North Cascades Highway a wilderness adventure

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North Cascades Highway a wilderness adventure

By ERIK SMITH
Herald staff writer

You get such a peaceful feeling out in the wilderness, gazing at those towering forests and those sparkling lakes and breathing that crisp mountain air.

And there's no better way to appreciate it than from the front seat of a speeding automobile.

That's really what makes Washington's North Cascades Highway so special. You get a full 2H hours of that wilderness experience, even more if you get caught behind a Winnebago. Yet you're never more than 35 miles from a gas pump and a warm burrito.

Most people who write about the highway and the North Cascades National Park will tell you about the fascinating day hikes along the way and the alpine meadows just over the next ridge with all those charming wildflowers. This is fine, as long as you do not place a high value on your time.

But you shouldn't feel guilty if your stops at the scenic overlooks have less to do with the view than with all that coffee you drank in Wenatchee. We're Americans, and that gives us the right to drive straight through, by gum.

If you want that outdoorsy feeling, you can always buy a convertible.

The North Cascades Highway, also known as the North Cross Highway, is the 132-mile segment of state Highway 20 between Winthrop in the east and Interstate 5 to the west. It is the northernmost mountain pass route in Washington state, and is closed most winters from first snow until mid-April because of avalanche hazards.

There's a lot to appreciate in this hunk of asphalt. For one thing, it's probably the last major highway route we'll see opened in Washington state. The highway was opened Sept. 2, 1972, cutting through the remotest and wildest section of the state at the very dawn of the environmental impact statement era.

Funny thing is, it's the first highway the state was supposed to build.

The state Legislature appropriated $20,000 in 1893 to build a cross-Cascade wagon road on a route close to the current highway alignment. Whatcom and Okanogan counties kicked in another $7,000. What became of the money, no one exactly knows, and it's one of the reasons the Legislature created the Department of Highways in 1905.

The agency, now known as the Department of Transportation, says that each spring DOT snowplow crews race from each end of the road, trying to be the first to get to the midpoint.

Which leaves an obvious question: Do they like to bet? Admits DOT spokesman Rick Olson, "They probably wouldn't tell us that."

And here's another fun fact: The first person to drive the road straight through was Washington's own Ted Bundy.

The day the highway opened, the late Bundy was a campaign worker doing his part to get former Gov. Dan Evans elected. He got to drive the limo.

Bundy later told onetime friend and biographer Ann Rule, "They thought that President Nixon was going to show up, and they had Secret Service men checking everybody out. His brother came instead, but I didn't care. I got to lead 15,000 people in a 64-mile parade across the mountains."

Bundy, of course, later became famous for other more infamous pursuits as a serial killer.

For westbound travelers, the North Cascades Highway starts in Winthrop, a town that appears to live for the summer traffic. Buildings have been redone in the Old West, false-front style; and if it's a bit touristy, it's a bit more authentic than ticky-tacky faux-Bavarian Leavenworth. At least this used to be part of the Old West. It's also the last place you can pick up a Coke and a deli sandwich to go.

Civilization disappears by the time you play one side of a cassette, and soon you're deep into the Okanogan National Forest, twisting along the bank of Early Winters Creek, with double yellow lines to keep you from passing that camper up ahead.

No matter: It gives you time to observe the wildlife. During a trip last month, we saw five deer that poked their way through the trees to the edge of the road. And two of them were still alive.

You don't need to go hiking to see the wildflowers, either. They creep right through the ditch to the edge of the pavement -lupines, Indian paintbrush, oxeye daisy - wherever the highway crews didn't spray.

The road climbs along a ridge that towers 3,000 feet above the valley as it approaches Washington Pass, exposing a sweeping vista over the valley for several minutes. But don't bother slowing down: It gets even more spectacular as the road skirts the cliffs overlooking Ross Lake and Dam, so you'll have plenty of chances to snap a picture and prove you've been there.

And when you pull over to the shoulder and shut off the engine, you might just hear something funny. The wind. The shifting trees. A few birds. The ticking of the radiator. That's the sound of the wilderness, and it can be a bit disconcerting for civilized people. Luckily, most of us these days have tape decks.

One last fun fact: Three years ago, Bellingham-based environmentalist Mitch Friedman edited a book called Cascadia Wild, in which he advocated that the North Cascades National Park be expanded across the Canadian border and that the highway be "deconstructed." This would help provide habitat for bear and marmot and the like, and would probably also make it easier for deer to cross.

But without a highway, how could the rest of us appreciate the wild?

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