north cascades part ii

I loved every part of North Cascades National Park. It is one of those rare places where reality is better than any of the photos you’ve ever seen of the place online. My sister and I had spent the whole day hiking in this amazing landscape, driving down the main road of the National Park, stopping for an hour or two hike, getting back in the car, stopping at viewpoints and just taking it all in. Before we knew it, we were at the furthest point in the park we could reach. Back at our starting point of my bucket list location Diablo Dam. 

We got out at Diablo Dam and I breathed in deeply through the harsh wind whipping my hair around knowing that I won’t be back here again for a very, very long time. We turned the car around and headed back to our wonderful accommodation in the middle of the mountains with the deer.

Luckily for us, the days in Washington are extremely long throughout the summer and when we got home we were welcomed by my favourite sunset of the whole trip. We quickly got changed out of our hiking clothes and went running in the long grass to take pictures and film our last day in North Cascades. It was a magical afternoon spent giggling and tripping over grass, running and just marvelling at the sights surrounding us.

As usual, we had an early wake up call the next morning. We packed the car, said goodbye to the snow capped mountains and made our way to the town of Winthrop to fill up petrol and buy some snacks. We ended up going for a little walk around Winthrop - I absolutely LOVED this town - it’s everything you’d expect to see in a movie. Cute wooden shop fronts with lovely hand painted signs, it was gorgeous. We had some ice cream and headed off on our way.

Next stop: Mt Rainier National Park.

all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset

diablo dam

The day started the same way it ended; with the moon. We woke up in our LA home at an ungodly 3am and fumbled sleepily with our things getting ready and packing up the last of what was laying around into our suitcases. We rolled our baggage to our car and sadly said goodbye to the perfect place that homed us for a week. After a drive through the empty L.A. streets so early in the morning, we were soon saying goodbye to Los Angeles too as our plane took off.

The sky turned from black to orange to white as we flew through the clouds. Minutes before landing, I remember excitedly peering out the window and seeing all the green down below. Seattle, Washington was already looking promising. Water and trees? My idea of heaven.

We set off in our car, music blaring and us energetically cheering to the vlog. We were beyond tired after our week visiting theme parks and our early flight, but I think our excitement was enough to keep us awake. We drove straight past Seattle and headed for the first highway. At first sights, Washington was reminding me of Poland in Europe. The grass was overgrown on the edges of the road and trees planted in any nook and cranny that was available around the structures. We had a 5 hour drive ahead of us to our first accommodation in Winthrop.

As we left the city behind, the country fields started rolling out in the distance and we passed so many beautiful country homes and barns. The barns were painted bright red with white windows and doors - it looked like it was right out of a movie. The rain would pour and then stop, it was a perfect welcoming to Washington, I thought. We were headed to North Cascades National Park to a place that has been on my bucket list for years. As soon as we caught the first glimpses of the mountains in the distance that we were driving towards I couldn’t help but get emotional.

The road continued as we passed bridges, lakes, pine forests, fields and more country houses. The fog was getting thicker and I couldn’t be happier. We made a pitstop for some coffee and eventually made it to the North Cascades information centre. I don’t think I’ll ever forget reaching the National Park entrance after driving for hours, we were surrounded by forest and there wasn’t another soul around. It was magical.

Our first stop once we were in the park was Diablo Dam - a place that’s been on my bucket list for the longest time. I remember always seeing photos of it online and knowing that I had to see this beautiful place for myself. We drove down a winding road that really looked like it could only fit one car, but somehow it was a two lane road. We drove across the dam and I had goosebumps on my arms - it felt unreal being here in person. As we parked and got out of the car the huge gusts of winds immediately pushed us around, but we went for a little wander around anyway, running around and taking photos.

Onwards with our road trip, we continued on the single road through North Cascades and seriously couldn’t believe our eyes - how can something so beautiful really exist?! Around the bend of one of the roads I squealed with excitement as I saw yet another sight I’ve wanted to see my entire life - the top of a forest immersed in fog. We made it to the town of Winthrop and made our way up the gravel road to our accommodation. A beautiful house perched on top of a hill with 360 degree views of the still snow capped mountains all around. We had spent hours driving around that day, so we made dinner and headed off to bed ready to wake early the next morning to do some exploring. The windows of our accommodation reached from the floor to the ceiling, so I fell asleep watching the moon rise from the mountains.

Am I really here? I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.

all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset