The Journey Continues in Washington State

Monday morning, July 27, we left the Port Angeles KOA headed to Olympic National Park hoping to snag a campsite at Heart O' the Hills Campground. We arrived around 9:00 AM and found lots of beautiful sites to choose from, and then headed up the Hurricane Ridge Road, a beautiful mountain road that is not for the faint of heart! We have been on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington a couple of times in the past, but had never ventured into the stunning interior of Olympic National Park. The deep canyons and high-glaciated mountains were reminiscent of the Swiss Alps. After some short hikes on Hurricane Ridge we headed back to camp where we took what was supposed to be a 4 mile round trip easy hike right out of the camp ground. A sign at the beginning said the trail ended in two miles, but after what was certainly more than two miles out the trail kept getting more challenging as it followed along the side of a deep creek gorge. We met other hikers coming back towards us and asked if they'd gotten to the end of the trail. None of them had, and everyone commented that the trail was not what they would call easy. We were about to turn around, but we really wanted to figure out where the trail went. Finally we reached a steep downward climb that was just on the edge of my comfort zone, but we made it down to the creek and sat for a while drumming up energy for the return trip. It was definitely one of the hardest easy trails we've done, and many other hikers agreed with us, even the young ones. After a strenuous uphill hike the next morning we spent a lazy afternoon in camp and then the next day left Olympic National Park after only seeing a fraction of it. 

            One of the things that we hadn't planned on much is the seeing of friends and family along the way, but that has been a delightful addition to this journey. On Wednesday, the 28th, we met up with Janie and her husband Todd, friends from our Colfax days over 20 years ago, for dinner. Janie also arranged for us to park for the night at her United Methodist Church in Lacey, Washington. 

            Thursday morning we got an early start, heading to Mount Rainier National Park hoping to get a campsite at White River Campground as easily as we had at Heart O' the Hills Campground in Olympic National Park earlier in the week. White River CG is strictly first come, first serve, so early Thursday morning seemed like we'd have a good chance of finding a spot, but alas it was not to be. Over half the campsites were closed due to "hazardous trees." I felt sorry for the campground host who was obviously frustrated with having to turn us and many others away on a weekday morning. It would not have been that big of a problem for the two of us to just look for another spot to camp, but my niece Emily was to meet us that night so she and I could go backpacking. Emily lives in Seattle where she started a new job in February following earning a master’s degree in criminal justice from Rochester Institute of Technology in December 2019. She accompanied me part way on my Tahoe Rim Trail hike four years ago, and we’ve made it a tradition to backpack together each summer since.

There was no cell service at Mount Rainier, which we had anticipated, so we had told Emily to just look for us in that campground if she didn’t hear from us, but of course we weren’t going to be in that campground. We headed off to find another campground and cell service. The first direction we went was to Chinook Pass where we located a good start for a backpacking hike, but no cell coverage and were told that there would be none for 40 miles or more if we kept going that direction. We were starting to get concerned about how to let Emily know if and when we found a spot for the night. We headed back the way we’d come since we’d had cell reception closer than 40 miles, and it would be closer to where Emily was coming from. We found a campground with a couple of sites available for one night, but of course no cell coverage. While discussing taking a site, marking it and then driving to cell coverage, the two remaining sites were taken. We were getting a little concerned about what to do and started driving back towards Seattle. It was only a few miles down the road that we saw a sign for Buck Creek Recreation Area and we turned off the highway to find what looked like unlimited places to camp along Ranger Creek Airfield. There were picnic tables, campfire rings and even outhouses – and it was FREE! Cell coverage was not good, but by walking onto the airfield where there was an opening in the forest there was some reception, and I finally managed to get a text to Emily telling her where we were. We figured the earliest she would arrive would be about 6:30 so we had dinner and then thought we’d go out to the highway to be there when Emily arrived. About 6:15 she drove right up to our campsite and we were finally able to relax after the most difficult day we’d had locating a place to camp for the night. We planned to keep the RV there for four nights while Emily and I backpacked for two. Rob would stay in camp with the cats.

