Just like yesterday, today’s forecast was thunderstorms. We decided to skip the hikes around highway 542 and instead go to highway 20. The reason is that I didn’t have any good options for a rainy, cloudy day in the north area.
This is more like my usual idea of a Pacific Northwest vacation. Without any specific itinerary item to tackle, we simply stopped at a few places and strolled on a very easy trail.
Interestingly enough, while we were near the Gorge powerhouse, we heard what sounded like a very loud explosion. Shortly thereafter a siren blared. I would describe the sound as what you would expect to hear from a tsunami warning alert. Or maybe more people would associate it with a civil defense warning. In any case, I had to wonder since we happened to be in a gorge downstream from three dams. Well actually not, since the explosion sound came from the other direction.
The Thunder Creek Trail is alongside the creek. You might think that would go without saying, but unfortunately that is often not the case. There weren’t a whole lot of unobstructed views of the water. That was okay since I didn’t find the creek to be photogenic. I also didn’t happen to think it is a creek. In my opinion, any waterway that wide and fast would be more appropriately described as a river.
I enjoyed the easy stroll on a damp, fairly level (for a change) trail through the forest. There are some pretty big trees in places. The creek is very brown from the silt (glacial flour). On our first trip here I had wondered why Ross Lake is cobalt blue, while downstream Lake Diablo is turquoise. This is the answer. Thunder Creek flows into Diablo. Oh, and downstream from Diablo, Gorge Lake is a beautiful green.
It was a nice change of pace to be in a more familiar setting. I’m glad that I was able to see the fantastic mountain scenery. Adding a day on the coast and a day like today sort of rounded out the experience.
It would be remiss of me not to mention that once again there was no darn thunder. I guess possible explosions will have to do.
