In September 2016 my sister Brooke came for a four-day visit. We decided to take a trip out of town (since she’d been to Seattle before), and after a lot of back-and-forth we settled on a North Cascades weekend. We booked two nights at the Twisp River Suites and planned an itinerary around that.
Friday, September 16
I picked Brooke up at the airport and we headed to Twisp, with a stop in Leavenworth. Neither of us was particularly enchanted by the Bavarian kitch, so we didn’t hang out there too long.
After we got settled in to our river suite, we headed to Winthrop, where he had a reservation at Winthrop Tipi Dinner. It was really fun and the food was good.
Saturday, September 17
We got up early to make the drive to Chelan, where we had a reservation on the float plane for a trip up the lake to Stehekin. The short flight was scenic, but unfortunately, the entire day in Stehekin was marred by rain. We walked in the rain up to the famous bakery, where we sat for a couple of hours to stay warm and dry and sated.
Eventually we jumped into a shuttle bus that took us up a ways to some scenic spots and then back to the ferry landing, and then we returned to Chelan by ferry. Halfway down the lake the sun came out. In Chelan we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant before heading back to Twisp.
Sunday, September 18
We returned to Seattle on the North Cascades Highway. But first we stopped in Winthrop to explore this fun town that evokes the old west. We also went to the North Cascades Smokejumper Base and had an interesting guided tour by one of the actual smokejumpers.
The drive on Highway 20 was a real highlight of the weekend. The views are spectacular. I’d recommend exploring this area as a great weekend getaway from Seattle, and I hope to do it again, allowing myself more time to spend in the national park and around Ross Lake, Diablo Lake, and Gorge Lake.
Photo Album (152 photos)