but that's been changing somewhere between 33 miles and 100 miles. Ready to go. The board's all pumped up. We're about to go explore Thunder Arm. It's a little branch off of Diablo Lake. This is all filled with glacier runoff. Is it going to be cold? I think it's going to be cold which is why I can see snow in the mountains above us. I'm fully equipped in my wetsuit. Yeah I think it's gonna be cold. Look the glaciers and the mountains and the snow running down into the lake. This water is amazing. It's a chilly water. You said you were swimming. The uniquely intense turquoise hue of Diablo Lake is attributed to the surrounding glaciers that grind rocks into a fine powder that is then carried into the lake by way of creeks. That fine powder, also called glacial flour, stays suspended in the lake giving the water its brilliant heavenly color. Here we were this morning. How are you guys doing? Good. Are you guys camping? Amazing. Just not for the day. Crazy this lake somehow is not part of the National Park. Yeah it's like a recreation area right in the midst of the North Cascades National Park. It's very confusing out here and there's one road that goes all the way through the park which is a feat of its own considering how rough this terrain is. But I'm very grateful there's a lake here because this is an A plus day. This is nice. This is really nice. Look at that. Brittany went in for a dip. I'm going to tell you that's some very cold water. That evening we made our way from the center of the park all the way over to Marble Mount where we were luckily able to fill up our petrol before driving 45 minutes down the winding unpaved road that would lead us to the trailhead for the next day's epic hike which is also the number one most popular hike in the entire park and we soon understood why. You don't see that every day. Something new growing out of something old. The best part of going to sleep at the trailhead has got to be waking up at the trailhead especially when it looks like this. It is a crystal clear blue day out. Another cloud in the sky. You can see the glaciers from miles in all directions around us. We're gonna cross some really cool terrain. With a few too many switchbacks to count we headed off for our first destination of the day, Cascade Pass. Did anybody take notice this is Doubtful Lake. And this lot got full real fast. Everybody's hitting the trail. Can't blame them. Including us. It's a musical harp. It's a little water harp. How beautiful. Wow it goes from all the way up there. That morning we made it up the 3.7 miles and 1700 feet of elevation gain to Cascade Pass in a little over an hour. This trail actually provides the shortest and easiest access in the park to the alpine environment and is what makes it the most popular day hike. But if you know us we weren't stopping there. Trail's closed but not on the weekends. With 2,500 grueling feet to climb and just over two extremely vertical miles we continued on towards the Sahel Glacier. Look at that glacial water. Just having a little too much fun playing in the glacial melt. So much to look at. So much beauty up here. As we hiked in the footsteps of travelers from ancient times Native Americans use this route as a passage through the rugged cascades. We could hear the many roaring falls which give the North Cascades their name. All of those cascades coming from the Sahel Glacier. I just want to say I'm pretty sure we saved the best hike in this entire park for last. I absolutely agree. Wow. And it's not even close to being over yet. Look at the boulder field we're about to head up. I'm absolutely loving this section of the park. This feels like a real national park now. This whole trail. Everything on this wing that we've been on. I guess that's why they call this Cascade Pass. It's like the iconic. Babe I gotta point something out even crazier. That's Mount Rainier. Way out in the distance. Yeah that's Mount Rainier. I would have never guessed that. Tap that like if you want me to throw a snowball at Drew as he flinches. Only because you threw the first snowball. I deserved it I guess. Wow it's so bright out here without my glasses on. Time to get these guys back on. Brittany making her way up. Slowly but surely we made our way across the glacier and closer to Sahel Peak. Going straight up. Sahel being a Native American word meaning high place is known to offer some of the most incredible views right into the heart of the North Cascades. It's like you're on a big marshmallow. All I need is for an epic lunch spot. I'm so proud of us. I'm really proud of both of us. We didn't know there was like an actual glacier involved. No I don't think either of us expected to be this high in the Cascade Range. It's amazing. Wow. This is amazing. This is so beautiful. You were telling me because it's kind of like the Swiss Alps that you wanted to make the sound of a Swiss yodeler. Can you do that for me? Gave it my best effort. That was a big avalanche hit. Spirit somewhere way down in that ravine. And that cozy is a clamp. It is so nice up here today. And look. One last look. All the way out there at Mount Rainier. Wow. Wow. Look at that silhouette of that behemoth mountain. Mighty giant. Massive. Let's see how high we actually are. Whoa. Okay. I'm gonna guess. Guess. You guys already know. What's Brittany gonna guess? I'm gonna guess. We started at 4,000? Yep. I'm gonna say we're at like 9,500. Uh 8,150 feet. That was that 4,000 foot of gain. Yeah. Pretty good guess. Solid. Solid. Let's see how far we've went. I'm gonna guess we've gone seven miles. You're pretty close. 7.94. No way. Yeah. What a day. We decided to call our lunch spot our summit because it looks like we could maybe use some ropes and spikes to get to the very top of this mountain. They're rappelling off the top. I think we're gonna call it good from here. Yeah. I'm quite satisfied. But it's pretty epic watching them and knowing that we ventured pretty close to where they got up to. Time to go back down. All right. I'm gonna try to do some tobogganing. I might get really wet but it's gonna be a lot of fun. Come on babe. This is the best way down. That's amazing. Let's see. Is she joining me? No. Free ride down. My butt's a little cold. That was epic. Drew's looking down into the Sahel Glacier Camp. So you can actually camp up here. Isn't that incredible? They've built up huge walls here to protect the wind and the elements. Wow. It's down in. Wow. There's a bear and her cub. How amazing. Look at them down there. Just hanging out in the flowers. So cute. Here they go. Look at him run. He got company on the trail. It looks like a baby. Those are babies. Bye buddy. Look at how cute. Well I think as we head back down we're gonna close out this adventure here. It has been quite the last three days here in the North Cascades. Yeah we've done a lot from trekking on the eastern half of the park to being on the water all day yesterday and now this majestic area. If we had to give some advice for somebody coming to the North Cascades we would say honestly the west was a lot more fun for us as far as like the accessibility and the views. I just found it amazing over here on the west side. Also this park is completely free. Yeah it's crazy they don't charge admission anywhere and we actually have found that on the MPS website. Yep and unfortunately we were not able to locate a map for this park so we have been exploring this maplessly. Brittany did an excellent job last week planning our days out in this park and what we were going to do over the course of three days so kudos to Brittany. Thanks and hopefully it helps some of you guys get out there and explore one of the lesser known parks in the NPS system. Absolutely. Well I think we hit the weather just right here. Not a cloud in the sky. And the clarity today. That's for all of us. Sunny day for us and for you and we just feel very blessed to be able to share these trails and moments with you guys. Thanks for watching our adventures and we love bringing you along with us. So keep on keeping on and we will too. Yep. Big love. Stay safe and do something good for yourself and somebody that you love. How about that? I like that. Go in peace. Bye. Look at this amazing little marmot hole. Wouldn't it be fun if one just came out right now? Knock knock. One more look at this view guys.