July 3, 2018 - North Cascade National Park Diablo Lake Area

Since there is no lodging accommodation inside or nearby North Cascade NP, we have to drive about 1 hour to reach North Cascade NP.  First, we visited the visitor center to get info regarding easy trials and interesting attractions in the area.

The first hiking trail was River Loop Trail by the North Cascade Visitor Center.  The trail is 1.8 miles total along the Skagit River and has easy paved trail to walk on.

Then we went to Gorge Creek Falls to see the Gorge Creek Falls.  We walked across the street to get closer to the fall for photos.  Turn out, it was still too far for good photos, however, there is a smaller fall further down the road with better photo moment.

We drove across the Diablo Dam to the other side of Diablo Lake.  We found a nice spot for our outdoor lunch. The spot is next to the lake and we walked around for more photos.  We even had a chance of touching the fresh lake water.  We also had photos on the dam when we drove back passing the dam.  

Next stop was the Diablo Lake Overlook which is further east on Route 20.  The view was spectacular.

Then we realized that we missed the Ladder Creek Falls Trail.  We had to get back to the visitor center to ask for direction.  The ranger told us that we could visit the Gorge Powerhouse too.  After a short visit of the powerhouse, we finally found the trailhead of the Ladder Creek Falls Trail.  It is an easy trail with boardwalk and ladders.  After we hiked the trail, we were glad that we didn't miss this trail. This is the trail no one shall miss for its easy walkway, beautiful falls and an impressive hanging bridge. 

The last activity of the day was to take photos on a train engine car in the nearby park.