I nervously pressed ahead on the road to Harts Pass and 7,440-foot Slate Peak beyond, the highest place in the state you can drive to. Chilled from high winds that nearly blew me away as I hiked the quarter-mile path to the peak's summit, I warmed up that night at Sun Mountain Lodge near Winthrop. The lodge's outdoor ethic is so strong that television sets and radios are banned from the luxurious rooms to encourage guests to walk or go horseback riding on more than 100 miles of trails. Leaving the resort after a morning run and a smoked-salmon omelet, I followed Highway 153 south, where the Methow River flows into the broad Columbia River. The 13-acre spillway is ideal for the free nightly laser light show in summer.
Gawkers gather before dusk at the picnic area below the visitor center for the best spot.
Heading back to Cascades high country, I drove through remote parts of the channeled scablands, eager to see more of its rocky beauty. From Dry Falls Dam on Highway 2, I cruised west 18 miles and turned south on Rim Rock Meadows Road. A turn west again 11 miles later at a sign to Palisades sent me down 30 desolate miles of Moses Coulee on a gravel road. Day 4 was the last leg of the loop. The inn is an easy drive from the absorbing Chelan County Museum and Pioneer Village and from Leavenworth, a Bavarian theme town for lovers of Hummels and cuckoo clocks.