Cascade Loop Road Trip: Day 1
Monday, July 27, 2026
Day 1
With Desmond safely off to Boy Scout camp and our cruck packed up for adventure, we dropped Cosmo off at a friend’s house and headed down the road.
Our first destination was to be Whidbey Island. The map in our National Park Passport book showed that there was a national Historical Reserve on the island so we pointed the GPS in that direction and started off. The passport book acts like a big United States scavenger hunt. And we enjoy going out of our way to visit new places and stamp the book.
We weren’t sure exactly which lane to be in as we neared the ferry terminal. We watched cars zipping past at an intersection in a lane that we soon realized was the ferry lane. We got in a line to have our digital tickets scanned. There were quite a few lanes, and the one we were in was slower than the others. We drove to the lane we were directed to, and I promptly hopped out and got our ziplock bags of leftover pizza from the cooler.
We like to have pizza with us when we start a roadtrip since it is such a yummy, effortless food to have in the car, at a picnic table, or in a hotel. Anywhere, really. Usually we make our own pizza to bring. This time we had hit the “easy” button by visiting a local restaurant, Barrel Mountain Brewing, and taking our leftovers.
We munched on our pizza waiting to see if we would make the ferry that was beginning to load. They took lane after lane. They got to ours and we pulled forward, only to be stopped by the outstretched hand of the ferry attendant. The car in front of us was the last to load. Ah well. We had time to enjoy our pizza, drinks, and use the restroom before being loaded onto the next ferry.
The ferry is so much bigger than those we are accustomed to riding to Anderson Island. We went up several decks to stand out in the sun and look around. It seemed to us that the ride took less time than it took for the boat to load. About 20 minutes. After snapping a picture we got back in the car and drove onto Whidbey Island.
We got on the highway and zipped along at 50 miles an hour (novel to us after the 35 mile per hour island-wide speed limit on AI.) After about half an hour of driving, the GPS directions led us to a parking lot for the shore. We backtracked a bit and found the parking lot for the Ebby House where we could get our passport stamped. We walked along a grassy gravel road out to the house. Only it was closed.
We looked at the blockhouse, read the interpretive sign, and headed back toward the parking lot. There, on the other side, was a building that was open, and another location that we could get a stamp. Yay!
We went in, stamped our books, and listened to the attendant’s spiel. I saw that the junior ranger booklets were set out on the table next to a little bowl of badges. I took a booklet and asked if the badges were on the honor system (some places we have been are like that). She said no, that you have to come back and get sworn in. But she encouraged me that she’s seen people complete the activities in 20 minutes or so. She also said the booklet can be mailed in to get a badge.
Now, you may be wondering why I wanted a junior ranger pamphlet at all, as Desmond is not with us on this trip. What we have found over the last few years as Desmond has been doing the programs at various sites, is that it is an excellent way to learn about the site. It has become an enjoyable part of our park visits. And, I had learned there is no age limit for the program. So, rather than just stamping our book, looking around and driving on - I wanted to do the junior ranger program.
However, it was kinda warm at this point (80s I think) and I didn’t feel like spending 20 minutes here doing activities in the heat. We did drive down to the historic front street and I completed that activity before we left the area. As we drove toward North Cascades, I completed the activities in the booklet, learning more about Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve as I did.
When I finished the word find (my final activity in the book) Bryan swore me in as a junior ranger. 😄 I will send my booklet in later for a badge.
When we got to the North Cascades visitor center, we bought stickers, a metal collectible token, stamped our passport book, and talked to a ranger about what we should do the next couple days. She highlighted some viewpoints, lots of good hikes, and told us where we might expect to spot wildlife.
Then we drove to the campsite and had tacos for dinner. We were at Gorge Campsite, where there are only 7 sites, and no running water. (Except that running on the river just beside the campsites. Fortunately, we brought our own water in a big blue Igloo jug.) We had snagged the last reservation that was open, and when we got there we decided it was probably because it was the only site that isn’t directly up against the river. Our tacos tasted just as good in our non-riverfront campsite, however, so no worries.
After dinner, we drove to the view points and took some pictures. The area is quite stunning. Lakes with mountains above them. We looked at taking a hike at Diablo Lake, but didn’t feel like we’d be able to complete the 7 miles before sundown. And the ferry wasn’t running this late in the day. Then we decided to take a hike down to Ross Dam. The hike was steep, with many switchbacks. We descended down to a gravel road, and then found our way out onto the dam itself. When we were there, we saw a few other hikers, but ended up having the dam to ourselves. It was a unique place to take an after dinner hike. It felt like a movie set. It was so expansive.
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