So a few weeks ago I told my pal Mr Cow that we should go on another road trip. We discussed where to go and decided on Leavenworth. I pictured a quick trip up this side of Stevens Pass, a day in Leavenworth itself, a little hike up Icicle Creek, and driving back down the Pass.
HA.
I should have known, no road trip with Mr Cow goes as planned.
Our route ended up being: Seattle, heading out I90 west. Quick stop in North Bend to fuel up:
and off we go over Snoqualmie Pass and along Keechelus Lake
Next we had an errand to run in Cle Elum
We headed out into the surrounding farmland
On our way to Ellensburg and lunch with a dear friend. Where I forgot to take photos! Oops. Ah well, off we go again, north out of Ellensburg to Colockum Road.
We stopped to lock the truck hubs to get ready for 4-wheel driving, and got an early warning of the road conditions ahead...
So, up and over!
We took a quick stop to let our teeth stop rattling
We saw some wildlife
And some wirelife (ha ha)
It's tough to keep a fence up if you can't dig any post holes
We drove along the Coffin Reserve
We found an actual roadsign, made out of steel - and yet still some silly people blasted at them with shotguns. Sigh.
We made a few wrong turns, but always found something wonderful - like this beautiful cool green glen, after a hot dusty afternoon
We moved out of Ponderosa pines to more larches
But had to head back to pine country when we realized we were going deeper into the mountains, and not north to Wenatchee. We realized we were on the right road again with this view of the Columbia:
Looking off to the other side to Wenatchee
No photos of the bumpy slide down the Pass, we were too busy holding on! Holy cats, that was bumpy. We finally stopped in civilization to let the brakes cool off.
It was late enough in the day that we headed for home, a quick dinner in Wenatchee and a dash through Leavenworth. It was dark yet good conditions over Stevens Pass, and we were soon home. Whew!
I'm still finding dust from Colockum Pass in my hair, even though I've showered twice. That stuff is tenacious!
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