Day 4: North Cascades National Park, Winthrop, and Pearrygin Lake State Park

The most exciting question first, the bear does not visit us during the night. Our day starts early again, and so we go for another hike through the forest and to the Skagit River directly from the campground. We see some trees that are charred. There was a fire here 3 years ago. It's amazing how quickly nature recovers everything. You can only see that there was a fire on the trees, the ground and other plants recover quickly.

After that, our tour along the North Cascades Highway through the park begins. The journey is the destination here, and that's absolutely true.
The first stop is Georg Creek Fall, a waterfall right by the road. The path leads half a kilometer to a viewpoint overlooking the dam and Lake Georg. The water is emerald green, which is due to the particles of gneiss that the glaciers grind off the rocks above.
The second stop is Colonial Creek Campground by the lake, with the start of a nature trail - Thunder Woods Nature Trail. The trail is moderate; so it's the second level of difficulty. Rene carries David on his back with the carrier. The trail goes uphill through the forest, then becomes rocky and we have to make sure everyone stays on the trail. Finally, it goes downhill again and after 1.4 km, we're back at the starting point. Erik loves it and walks the whole way without complaining, happily. David sleeps almost the entire time.
It's lunchtime and we have a snack in the parking lot. After that, we take a look at the lake, the view is very beautiful.
The third stop is Diablo Lake Overlook, I just get out to take some pictures and the journey continues.
The fourth stop is Washington Pass Overlook. Unfortunately, the parking lot is closed. We stop briefly, both kids are sleeping, and we photograph the amazing panorama. We are on a pass at an altitude of 1669 m. It's the highest pass in the park. There is snow on the sides. Since Erik is sleeping, I make a snowball and freeze it in the freezer.
North Cascades National Park is impressive. The highway winds through the mountain landscape without much effort. The two to three-thousand-meter mountains tower on the left and right, and the river flows through or the reservoirs are there. Just as gently as we ascended, the road descends again. The landscape changes significantly. Pine trees mix with fir trees and finally the sagebrush covers the landscape. We have arrived in the Methow Valley. The weather is getting even better and warmer. The sun shines all day, it's still cool in the morning, pleasantly warm in the afternoon.
The drive through the park to Winthrop takes 1 1/2 hours without stops and we cover 70 miles. Winthrop is a small western town. The buildings are wooden and there are many shops and restaurants. We treat ourselves to an ice cream and stroll along the wooden sidewalk. A great setting. Afterwards, we drive to Pearrygin Lake State Park. We check in at our campsite. It's a grassy area right by the lake with some trees. Our neighbors don't look very enthusiastic when we arrive. Is it because of the 2 kids? Who knows! Erik really wants to go to the lake. It's 5 pm, so we have half an hour before dinner. We're at the small beach in a few steps. Erik digs and splashes in the shallow water. He takes off his pants and shirt and before you know it, he's already swimming. David crawls in the sand and gets his feet in the water too. In the evening, we have original hamburgers from the grill. We have a problem, the freezer doesn't work properly, so we have to use up or cook the meat. David is asleep and after dinner, the two men go fishing at the lake again. They don't catch anything with the fishing rod, we're missing the hook. We watch a little squirrel a few meters away from us. The birds are also interested in finding food and don't mind the presence of humans.
We go to bed early.