The Rascal Diaries: 7/6/14 Both Sides

There are no illusions about the silvery Cascades that we looked at from both sides today. They are magnificent and I will always remember them.

Gold Bar was great fun, but we had other fish to fry, so we saddled up and rode out. Thick with sullen RVs returning home from the long weekend, Route 2 depressed us, so we found another way. Jules had researched some back roads up to the Northern Cascade Loop, but the trick was finding them. After advice from a friendly grocery clerk, we made many turns, and none of them were wrong because the scenery was fine. Meandering through the foothills, we wound our way back to Route 9. Now the exodus of travelers was heading toward us snakelike as we roared passed them freely to route 20, the Northern Cascade Byway.

Reaching Arlington, known as the Gateway to the Northern Cascades, we felt like we had arrived. Then for an hour we rode through farmland and forest, gently ascending, but nothing out of the ordinary happening. As the pines and firs closed in on the road, the amazing smell that they produced caused Jules to say that he felt like he was in a Christmas shop! Then in one curve, the horizon blew up with a spectacular display of jagged icy peaks. As we dove into them, we were enveloped by the sheer wonder of it all. This is why we crossed the country!

Rolling with the switchbacks and inclines, Rascal was our tour guide and followed the road perfectly. Every turn sucked our breath as each scene was more beautiful than the last. The fantasy of Diablo and Ross Lakes blew us away with their fairy islands and turquoise water. Formed by glaciers, they mystified us as we looked down on them from our aerie, the wind battering us.

At the summit, the real show took place as we rode into an atrium of volcanic wonder. For eons, glaciers have been nipping away at these mountains, but they have largely resisted. Peaks and valleys brindled with ice and snow surrounded us. With open mouth, I gazed at the magnitude of it all, being presented in 360 degree surround - so different from yesterday's one point perspective.

At the outset of the day, the pass was as far as we had planned to ride. But time was irrelevant as we got the Siren call from the mountain. Over the top, we continued on, now flying down unguarded curves, leaning into the abyss. As we descended, the temperature rose. Back on the dry, heated side of the range, we started to sweat, pushing us to turn around and witness the beauty of the 80 mile byway in reverse.

Flying through the clouds, every view was new and every turn as jaw-dropping. In the descent we were blasted with moments of icy air as we ran by mountain streams and waterfalls of melting snow. Looking for a place to rest, we fell into the first accommodations we saw. The Skagit River Resort and Eatery afforded us another interesting night. Tootsie, the 95 year old owner is still a presence and cuts the ribbon for the opening of the pass every year. Home to tame rabbits that hop up to greet you and Tootsie's restaurant, a dinner with homemade wild morel mushroom soup and rhubarb cobbler topped off our adventure. Settling in on the porch of our cabin, the last gasps of this flawless day threw brilliant oranges and reds across the sky.

I have been told that it is always important to look at both sides of a story. Today, the Northern Cascades unfolded into two totally different chapters in the tale that is our ride.