We had no firm plans to be productive in any way today so we took a long loop drive through the foothills and subranges of the North Cascades. We accessed our route by driving east on WA-20 which runs by about 1000 feet from our RV spot. We followed 20 up the Skagit River to Rockport where we turned south on WA-530.
At Rockport we left the Skagit River and started following the Sauk toward Mansford and Darrington. It is a gorgeous drive through conifer and hardwood forest with the river next to the road except in a couple places where the road crosses bridges to the other side. Very steep mountains rise on both sides of the road. Some of the mountains were wearing big glaciers on one or more sides.
In Darrington, 530 turns abruptly west and we followed it toward Oso. A few years back some folks in Oso had chosen to build their houses at the foot of a large, geologically unstable hill despite being warned that the hill was sure to slide. Many others built there, too. The large, unstable hill did what hills of that ilk do – it slid. The massive slide covered the hamlet, instantly burying thirty-nine residences. Flooding took nine more homes along with a mile of 530 which were destroyed when the slide backed up the Stilliguamish River. 43 residents were killed and instantly interred. Nothing much remains of the neighborhood although the nearby town is still alive and kicking.
We continued through Oso to Arlington where we turned north on WA-9 back toward Grandy Creek and our RV. We found some nice back roads to check out on our way to the south bank of the Skagit River where we turned east, headed for the bridge at Concrete. Once we were on the South Skagit Highway, we turned off on a single-lane side road where we ran across a resident named Vern Ringhouse who was wonderful to talk to and also quite creative. He saw us getting ready to photograph some of his creations and strolled right over to chat. He was wearing overalls and had an infectious smile. His yard and sheds are sprinkled with whimsical sculptures and doo-dads that Vern creates. Vern is also a font of local knowledge and we turned off the engine in the middle of the road so we could hobnob with him for about half an hour.
Eventually we cut Vern loose and headed back toward our trailer with our second stop at the elk viewing area along the way. No elk today.
We shot a few pictures along the way and you can see some of them if you click here