We continued our exploring in the Concrete area by driving north in an attempt to make a loop near Baker Lake. We could see Baker Lake from our perch on Mount Baker about a week ago but it was a just a small pond in the distance. Today we found that it actually quite a bit larger.
We started the day in a bakery called 5b which is located in nearby Concrete. Their pigs in a blanket was only $7.50 and was quite good but served without hash browns. From there, we took another spin through Concrete which took about 4 minutes before heading west down Highway 20 and then north on Baker Lake Road. It is a very nice drive through big groves of maple and hemlock trees and soon we were alongside Lake Shannon that, before today, we did not know existed. Between Lake Shannon and the slightly more distant Baker Lake, there is a tall dam operated by Puget Energy or something that holds back Baker which ended up being huge. We continued around Baker Lake’s northwest edge enjoying the wonderful scenery until the road sort of crapped out. We turned around and headed back south but we pulled out to check out the numerous campgrounds along the shore of the lake. At one of them, we noted tiny creatures migrating across one of the gravel roads. Investigating further, we determined the critters were tiny toads on a lemming-like exodus from one side of the road to the other. Several of the tiny pilgrims were noted that had been martyred by being crushed by automobile tires. It was unfortunate because the half-inch runts were actually kind of cute.
We kept on going south but turned out to investigate the dam. Our Gazetteer showed that there was a shortcut road that would take us back to Concrete but we needed to pass over the dam to access it. We followed the gravel road we encountered after passing over the very skinny top of the dam and followed it for some distance before meeting an oncoming vehicle on the skinny road. Since we had to pass very carefully, we had ample time to speak with the nice folks in the other vehicle and found out that the road we were following would not lead us to Concrete. After a short distance, we found a spot in the road wide enough to turn our F-250 around and headed back down toward the dam. Right near the dam, we encountered some dam workers who told us the only other road we could use as a shortcut back to Concrete was a good road except the portion where the bridge was washed out.
Back over the dam we went and then headed back toward our RV park by backtracking down the same road we came up. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful drive and was quite pleasant even though there is only one way in and out.
We still had plenty of daylight left when we made it back to Highway 20. Fortunately, we had noted during our cruise through Concrete yesterday that there is an aircraft museum across the street from Concrete High School. We decided to give it a try. We had a bit of trouble finding anybody home when we wandered onto the grass airfield but were soon directed by an aviator hiding in the back of his hanger toward another non-descript person near another hanger. The second guy was a sort of guide but really he just pointed out the buildings where the vintage planes were stored and then sat down.
We wandered through a half dozen buildings and saw many vintage aircraft, most of them from the 1930s and early 1940s.. They are very well restored and quite beautiful. About time we had seen all the planes, the alleged guide received a flurry of phone calls from friends telling him their plans for watching tonight’s Seahawks game were changing and from his wife informing him that he needed to take care of the kids. He looked pretty desperate so we let him go, dropped $10 in the donation box and headed home.
Concrete seems like an unlikely place to find a vintage aircraft museum, especially one located at the end of a dead end across the street from the high school. Maybe they have pilot training at Concrete High. Lord knows they have ample aircraft.
There is a picture of one of the roads through the hardwoods available if you click here