DAY 9 - From the Mountains to the Sea - October 9, 2021

 Today was our longest single day of driving - over 200 miles. The trip odometer on our rental car shows us at just over 1000 miles since we began back on October 1.

We started out this morning from the semi-arid agricultural area near Lake Chelan and turned north on Highway 153 up through the Methow Valley. There are lots of apple orchards, mixed with some vineyards, along the wide Methow River. The topography features dry craggy mountains on both the west and east sides of the river as the road winds its way up into the Wenatchee National Forest.

Near the towns of Twisp and Winthrop, we saw evidence of recent forest fires. In fact, we were originally scheduled to spend a night in Winthrop, but the reservation was cancelled  back in September when the lodge said they were closing early for the season partly due to forest fires in the area.

A few miles further up the road, and we were in high country alpine forest. The change in humidity was quite noticeable - 45 degrees in relatively low humidty Lake Chelan felt much warmer than 45 degrees at the top of Washington Pass. The towering peaks in the Sawtooth Wilderness were covered with snow and ice.

When we got to Rainy Pass, we saw hundreds of vehicles parked along both sides of the road. It seems there are many popular hiking trailheads in the area and the Saturday morning crowds were out in force.

We stopped at the Diablo Lake overlook to see the amazing green water of this reservoir. From there, we continued down along a steep and narrow canyon that followed the Skagit River. The conifer trees gave way to deciduous trees in yellow and gold fall colors. The rain also began to come down.

With it raining more steadily and after a long day in the car, we got to the Ship’s Harbor Inn in Anacortes. We’re right next to the San Juan Ferry Terminal. We can see the ferry boat and the dock from the balcony of our room. This will make it easier for us to catch our ferry ride tomorrow.

Karen found us a great local seafood joint in downtown Anacortes, Bob’s Chowder Bar and BBQ Salmon. We warmed up with some clam chowder, grilled prawns, cod tacos and some local beer.

NEXT: Ferry Ride to San Juan Island/Friday Harbor