21 July 2009 - North Cascades National Park

I don't believe in luck, whether good or bad. Instead, I believe things happen. Based on the situation, there is always some probability of a desirous outcome. Lately, the odds have been in our favor....we've had plenty of times where the odds weren't.

While detouring our route due to a forest fire, we passed by a ranger cabin. The ranger viewed our plans and recommended an alternative trail that would shave two days off our detoured route and one day off our original route. We took the suggestion because we risked running out of food by going the extra two days. We had shipped food to Ross Lake Resort, and we could now resupply quicker than anticipated. We beat the odds.

Ross Lake Resort is the only privately owned entity within the Ross Lake National Recreation Area--a narrow park which serves as a buffer between the Pasayten Wilderness and the NOrth Cascades National Park. Ross Lake is more appropriately called a reservoir. While the lake's three dams were being built, a floating city was created for the construction crews. The city needed to float because the water level was always changing as the dams grew. The Ross Lake Resort is all that is left of the floating city.

We arrived at the resort yesterday evening. We picked up our food and requested renting one of their floating cabins. Typically, all cabins are completely booked for months, but one group had to leave early, creating the extremely rare vacancy. We got the cabin, beating some extreme odds.

The resort is only accessible by boat or by hiking. For this reason we were going to dine on our trail mix that we had shipped to the resort. The resort owner was intrigued by our trip, so he invited us to come to a staff party. At the party we had free fillet mignon, corn, potatoes, cake, beer, wine, and liquor, leaving us full and drunk. This was a big improvement over trail mix. Again, it seems we beat the odds.

Today was in the 90s. We were able to follow a shaded trail all day. Additionally, we walked along a glacial river. The river was so cold, the surrounding air must have dropped by 20 degrees. The shade and the cool river made the hike tolerable. We didn't luck out. You'd expect some days like this.


Rachel appreciating a food bridge and not another fording opportunity.

Rachel's foot resting on the deck of our floating cabin.