The distance to NGC 4697 is not known with high precision: measurements vary from 28 to 76 million light-years. According to the NASA Extra-galactic Database, the average is about 38 million light-years; according to SIMBAD, about 50 million light-years.
The Mount Baker Highway was constructed by Whatcom County in 1893 as a wagon road traveling northeast from Bellingham along the Nooksack River through Deming and Kendall to Maple Falls.
Maple Falls, Washington (Wikipedia) Maple Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The population was 291 at the 2020 census.