We’re going camping with Marilyn, Gene, Mary, Jeff AND Tasha and Ewan are going too!! Well, at least for Saturday night. The forecast calls for cool temps and cold nights so we’ve told Tasha to dress very warm and to bring blankets. Mapquest told us that going to the lake via Highway 20 (the North Cascades Hwy) would take us a little over 3 hours, and if we went via Highway 2 it would take almost 3.5 hours. Judy agreed with several people that said Mapquest was wrong about the time it would take over Hwy 20; it would take much longer. Harris believed that Mapquest was all-knowing and must be correct otherwise people would have complained to them about their estimate. We decided to go via Hwy 20 and return via Hwy 2.
Judy entering cache info on our walk
We left around 11 AM (usual Thomas departure time) with stops at Costco for heating pads and Burlington for diesel. We were one of the first people to stop at the North Cascades National Park visitor center. They were scheduled to open on May First but saw us poking our heads through the glass doors and let us in. It was an impressive center worthy of a stop with animal and forest trees displays showing the types of animals and vegetation found in each. Another stop for lunch and we found ourselves pulling into Lake Pearrygin just after 4PM. Figuring that we took about an hour for our stops, total time was 4 hours. Just over an hour more than predicted! Judy and others were vindicated. It had rained going up the west side of the highway, and we saw snow still piled high on Rainy Pass and Washington Pass. The sky even spit some snowflakes at us at the top of the pass. But heading east, the weather began to clear up.
The sun was out when we arrived, but the wind was bellowing and it felt like 40 degrees rather than the upper 50’s the thermometer was showing. After a dinner of Marilyn’s garlic chicken it was time to play cards—boys VS girls in Whist. The girls clobbered the boys. Enough said.
Judy and Marilyn looking up at the cache
Saturday Marilyn and Gene went trout fishing for breakfast and came back with more than enough for the four of us. There is no better breakfast than freshly caught trout. It was as good as you picture it! The four of us went for a walk with their dog and did a couple of geocaches along the lake. Around noon Mary and Jeff pulled in. The women wanted to go into Winthrop; the guys begged off with excuses of putting up tents and needing to read books. Harris and Jeff put the tents up while listening to the Mariners (who were eventually swept by the Texas Rangers for all 3 games) while Gene tackled a book. Since Tasha and Ewan were coming later for the night and using the tent which could be very cold, Harris decided to bring an extra electric heater and an extension cord. Just to be sure that the heater was safe he decided to test it by turning it on, waiting until it got hot, and tipping it over. Sure enough, the heater stopped heating. Unlike the heater in Howie that when tipped turns off until it’s righted again, this stopped permanently. No matter how Harris placed it, hit it, talked to it, yelled at it, or threatened it, it would not turn back on. Disgustedly, he threw it in the trash.
Enjoying the campfire (some much more than others)
Tasha and Ewan arrived as promised by 4PM to the amazement of all. After Happy Hour which was hosted by us we had a wonderful prime rib dinner. Ewan and Jeff split some wood and eventually built a fire. (Eventually, because the wood turned out to be rotten and damp when split and it took a long time to catch.) Tasha had made some wonderful brownies we passed around, and everyone went to bed happy. (Some, who had enjoyed happy hour and wine with dinner were certainly happier than others in the group as evidenced by choruses of “coffee-coffee-coffee” booming out every so often.) It was a cold, cold night.
Do I really need this to catch fish?
Sunday morning, everyone was up early. When Ewan emerged from his tent, he announced, “I’m all ready to go out in the boat.” He was wearing a pirate’s hat! We had a good laugh, and agreed he could be captain of the boat. Marilyn took Tasha and Ewan fishing, and they stayed out almost three hours. But they caught lots of fish (limiting out at 15 for the boat), so they were happy. We were going to have a big brunch, but then Mary and Jeff went out with Gene. So we ended up just having a quick sandwich for lunch, and had an early dinner of trout, fried potatoes, veggies and biscuits. Tasha and Ewan had to hit the road to make the trek back to Seattle, so off they went about 5. Mary and Jeff went out fishing again with Gene, and came back this time with their limit, so everyone who has fished this weekend has done well.
Fully prepped and ready to ready to fish
Monday morning it rained some, so no one went fishing. But Marilyn’s fridge still has plenty for them to eat for the next few days. Jeff and Mary made a great breakfast for us all, and we packed up, ready to head home.
It has been a cold weekend, but other than the one rain shower, good weather. We’ve had a great time with family, fishing, eating, drinking, playing cards, walking, geocaching…..what more could we ask for?
PS- The plan was to go back via Hwy 2 but along the way we heard that there was snow and ice on the roadway so we headed south to I-90 encountering some snow over Blewett pass (but nothing sticking on the roadway. It turns out that Harris and Mapquest were correct saying that Hwy 20 was shorter. At least this time with the construction and snow on Hwy 2… It took us 5 hours to get there and almost 6 hours to get back.
Tasha, Marilyn, and Ewan with their lucky fishing hats
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