Friday morning Emily and I headed up to Chinook Pass and hiked 2 ½ miles along the Pacific Crest Trail toward Mexico through absolutely beautiful mountains with lush meadows of gorgeous wildflowers to arrive at Dewey Lake and set up camp, amongst the flowers and the MOSQUITOES! The only place to escape the mosquitoes was in our tents that we spent more time in them during the afternoon than we ever have before. We ventured out to go swimming at one point and were delighted to not be bothered by the mosquitoes while we were in the lake or even for an hour or so after while we sat on the shore drying off. That made us think that down by the lake would be a good place to cook dinner so we carted all our cooking stuff down there, probably about ¼ mile from our campsite, only to be constantly attacked. After dinner we hiked around the lake because while we were moving the mosquitoes weren’t as bad, but they were still everywhere. From the opposite end of the lake we had a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier. We had a restful night inside the tents, and the next morning after breakfast we hiked a couple of miles further along the PCT and back without packs and decided one night with mosquitoes was enough for us. We surprised Rob when we arrived back at Buck Creek Recreation Area about 2:00 PM. Rob said that on Friday he watched planes land and take off, and said that at one time there were 14 planes parked along the remote runway. 7 of the planes spent the night while their occupants camped by the runway. That airfield out in the middle of the forest was surreal to us.

Saturday afternoon Emily headed back to Seattle, I got a coveted shower in LesThora and Rob and I planned to spend the day on Sunday exploring at Mount Rainier National Park. Wow! We had seen the mountain from a distance on previous trips through Washington State, and of course many pictures of it, but nothing had really prepared us for how beautiful it was up close. We hiked a bit at the Paradise area and explored some around Longmire, and by the end of the day we had completely circled the park. That night we spent another night at a Harvest Host site, Battle Creek Golf Course in Marysville, Washington. Monday morning, August 3, we played 9 holes of golf and Rob beat me by three strokes, but I’m not sharing our scores. It seemed to take us forever to get out of Marysville as we had the tire pressure checked, stopped for groceries, gas, a dump station at a rest area and bought propane before heading north to Douglas Fir Campground on the Nooksack River, east of Glacier, Washington in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest where we had reservations for two nights. Our campsite was right on the fast moving, glacier fed river. Friends from Eureka, Steve and Sue, have a cabin across the river from the campground where they spend the summer, and ever since we got LesThora five years ago they have encouraged us to come visit them there. Wow! Again! They don’t live in a National Park, but their area sure looks like one. On Tuesday, August 4, Steve and Sue took us to the end of Hwy 542 where there is a ski area and lots of hiking trails with views every bit as breathtaking as Olympic or Mt. Rainier National Park. They led us on the Chain Lakes loop hike, a total of about 7 ½ miles that included views of Mt. Shuksan, which is located in North Cascades National Park, and Mt. Baker. The trail of course went up and down, but the hard work was worth it for the incredible and changing scenery. It was wonderful to spend time with Steve and Sue and to see why they love their Washington retreat so much!

Today we left Douglas Fir Campground, certain we’ll return again, and headed “between” the two sections of North Cascades National Park. We never actually set foot on North Cascades National Park because a National Recreation Area separates the two sections of the park, which is 92% wilderness. We walked on some nature trails, stopped at the closed visitor center and viewpoints along the way. The last stop was at the Washington Pass Overlook. As we walked out to the dramatic viewpoint I realized I had left my phone (camera) in LesThora and I comment to Rob that I had to go back to get it so I could take more “pointless” pictures. I say that because there is no way that the pictures I take convey the beauty and grandeur of what we’ve seen, but I still keep taking them, hoping they will help us to remember.

We are now safely parked for the night at a KOA in Winthrop, Washington. KOAs are a bit pricey, but their quality is dependable and they provide us a place to periodically get WiFi, laundry facilities, showers more spacious than LesThora has to offer, a place to dump our tanks and to refill our fresh water.

That's Canada on the horizon.

The view from Hurricane Ridge

The reward at the end of the "easy" hike.

A long uphill climb in Olympic National Park

Emily and I ready to begin at Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier NP

At the top of the ridge before descending to Dewey Lake - no mosquito bites yet!

A trail by Dewey Lake

Our Campsite at Dewey Lake

Emily at the top waiting for me on the way out.

                                Finally, I made it to the top of the ridge on the way out!

A Marmot posing on the trail

Myrtle Falls with Mount Rainier in the background

A view that included Mt. St Helens and Mt. Hood in the background.

Just a few of the flowers we saw in various places

The Nooksack River with us and Steve and on its own

Mount Shuksan in North Cascades National Park

Sue and Steve on the Chain Lakes Trail

On the Chain Lakes Trail

Iceberg Lake - named for the chunks of ice that sometimes break off and float in the lake

Mount Baker 

Mount Baker from the Chain Lakes Trail

The "narliest" part of the Chain Lakes Trail was the descent part way on these log stairs.

At the Washington Pass Lookout

The Washington Pass Road