Why was she so far north? Her destination should have taken her up hwy 9 and east on hwy20. Canyon Creek road leafs no where, hwy 542 leads no where. Either she got bad directions or somebody dumped her car up there.
This is a good question. I've had a few ideas over the years. Mostly dealing with Mount Baker, which 542 leads directly to.
If you aren't used to the large mountains (volcanoes, really) on the West Coast, they can look closer than they appear. Baker is something you can't miss on a clear day. Leah may have thought it close enough to make a quick drive to. And Kerouac wrote about seeing Mount Baker in his books.
Another possibility: Desolation Peak is also referenced in the copy of Dharma Burns I found in Google Books as being in the Mount Baker National Forest. If Leah had asked for directions to
Mount Baker, she would have gotten directions to take 542. Desolation Peak is actually in the North Cascades National Park, which is next door (and across Ross Lake.)
A third idea: she talked to someone about her plans (presumably to hike to Desolation Peak) and got discouraged. It's a long hike.
From the trailhead it's a 4400 foot elevation gain in under 5 miles, which is considered "strenuous", and that is if she took a few boats (which I don't think run this time of year) to get closer to the trailhead - from Route 20 itself, she'd have to hike in 16 miles just to get to the trailhead. This being March, there would have been significant snow in the area. The Washington Trails Association has
a history of trip reports, and I've never seen one written before late May - and
that report talks about people using ice axes to cut steps so they could get to the top. Looking at the inventory of what was in Leah's car, I don't think she was close to prepared for a multiday hike in the snow with a cat. Even if she did stop at an REI to pick up gear, I would hope they would have discouraged her from doing a hike that she was probably physically unprepared for. So at this point maybe she decides to see what she can drive to, and Baker makes sense.
As to where she was found, I found a video on YouTube of someone driving more remote sections of the road, but I can't see joggers wanting to go up there. The part of Canyon Creek Road right off 542 is next to a timeshare complex, a small inn, and what looks to be another condo/timeshare complex. It may be just me but I'm not jogging on a road that turns into this: [video=youtube;5sIuXfLILEM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sIuXfLILEM[/video]