The visitor center sign stated hours of operation was 0900 – 1730 but when I arrived at 1300 it was closed. I also went back on day 2, you could get cell coverage at the visitor center, it was closed as well. Don’t know whey you would put up the sign and not follow the times. The road into the visitor center has a campground on either side of the road. Newhalem is the name of the campground but I did not stay there hence lack of information. The road also has a one lane bridge to cross over the Skagit River so please pay attention to the red light at the start of the bridge to know when it is your turn to cross. The drive into the park was interesting in that you see all these high tension power lines and it is not until you come to the dam that you realize why they are in the park. The park has hydroelectric plants that produces power for the area. The dams when created had some issues with the glacial dirt that the river was flowing down due to the silt and lack of bedrock. The engineers finally decided they had to freeze the dirt beneath the rivers in order to provide stability for the stopping of the water and creation of the hydro plant. Good thinking of the engineers in solving the problem. It is interesting that the park has a plant as the dams also changed the wildlife’s life within the area. One thing that happened is the the dams have to deal with the glacial silt which is in the rivers but the animals have to deal with the change in the river. Salmon are the biggest wildlife impacted by the dams as the dams stop the trees and other debris from coming down the river and it also prevented them from the beginning from going into their spawning areas. Now the salmon spawn below the dams but with the trees and other debris from helping shield their eggs from predators. The parks glaciers are also receding like all of the other glaciers we have within our national parks. Global warming is one thing but the glaciers have been receding for hundreds of years, just faster now. The park’s two main rivers are fed from the glaciers and these rivers are the Skagit and the Stehekin rivers. The Skagit supports all of the types of salmon and these fish have diminished in numbers over the years due to the dams, temperature changes and volume of water in the river. The Stehkin is on the east side of the park and it is fed by 19 named glaciers. The river feeds into Lake Chelan and it has a depth of 1,459 feet and this lake is also 359 feet below sea level! On the banks of this river is an apple orchard that is now managed by the National Park service but was originally planted by the Buckner family in 1912. The family managed the orchard of common delicious apples, red Rome beauty and Jonathan apples until the 1950’s when the park service took over the duties on the 50 acre farm. Wildlife in the form of Pikas, marmots and wolverines are in the area as they require higher elevation and they like the mild short summers and long winters with deep snow. Pikas live in loose rocks and they store food away for the winter months. The marmot however is a hibernation animal who depend on the deep snow for insulation for their dens for the winter. The marmot is the best food source for the last of the mammals being the wolverine.
Colonial Creek Campground – The campground is on Diablo Lake and has a fishing pier and hiking trails inside the campground. The campground is on two sides of state highway 20 with the North side having 44 spots mainly for tent campers. There are 5 walk in spots right as you access the campground and then another 4 walk in spots that are across the river just off the Thunder Knob Trail. Some of the spots on the North side are on the river and you can hear it flowing allowing you to enjoy the sounds during the night. The North side is first come first served only so if you want this side come early. The South side of the highway is where the boat launch and fishing pier is located has 100 spots to support all types of vehicles. Don’t bring a big trailer as you may not get it into your spot as the campground is old and can’t support the longer trailers/RVs. The South side also has the information kiosk, and fish cleaning area. There is day parking here in the south side and also the campground starts here with some walk in spots. The cool thing is that the south side has spots right on Diablo Lake where you can enjoy the site of the lake during your time at your campsite. The south side you can reserve through recreation.gov but any spot not reserved is on a first come first served basis, except for the closed spots. The restrooms have running water and signs to make sure you wash your hands but the water does not stay on unless you hold the knob open. In additional there is a trash can but no paper towel or any means to dry your hands except for your dirty clothes. The sign on the door to the mens room, not the ladies, says that you have to wear a mask at all times even if you are vaccinated. Nobody including NPS staff followed the sign, maybe it was an old sign that needed to come down. Lastly, the campground/park has a fire ban due to the dryness of the area.
Thunder Creek Trail – The trail head is on the South side of the Colonial Creek campground and is right next to the amphitheater. After passing the amphitheater you come to a junction with a choice of right or straight ahead, and no markers. The right goes back towards the campground’s south side with some of the tent walk in sights and ends at the day use area of the campground. Stay on the straight ahead part of the trail. The trail is about 2 miles to the bridge over Thunder creek. The trail is through the woods and you see enormous trees both still growing and ones that have fallen down. One downed tree is across the path causing you to go underneath, but don’t worry I got under it while standing up. You can also go into a tree that is dead standing and if you are small, not me, but you can walk through the tree. The bridge crossing Thunder creek begins its climb up as the trail to this point has been dirt and is a bit up and down but not real elevation gain. The other side of the bridge also has the first of many back country camping areas along the trail. Thunder Creek trail meets the Fourth of July Trail but I stayed on Thunder creek. I did run into a group of young men who worked for the NPS doing trail maintenance. These guys were coming back from an 8 day adventure cleaning up and maintaining hiking trails within the park. The maintenance trail guys and gals are studs in my book as many times they go into the woods and have to carry all of their tools on the trails that I huff and buff on. They also make sure the trails are safe for us hikers to hike so please give them thanks if you see them.
Thunder Knob Trail – The trail head is within the North side of the campground. The signs leading the way are well marked. Once you start on the trail you are heading to some of the walk in sites so please by aware and don’t disturb the campers who are on the trail. The trail is rocky to being with and you also have to cross a creek. The bridge for this creek is about 10 yards and is a metal scaffold with only 1 person on at a time due to the bounce you get then you are on the bridge walking. There is a hand rail but that does not help you much when crossing. The trail continues to be rocky until you get to the woods when it is dirt for the most part. The hike is 2 miles one way and has 635 feet of elevation gain in the 2 miles, not too bad. There are plenty of sport to stop along the way up or down and sit on a log bench to catch your breath if needed. The top of the hike you are rewarded with views of the Diablo Lake and the surrounding mountains. The day I went it was smokey and the views were not as grand as they could be on a clear day, but Mother Nature had other ideas for me. The hike had plenty of people on the trail.. An interesting thing is that the forest has tons of dead standing and dead trees due to a Beatle infestation within the park. The first part of the trail is old growth big trees but the further you go up the trail the less old growth trees you get to enjoy and are out in the sun. The ground off the trail if very brittle due to the lack of rain. I did run into someone from Baltimore who stopped to chat as I had a Towson shirt on, who knew. The hike is one that is good and I did not have to drive to go to it just walked from my campsite adding an extra mile to the hike or 5 total.
