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14 Photos from our Amazing Weekend in the North Cascades

New friends and new places.

By: John Wingfield + Save to a List

Last month I got to spend the weekend exploring Highway 20 of the North Cascades in Washington. Our friends Mason and Dylan wanted to show us some of their favorite places in the area. After meeting up with them, as well as new friends Michael and Trey, we set out toward the mountains. 

  

Our dog Millie saying hello to Dylan and getting acquainted with Treys sweet van.

Highway 20 is a well known scenic route that starts near the coast and winds up into the North Cascades. The route is home to hundreds of forest roads, miles of trails, dozens of alpine lakes and a number of iconic Pacific Northwest destinations. Our first stop was probably the most well known of Those destinations, Diablo Lake. We decided to just make a quick stop at the overlook, you can find directions here.

MasonDylan, and michael checking out the view at the Diablo lake overlook. 

After a little while we left the overlook and kept heading east. Since this was my first time driving on this road I was continuously amazed by the scenery.  

Our next stop was the Ross Lake dam. This is an easily accessible and rewarding hike with a trailhead parking lot right off the highway. We met up with another friend Nick and set off on the trail. You can find directions to the trailhead here.

@milliethegolden@masonstrehl

@masonstrehl

@milliethegolden

@masonstrehl

After an awesome hike to the Ross lake Dam, we parted ways with Nick and set out to find a forest road to camp for the night. We had a lot of roads to choose from, which is one of my favorite things about Washington. There's hundreds of these narrow dirt roads, some with dozens of forks leading to some really amazing places. You really can't go wrong by just picking a road and seeing where you end up. We definitely scored on this night.

You can follow treys adventures across north america in his van on @fryescampgoods

Millie didn't want to get out of the van :P

Thanks for reading my story! Feel free to follow my adventures on Instagram: @johnwingfield

Keep checking in here for more stories in the near future! And if you like photography and the outdoors, go follow some of my friends included in this story!  

@wanderingalaskan@milliethegolden@masonstrehl@fursty@nicholasgraves@michaelflugstad@fryescampgoods

We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

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