North Cascade National Park is about 3 hours to the east of Seattle. I stayed in Bellevue the night before entering the park. Bellevue has a huge mall and a lot of food options and I have been staying here more compared to Seattle. This time I tried a very poplular, new japanese “Ten-don” place called “Kohaku”. It is worth the wait time.

The vivid aqua colored lakes are iconic scenes that welcome me entering North Cascade National Park. This color is also called turquoise or cyan and the color is truly vibrant in the lakes. It is hard to imagine that a lake can have so different color from one another. The photo is taken at the Diablo Lake Vista Point, which is accessible by car. From the campground north of the SR20 at Diablo I also hiked the Thunder Knob Trail to a vista point to view the lake from a different angle.

Washington Pass is on the way from Diablo Lake to Mazama. By the time I arrived here, the Sun was setting and mountain peaks turned golden. It was a magnificent view. Many mountain peaks have a very pointy shape in the north cascade mountain range.

I stayed at The Inn At Mazama. This is a lovely village that has only a pub, a general store with bakery, and a mountain gear store. The pastry and coffee from the bakery is really good. This is also a popular stop for PCT hikers to get their supplies. The hotel room was also very comfortable.

Blue Lake trail is in the Methow Valley Ranger District in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Hike about 2 miles will get you to the beautiful blue lake. Unlike the cyan color of Diablo lake, this lake reflects a deeper blue tone. People would rest by the lake and stare at the deep blue reflection.

Pika at Blue Lake came out of the rock hill. Pika squeaks a higher pitch sound that is easy to recognize. But it is not so easily seen or photoshoot because it moves fast. This is my first time seen a Pika at such as close-up distance.

Dam on the Gorge Lake providing hydroelectric power to Seattle metro area. People built dams on all 3 lakes here. There are visible high voltage power transmittion cables across the lakes.

The morning we left the Inn at Mazama, a chipmonk came to say goodbye to us. We stopped by Seattle downtown for a good meal at Hong Kong Bistro before heading back south.

Food highlight

• Mazama Store & Bakery
• Tendon Kohaku
• Hong Kong Bistro