Chinook Pass

We thought we would drive across Chinook Pass to get over the mountains to the Tri-Cities, since the roads were reported clear and it had been a long time since we had taken this route. It used to be that there wasn't much traffic going this way, so we were expecting a nice slow drive. Frank did take it slow, but we had to pull over to let others that were riding our bumper pass. I don't remember all of the cabins, camp grounds and trails last time we drove this pass. Frank is getting used to sea level too, he wasn't comfortable driving those winding roads with no guard rails, and my side of the van wasn't that comfortable either, looking down into open space. On the East side of the pass there were a lot of housing developments, like log cabin developments, or maybe there were just cabins. But why would you want a cabin right next to someone else's? It didn't seem like we were in the "woods," just another suburb. I think Alaska has grown on us. It has been warm though, 67* when we left the West side of the state and in the 50's here in the tri-cities. The leaves are just turning, so we get another fall.
The West side of Chinook Pass. Mt. Rainer is behind the clouds on the top left. There were no guard rails on this side of the pass, and it just got more steep as we climbed to the top.


The East side of Chinook Pass, not as winding as the other side, and the traffic was less on this side.

I couldn't resist, I had to put a picture of gas prices up. In Bellingham we filled up for $2.11 a gallon. At least all of our cash won't go for gas!