Newhalem and more BIG trees

While waiting on the generator to charge the batteries, we looked at the map trying to decide where we would go before meeting Crystal and Grant in Randle, Washington, next week.  A couple that Chuck talked to in the campground on Sunday had told him they had been to Mount Baker and said it was beautiful. 

I started checking places to stay and with it being a weekend I had trouble finding a site again.  I finally found a KOA close to where we first turned off I-5.  From there, Mount Baker is about 70 miles away so it should make for a nice day trip. 

After lunch, we took a short hike through the campground to Newhalem.  We started seeing these big cedar and Douglas fir trees again...

 

...and crossed crystal-clear Newhalem Creek.

We next began the part of the hike that included North Cascade's own "Trail of the Cedars."  This tree was too big for Chuck to hug...  :)

...and was so big I could have hidden inside of it.

 

With the stream nearby all the ferns and moss everywhere, we felt more like we were hiking through a jungle rather than a forest.

 

Then, we saw this really BIG cedar tree.  At first we thought it was 2 or 3 trees, but when we got closer we realized it was one big tree at the base.

I mean it was REALLY, REALLY BIG.

These trees were larger than the cedar trees we saw on the "Trail of the Cedars" we hiked at Glacier.

The trail turned off and followed Skagit River.

We came to a big cedar that had fallen and had been cut to make way for the hiking trail.  It would take a very long time to count all the rings on this tree to see how old it was.

This is the tree stump that was remaining.  Pretty big, huh?

There were also several Douglas fir trees which are the ones that can be over a thousand years old.  You can recognize these trees by their very deep bark.

Then we crossed the bridge over the Skagit River into Newhalem.

Newhalem is a very small community with only about 20 or so houses.  The people who live in the houses work for Seattle City Lights, the electric company that owns and controls the dams along the Skagit River.  This train was purchased for $7,500 in the early 1900's and was used for moving supplies, equipment and people for construction of the dams.  Old Train #6 is what it was called.

What was really funny is that when we were crossing the bridge, we met a couple from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.  We chatted with them for a few minutes.  Then, when we walked into the country store in Newhalem, we met a couple from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  This couple were near the end of their two month biking vacation.  They had started in Washington, DC, and were biking to Seattle on a tandem bike and then flying back home to Nashville.  Small world, isn't it?