June 22

First thing in the morning Gene and Leo drove to Bellingham to check out a state park and look for gas stations. Not finding anything convenient or suitable nearby we camped one more night at the Bow Hill rest area. For the remainder of the day we took a drive East through the North Cascade National Park for a round trip of about 230 miles. On the way we stopped at the Rockport State Park. It was raining and/or drizzling fairly constantly but the beauty and uniqueness was amazing. It was like a primeval Jurassic era setting with huge, tall pine trees along with many other trees and kinds of vegetation. Everything was covered with moss and lace-like growth. Everything is sooo green and damp. From there we drove on into the park. There were some amazing gorges, water falls, lakes and streams. The highlights were the Gorge creek, Diablo Lake Overlook and the Ladder Gardens at the Gorge Dam Powerhouse. The thing that amazed me was the thickness of the moss. It draped on every thing. If you can imagine a velvet draped over a body with all the folds and creases. Only the points protruding above the velvet, a knee, shoulder. The pictures just won’t do the justice that the eye can see.