As the boat made its way along the meandering waterway, the mountains slowly changed. Initially low and rolling, they became snow-capped, then steeper, finally towering above our tiny vessel. As we navigated deeper into the North Cascades along Lake Chelan, it became quite obvious that the claim of being the deepest gorge in North America is not an exaggeration: this huge, deep waterway reminded me instantly of the many fjords I've visited in Alaska over the years...