23 May – Bakers Creek to Winthrop

Still raining! The camp site was very “rustic”, most vans looked permanent with lots of firewood piles, gardens etc. They all had firepits or braziers out front, so it must get pretty cold here in winter. It was 12 degrees inside the RV when we woke up, so we were thankful for the gas furnace which cranked the temperature up to 20 in less than 10 minutes. Much more civilised for showering and getting dressed! Some enterprising person had run a very long extension lead from the toilet block to his van through the treetops.  Funny though, there are really crappy vans with really nice new cars. One had a Dodge Ram ute and a Chrysler PT Cruiser outside. Priorities, people!

We headed out onto the Cascade highway. We spotted an elk herd grazing in the distance, so we stopped for photos. The elk grazing land is owned by the Skagit land trust, 150 members who clubbed together and bought 64 acres to preserve it for the elk. Very cool.

The road meandered along the Skagit river – it was about the size of the Huon river at Huonville. We passed through some “quaint” towns – Concrete (with some huge silos painted with “Welcome to Concrete”) and another town almost all consisting of converted air raid shelters.  We passed some pretty major hydro plants, dams and power stations. 

As we climbed up the mountain range, the deciduous forest gave way to conifers, then into snow – 5 feet deep on the sides of the road. We crossed over Rainy Pass at 4855 feet and the snow was falling thickly and the snow banks were higher than the RV. It was reassuring to see the snow ploughs on the side of the road. 

Then suddenly we were on a steep descent down the other side of the mountain range, blue sky and rolling grassy plains. The landscape is very different here, dry and warmer. We nearly hit two deer bouncing across the road. The first one dashed across and as Steve braked hard, the second one started to go, saw he wasn’t going to make it and thankfully pulled up. We saw the whites of his eyes, it was that close. Scary!

Arrived in Winthrop in time for lunch. We parked out of town and walked in. Winthrop is a “genuine cowboy” town, with old fashioned buildings and timber sidewalks. We walked up and down the main street, poking around in gift shops, potteries and galleries. 

We went to the Shafer museum, which was closed until the weekend, but we enjoyed wandering around the outside displays of mining equipment. It was really interesting. 

Also good to see the sun for the first time since we arrived. The Cascade range is very wet on the western side and very dry on the eastern side. Finally moved on to Pearrygin Lake and the Silverline RV Park. It is just gorgeous here, with landscaped gardens and lawns leading down to the lake. While Ros cooked tea, Steve did the final repairs to the RV (All fixed now, Norm!)