Well, today was my kind of day to recover from yesterday’s big hike.
It was a cool and crisp morning. We expect the early morning fog for our time in the PNW. But we were excited to see sun in the forecast for the morning, and so we got on the road quickly. As you can imagine, we’re really efficient at the teardown/setup at this point in the trip.
The park was just stunning, with much more crisp, bright views as compared to yesterday. And I’m grateful that we got that big hike in yesterday, since today the park was definitely more crowded.
Having seen all of the major parts of the park yesterday, we returned to just two spots today, both with ample parking and things to see/do.
We are so glad that we returned to Diablo Lake Overlook; what a difference the clear skies make in improving what was already a stunning view. Throughout our drive here (approx 1 hour), we appreciated the clarity and grandeur of the mountains, as well as the beauty of the surrounding forests and lakes. Next, we returned to the trails near the visitor center. We had enjoyed a couple of trails here yesterday, but decided to bring Daisy along for the rest of it today. (Yes, surprising, but dogs on leash are allowed here) She did pretty well on nearly 1.5 miles of an easy gravel trail, although stopped quite often, just to make sure other dogs knew she was there. Rick loves stopping every few minutes for Daisy’s pee break… haha. I once again enjoy being behind him so that I (we) can go at our own pace. Between Daisy’s pee breaks and me stopping to look at a cool plant or the way the sun was filtering through the trees, there were plenty of pauses today. This trail was made for it!It started like most National Park trails near a campground, with places to see the natural surroundings. Trees, ferns, some breaks to see the surrounding mountains. But this trail was called the River Loop, and it changed dramatically as we began to hear the river nearby. Moss!! It was just stunning, over the canopy of trees and all around us. And of course, Daisy liked being near the Skagit riverLivvy ready and waiting for us at the end of the trail!
Next, it was time for lunch. We decided to try the local brewery, about 3 miles from our campground.
While there were picnic tables outside in the shade, we opted for the bar. We are bar people, always have been and always will be. It had a great vibe. It’s all wood version of the Round House (PIB????), with growlers from breweries instead of yacht club flags. We had a delicious lunch with a couple of great beers each. One of Rick’s was the “Puff the magic Porter”, made with Cocoa Puffs; not bad. We even met the owner/brewmaster, who has been running this place since 2006. It was cool enough to leave Daisy in Livvy, especially since they had a great big grass parking lot with a nice breeze blowing through the windows for her.Happy campers!! It’s worth a stop if you ever visit this area.
It did cloud over a little bit as the day went on, as promised; I’m so glad we were busy early in the day. By mid-afternoon, we were back relaxing at this incredible site with a cool breeze blowing. It’s perfect out here, and our schedule allows flexibility to maximize the good weather days and time to relax. No rushing for us! Now that it is a holiday weekend, we have even more down time planned in order to avoid the big crowds in major park areas, especially in Livvy. This is the clarity we have gained from our travels to date, and is making this trip even more enjoyable.
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