Seattle City Light             News Release

Late summer brings the arrival of the "humpies" or pink salmon to the upper Skagit River. September is the perfect time to enjoy Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project in the North Cascades and to view humpies. The pink salmon spawn every other year. This year, a record number are expected. Up to one million salmon will return to their birthplace to spawn. The river will be filled with these unusual-looking salmon. The male (left foreground) bears a distinctive hump, which gives the fish its nickname. Females (background) lack the hump.

Seattle City Light offers its 2½ hour Skagit Tour, the Diablo Lake Adventure on Saturdays and Sundays during the month of September. New this year are overnight packages at nearby inns and cabins, giving visitors a chance to view breathtaking scenery, colorful fall foliage and plenty of humpies from the banks of the Skagit River.

The tour features views of dramatic canyons and waterfalls and a cruise up turquoise-colored Diablo Lake. Summer crowds are gone and the mountain air is clear and refreshing. Tours depart twice daily each Saturday and Sunday in September from Newhalem, about a three-hour drive northeast of Seattle along State Route 20, the scenic North Cascades Highway.

Reservations are recommended and made by calling the Tour Office at (206) 233-2709 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday through Mondays (closed Labor Day). After hours call (206) 684-3030. Press "1" for the Diablo Lake Adventure and leave a message for a callback to arrange your tour. For information on overnight packages, please contact Janice Boman at (206) 684-3026 or janice.boman@seattle.gov

Tours start in Newhalem across from "Old Engine Number 6," a remnant of the historic Skagit River Railway. It is located in front of the Skagit General Store, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic places and offers ice-cold refreshment and fantastic homemade fudge. The store mails out fudge to locations worldwide as a tasty, unique gift.

You may buy beverages, snacks and sandwiches at the General Store. Or, pack a picnic basket at home and enjoy our beautifully landscaped grounds.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the tours. They started in 1928, by then- superintendent of Seattle City Light JD Ross, as a way to showcase the Skagit River and its potential for harnessing hydroelectric power. Today there are three City Light dams on the Skagit: Ross, Diablo and the Gorge High Dam.

Tour length: 2.5 hours

Tour time: Saturday and Sundays in September at 9:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
Check-in is 30 minutes before your departure time

Admission: (includes applicable tax):

Group discounts are available. Contact Janice Boman at janice.boman@seattle.gov.

For more information about the greater North Cascades area visit www.marblemount.com or the North Cascades National Park Visitor Center www.nps.gov/noca

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