The Northern Frontier

When we originally planned this road trip, our minds entertained the possibilities of seeing places like Banff, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. Well, those place are far, even if you're already in Washington, which is also far if you started in Mexico. So in the end, we thought we'd save that for another trip.

As it turns out though, we were rewarded with a spectacular and totally unexpected sight as we drove through the North Cascades National Park. Home to over 300 glaciers and 600 ecosystems, the park has only one road through -- with everything else, including some towns, being accessible solely by trail or boat.

Our first stop just before the park was at the farm/roadside stand of one of our favorite organic growers, Cascadian Farms.

We enjoyed some homemade raspberry ice cream

Some of the scenes reminded us so much of fiordlands in New Zealand, it's still hard to tell the photos apart!

The skagit river as it swells before a dam

Rainy Lake, a hanging glacial lake near Washington pass
(Look at the below shot from lake Marian in NZ!)

Us at Lake Marion, New Zealand

One of the many waterfalls pouring into the lake from the snow-capped peaks

Our new tent in the alpine firs, cedars and spruces

Louisa with a new favorite soup - quinoa, potato, carrots, onions and vegetable bullion - delicious

A common scene on the drive through the mountains

Our new travel companion Elwha the flying squirrel puppet
entertaining us while in construction traffic

More peaks as we began our descent to the dry side of Washington

Looking back as we head toward ponderosas, sage brush and 7 inches of annual rain!