Marley Makes 3: 7.11.26 Concrete, WA and North Cascades National Park

7.11.26 Travel Day! Thousand Trails/Grandy Creek KOA, Concrete, WA

On our way we stopped at the Smokey Point Rest Area and look what we found! I know you want all the details! LOL

The Big Stump

68 feet in circumference and 23 feet diameter

When it was found by settlers in 1891 it was a living Western Red Cedar tree, the biggest in the county, with a trunk 23 feet wide. The tree had stood for over a thousand years when in 1893 a fire started in its hollow base which caused it to die. Rot-resistant redcedar wood was used for fence posts and old-fashioned roof shingles and when the tree was cut down, that was its fate. However, the lowest 20 feet, too knobby for a sawmill, was left standing as a stump.

This stump was so huge that a hole big enough for a car was tunneled through it in 1916. The stump quickly became a subject for postcard photographers, and Arlington realized that it had something more than just a big dead tree.

In 1922 the stump became an official attraction when a group named the Snohomish County Pioneers had it cut from its roots and dragged by a team of horses to a concrete slab next to the new two-lane Pacific Highway. A sign erected above the hole called the stump, "Relic of a Vanquished Forest," and claimed that it was 1,250 years old.

In the 1930s the stump, cut apart and reassembled like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle, was moved onto the shoulder of an even bigger road, US Highway 99, the main north-south thoroughfare through Washington State. The Big Stump was now the world's most visible and convenient drive-thru tree -- and briefly the most famous, after Crown Prince Olav of Norway and Crown Princess Martha of Sweden drove through it on May 27, 1939. Picture postcards continued to document the stump during these years, always with the latest model car carefully posed emerging from the hole.

In 1971, when the I-5 Smokey Point rest area (with real bathrooms) was built the stump was placed in a parklike grove of trees beneath a protective roof. It remains there today. The Big Stump is now walk-thru rather than drive-thru, and it still has a lot of visitors; the Smokey Point rest area is the busiest in the entire state.

The marker placed next to the stump reads; "This famous stump remains as evidence of the giant trees which once forested this area. Over 23 feet in diameter and 200 feet tall, the huge 'Western Red Cedar' is believed to have been more than 1,000 years old. Discovered by early American settlers of the area."

1918

1922

1947

1958

https://www.pacific-hwy.net/stump.htm

2026

Well, that was a tense drive over the mountains!!! Steep grades and hairpin turns with Mona in tow!

We went to the visitor center...

Saw a Stellers Jay bird at the visitor center just chillaxin on the rail. His cray sounds like “SHACK! SHAACK!” But it can also mimic other birds including hawks and warblers. It weighs 4-5 ounces and is 13 inches from tip to tail.

and walked down a little path...

Cascades and Water Color

Some lakes have a color so spectacular and it seems Photoshopped. Lakes like Diablo Lake appear a milky turquoise color that can shift more blue or green depending on the lighting. The color in those lakes is caused by something called glacial flour. The lakes are fed by water that runs off of glaciers, and that water carries with it fine particles of rock and minerals that have been ground up by the massive weight of the glaciers. (Think of a glacier acting like sandpaper over the underlying rocks.)

When that flour ends up in the water, it’s so fine it stays suspended. This glacial flour affects how the sunlight is absorbed — mostly absorbing the purple/blue colors of the spectrum. And because the water is absorbing the reds, oranges and yellows, what you end up seeing is mostly green with some blue — hence the spectacular colors.

Some lakes are so clear you can see the bottom. The clearness can mostly be attributed to what’s not in the water. In this case, not a lot of silt or biological material. These clear lakes are often at higher elevations or in very cold areas. These lakes have fewer nutrients and a shorter growing season, so they don’t get as much algae or other biological material growing in them. That means that the water tends to be clearer.

It doesn't look like Colleen is too worried about that bear behind her! LOL

The trip here with a big camper was a little sketchy but it was well worth it, it's beautiful here!

We found a pull out next to the Skagit river, the color is so spectacular!

Al went for a short hike...

This trail went from the Cascade Visitor Center down to the Skagit River.

In our travels we have encountered several trees like this that were struck by lightening and burned on the inside.

...and we wandered on down the road.

We stopped at Annie's Pizza...it was worth the hour wait!

7.12.26 North Cascades Loop, Ross Lake, Ladder Falls

We wandered down Trail of the Cedars in Newhalem, WA

Photos don't show how tall these trees are!

The arrangement above shows the stumps of three trees called

The Children's Cave.

Sunday afternoon May 28, 1967, children playing with candles set the hollow area in the middle of this grouping of cedars on fire. The arrangement of the three trees formed a natural chimney and the fire roared upward. The trees, too tall for the fire hoses to be effective, had to be felled in order to extinguish the fire.

It's hard to imagine how old some of these trees are!

I have so many pictures of the color of this water. I just couldn't get enough. I think it's so beautiful!

Marley was our tough little body guard and he barked at all the dogs...and some people. We can't figure out how he chooses which people to bark at.

Al went for a short hike down the Falls and Garden Trail. I stayed back with Marley because there were many steep steps!

I'm not sure who constructed these bridges across the river but they are very safe!

Photos can never depict how awesome these waterfalls really are!

This was an overlook of the Skagit River above the Gorge Powerhouse Dam in Newhalem.

Just gorgeous. This water is real.

Diablo Lake

While driving the loop, we came across Sauk City, Washington! Here is a little summary...

Sauk City is a former unincorporated community in central Skagit County, Washington, on the south bank of the Skagit River just below its confluence with the glacier-fed Sauk River. The town was established in the late 1880s as a landing point for riverboats transporting supplies to remote mining areas, before declining in the early 20th century and becoming abandoned.

The name "Sauk City" derives from the Sah-kee-me-hue, a local Native American band associated with the area along the Sauk River, which originates in the Glacier Peak Wilderness to the south and carries heavy silt loads from its mountainous headwaters. Early settlement efforts included post office proposals dating to 1885, with an initial population estimate of around 100 residents by that year, growing to approximately 220 by 1888 as prospectors and laborers arrived.

By the turn of the century, Sauk City's post office, established there in 1886 was relocated to the nearby town of Rockport in 1901 and the town was eventually abandoned. The nearby Sauk Mountain shares the name.

According to AI:

The Sauk Indians are a Native American tribe originally from Wisconsin, while the Washington Sauk refers to a different group, the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe, which is located in Washington State. Although they share a similar name, they are distinct tribes with different histories and cultures.

7.13.26

Al hiked Blue Lake Trail in the Mount Baker Recreational Area. 4.4 miles round trip/1050 foot elevation gain. Al's note: (The road up for the last 10 miles was a one lane dirt road that was not maintained, it had many potholes and the shrubbery along the trail scraped against the side of the truck. I was committed to doing the hike even though I knew Colleen would be very unhappy about the scratches in the truck!) He filled up Max with diesel at $4.99 per gallon. I made chili for supper and Al bought 2 pints of Hagen Das ice cream for $7.79 each! (He thought they were 2.99) We enjoyed it anyway!