The Humble Walker

Our next stop was Wallace RV Park in Wallace, Idaho. It is a really a nice park that caters to bicyclists. It has a brewery and restaurant on site as well. It is directly on the Coeur D’Alene Rail Trail, about 5 miles from the eastern end of the trail. It is also about 12 miles from Lookout Pass on the Idaho/ Montana border and the start of the Route of the Hiawatha. We planned to ride on both trails and had 3 nights booked at this campground. We needed to get supplies and found a Walmart about 14 miles away. This was also location of traillead to one of the more scnic section of the Coeur D’Alene Trail according to our campground host. The Coeur d’Alene Trail trail is 73 mile long paved trail that spans the Idaho panhandle. It has nice picnic areas and rest rooms on the trail and is very popular. We just planned to bike one section of the trail. The trail was really nice and we enjoyed our ride

The next day we woke up to rain and 35 degrees We decided to do the Route of the Hiawatha anyway. We heard it is great rain or shine and were hopeful the rain would stop. We put on long underwear, packed our winter jackets, winter hats, gloves, rain jackets and rain pants, and headed up Lookout Pass.

The Hiawatha Trail does have a fee and since it is mostly downhill, a return shuttle. To reach the trailhead we had to drive another 7 miles from where we bought our tickets – mostly on a dirt road. We met a guy from the Berkshires while buying our tickets. He lives in the area and works in marketing at Lookout Pass now. When we reached the trailhead head it started to rain harder. The start of the trail is a 1 1/2 mile tunnel with no lights and water dripping thru it. We had our bike lights and headlamps so were able to see in front of us but it still was a little scary. The Route of the Hiawatha runs for 15 miles through the Bitterroot Mountains thru 10 tunnels and 7 high trestle bridges. Even with the cold rain, the views were amazing and I would do it again – maybe on a sunny day. It follows the Route of the old Milwaukee Railroad. It took us a boy 3 hours to ride – stopping to admire view and take pictures.

The shuttle ride back to the top was almost scarier than the ride down. We all got in an old school bus and drove back to the top on windy one lane dirt forest roads it was definable an adventure we won’t forget!

We planned to go to North Cascade Park but found out that Route 20 thru the park was closed due to a landslide. We planned to drive on Route 20 from North Cascades to Glacier. The road was closed at the Colonial Creek Camgropund which is where we had our reservation. If we went it would mean we would have to take a 2 hour detour to get back on track. We decided to go anyway and we were very glad we did. North Cascades National Park is amazing and one of the most beautiful places we have been.

We stopped at Newhalen, an historic company town just before our campground to pick up some firewood. Newhalen was a town set up when they built a series of three dams to provide power for the metropolitan Seatle area known as the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. It is owned by Seattle City Light. When building the dams the company built housing and a post office and store for employees, To this day you have to be an employee of Seattle City Light or a contractor in order to live there. There are only about 15 house there. Newhalen is also where we found the North Cascade National Park Visitor Center.

We arrived at the campground and set up. Our sit was beutiful and surrounded by tall trees. We met another couple who owned a Geopro camper like ours and compared stories about our campers. Mick is a nuclear engineer and works as aonsultant in the nuclear energy field all over the world. He was at Maine Yankee, Seabrook, Vermont Yankee etc. He feels strongly that nuclear energy is coming back and that is much safer than before. Mick’s campsite was nearby so we talked with him quite a bit.

We had very poor cell service at the campground but occasionally a text would come through. The first morning we were there, I woke up and saw a text from John’s daughter, Molly. She was pregnant and due at the end of June. She texted that the her water broke and the baby would likely come that day. We had no service so couldn’t get any other information. I tried hooking up our StarLink Mini but had difficutly as we were under the trees. Finally, I went into the woods as far as the cord and extension cord would reach to a small clearing and we were able to get wifi for a short time. We found out the baby did come and she was doing fine. She would be in NICU for a bit as she was 4 weeks early.

After that exciting news, we headed out on a hike up the Thunder Knob Trail. Conviently, the trailhead was at our campground. It was beautiful. We saw glaciers, mountains, lakes and rivers everywhere we looked. On the way down we met a woman with a Buffalo Bills cap, originally from upstate New York. She and Donna hit it off and were talking nonstop like they knew each other for years. Part way into the conversatoin, they realized they were both Italian and decided that explained their connection.

