October 27, 2007
Yesterday, the Mountain Loop Scenic Highway re-opened. In 2003, sections of the beautiful 50 mile loop road linking Darrington and Granite Falls were washed out by torrential downpours. We decided to start off at the most northern end, Darrington.

I have never seen so many cars on the Mountain Loop Highway before. Most were going the other way. For 17 miles it is a single-lane dirt road, so there was lots of pulling over and squeezing by. I guess we weren't the only ones who missed The Loop. ;-)

 
 
Whitehorse Mountain peeps over a display of Autumn gold. This was taken on the outskirts of Darrington, a small logging town in the Cascades.
 
 
For much of the 17-miles, the one-lane road is lined on both sides with big old trees. Every now and again there would be a gap in the greenery.
 
 
The road runs parallel to the Sauk River and many creeks.
 
 
Rushing water courses past large boulders and many fallen trees.
 
 
Here is the beautiful Monte Cristo Lake. It was gorgeous today in the sunshine.
Tim's lovely picture of the lake is ( here ).
 
 
Layers of colors were very attractive.
 
 
Along the way, we saw several places where the road had totally washed out and a new one had to be built, a little further away from the riverbed.
 
 
And last but not least, our lunch view today.

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