Rich & Skip’s (and Aaron’s) Excellent Adventure – Part Deux

[Rich Lambert]

Last weekend was the 2nd annual Excellent Adventure up the North Cascades Hwy. This trip was longer than last year. I left home at 7am, got back at 6pm, and put over 300 miles on the car…which ran flawlessly and came home in almost the same condition it left with the exception of a new rock chip in the windshield and a loose piece of rear bumper-to-body seal. By the way, Pertronix rocks!

Skip is slowly parsing out cool places he knows about and we hit a few new ones this trip. By far the coolest was the Ross Lake Resort Ross Lake Resort / Rockport, Washington , which is a time capsule right out of the ‘60’s. Also new this year, were the Twilight Zone-ish town of Diablo, the Washington Pass look-out, the “old mill”, and the addition of Skip’s son, Aaron…great kid, and very patient with old man whenever he had to pose for a “senior picture”.


Off we go


Scenic vista #1


Alleged DNR sign we saw…note spelling


Scenic vista #2


Cool reflection shot #1


The bridge to Diablo (start humming the Twilight Zone theme).


I didn’t get any pictures of the town, I doubt if they would have turned out anyway. This is a very weird place. The only live people we saw in the whole town were 2 guys in a truck looking for a boat launch. They do have this though…


And this, for lifting rail cars up the hill sideways. It’s about a 45 degree slope.


And this weird phone booth.

[Rich Lambert]

Dup

[Rich Lambert]

More...

Driving across Diablo Dam


Scenic vista #3…Ross Lake


Scenic vista #3a


Aaron


In order to get to the Ross Lake Resort you have to hike a mile down a rocky trail to the dock where you call the resort and they send a boat to pick you up. I’m sure Skip will correct me here, but it seemed like we dropped about a 1000ft in that mile. You also have to hike back out (up).
A cool bridge on the trail.


The view from about halfway down the trail.


The resort off in the distance, across the lake.


The boat they sent over to pick us up. Very cool and very fast.


The resort. They make those boats on the premises. The whole place is built on old logs and, in the winter, is towed out into the middle of the lake due to the rising and falling water level. The water level fluctuates between 75 and 125 feet.


Cool reflection shot #2. Glowing water with little fish swimming around.

[Rich Lambert]

More still...gotta hurry before my lunch break is over...

The biggest freakin’ dog I have ever seen. If I was a Russian wolf, I’d run away from that thing.


View of Liberty Bell from Washington Pass.


View down the valley.


View up the valley. This place is amazing.


Skip


The coolest restroom on earth.


911 in front of the “old mill”.


The “old mill” pond.



The drive wasn’t bad either. There was more traffic than last year, but not horrible.

All in all, a most excellent adventure.

[twistoffat]

Breathtaking countryside

[jpnovak]

That was a most excellent adventure!

I managed half the miles yesterday in the rain with a few other brave souls. The scenery was not quite as impressive.

[Drive-em]

Super cool period correct run! Dig the boat!

[t6dpilot]

Cool road trip Rich. You guys live in such a great place in the country for drives and outdoorsy schtuff. More pics please.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by jpnovak

That was a most excellent adventure!

I managed half the miles yesterday in the rain with a few other brave souls. The scenery was not quite as impressive.

What a beautiful day in the great PNW! I was one of those brave souls driving in the rain yesterday. It felt like I was back home in seattle.

[CurtEgerer]

Rich - great drive, great fotos, beautiful country.

[Fishman7]

Makes me want to move, wow!

[SherpaDog]

Rich,

Very nice narrative and wonderful pictures. How are the fall colors up there along Hwy 20, I can see some color changing in some of your pictures? We used to drive up there in Oct, however, haven't done that in a couple of years. I fear it may already too late this year for colors.

[teenerted1]

that explains why we didnt see you at the xxx?

[Rich Lambert]

Suraj, the fall colors weren't completely out yet. I would think next weekend would be the perfect time. Dress warm, it was 20 degrees cooler than last year. There were icicles hanging off rocks next to the road and a dusting of snow up in the higher elevations.

Ted, no, Saturday I rented a tractor with a brush hog and a blade, mowed the back 40, and moved some dirt around...and burned the burn pile. Do weekends get any better than that?

[teenerted1]

they will in two weeks...hood river only 11 sleeps away

[Rich Lambert]

Here's Skip's post on last year's Excellent Adventure.

Targas and Coupes do get along!

[Skip Newsom]

A paint color for fall:


Details of Rich's car... it's a shame someone like Excellence does not do an article on it!!


Morning light:


An Ad Porsche should have run... "Targa or Coupe, you decide"

[Skip Newsom]

Yes, there's more... from the eye of a 17 year old photographer:

Do you think you can "handle" this?


Objects in the mirror may also be a Porsche...


Off road again:


Flora carnage:


Low angle:


Rumor has it there may be some video out there also...

What a great trip, I can't get enough of the mountain roads around here and an older Porsche that likes red line and it's always great spending time with Rich!

We are exploring some of the interesting places I've found over the years, Rich is always a great sport about taking a back road, dirt road, gravel road or even a lack of road in stride. These old cars seem to be at home no matter what is thrown at them!!

Oh, and really sorry about the rock ding in your windshield Rich, I blame the North Cascades for falling apart slowly around us. I really think it should have been me, my windshield is really ready for a replacement!!!

[RSBob]

Yeah, and they also told us we landed men on the moon....

[al lkosmal]

Rich,
Very nice.....the weather was perfect for that trip...at least I think it was..I peeked out of the garage once.

Al