After we returned from our hike, we headed back to Newhalen so we could call and check on Molly nad the baby. Both were doing well, We also stopped to check out the dams , Ladder Falls, and the Visitor Center again.

We loved our short visit to North Cascades National Park and definately want to retiurn. We hope to travel all the way over Route 20 and visit the northern side of the Cascades as well. The thing we really liked, other than the beauty was the feeling of being in a beautiful environment without crowds of people.

We woke to rain and decided it was a good day to take the ferry to Victoria, British Columbia for a change of pace.the ferry leaves from Port Angeles several times a day. We olanned to take the 8:20 am ferry and return in the 3:00 pm as we were leaving the next day. We had a bi of difficulty finding parking and when we did find a spot, the ticket machine wasn’t working. The parking lot was part of a local hotel so we ran in to try to pay inside. It was 8’10 and the boat was leaving at 8:20 a few blocks away. The desk clerk said don’t worry about paying, and gave us a pass to put in our car as he thought we wouldn’t make it any way. We sprinted to the dock and made it just as they were about to leave. Phew!

It was a 90 minute ride across the Juan de Fuca Srait. Donna spent most of that time talking with a woman she met from Minneapolis. They really hit it off and had a lot in common. We have met so many nice people on our trip.

We walked around the harbor, downtown and had a delicious lunch in Chinatown. It was a great change from our usual peanut butter sandwich for lunch. Victoria is a beautiful city.

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We headed to Fisherman’s Wharf and decided next trip we would eat there. The fish and chips looked amazing. Maybe next time we will stay over night – just for the food.

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The next morning we packed up and headed for Port Townsend. We planned to take the ferry to Whidbey Island and camp for the night there before we headed to North Cascades. Taking the ferry would save us several hours and we would not have to drive thru the Seattle traffic. We were able to get a reservation at Fort Casey State Park, just past the ferry dock.

We made it on the 8:30 pm ferry with no problems and were in the front row. The woman directing the vehicles onto the ferry, exclaimed “You guys are Mainers” when she saw us. She told us she lived in Maine for about 10 years working on a lobster boat near Waldoboro. She loved Maine but left because it was too cold. It was a beautiful ferry ride and included a beautiful sunset.

Fort Casey State Park was adjacent to the ferry terminal in Coupeville, Washington and it was beautiful. We were very happy to have a pull through site as it was after 9:00 pm when we arrived. We kept the trailer hooked up and after a short walk around went to sleep.

The next morning we went for a walk around Fort Casey. It was a beautiful spot. It was built in 1890’s to protect Puget Sound from navel invasion especially from the UK and Germany. We talked with a volunteer and he gave us a rundown on the history of the fort and the rare 10” disappearing cannons that took 100 men to deploy. The fort became obsolete with the advent of airplanes.

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After walking around the fort for a couple hours we headed over Deception Pass and on to North Cascades National Park.

Hurricane Ridge is an alpine area at Olympic National Park. It has an elevation of over 5000 feet. There is a windy but paved 17 mile road to the top that is open seasonally and luckily, opened the day before we arrived. You can also hike to the top but, wisely, we took the road and hiked when go close to the summit. There are many trails at the top and we chose to hike Hurricane Hill from the lower parking lot for a 6 mile round trip hike with a peak elevation of 5757 feet. There had been a visitor center at the top but it burned down a couple years ago. According to a local from the area, because it is a 16 mile windy road to the top it took the fire fighters a while to get to the fire and the building was completely in flames by the time they arrived. There are plans to rebuild the visitor center. Hurricane Ridge is one of the most popular places to visit at Olympic Park. We got up early and made it up to the top before the crowds arrived.

The up was beautiful. Everywhere we looked we saw snow covered mountains. We saw lots of deer, marmots and goats.

As we got closer to the top of the ridge, we had 360 degree views of the snow covered Olympic Mountains, Mount Baker and the Cascade Mountains, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver, British Columbia. The ranger pointed out the various peaks to us. The weather was amazing with a beautiful blue sky and temperatures in the 70’s.

We were really glad we got an early start. When we arrived back at the ranger station and gate near the bottom, cars were lined up for over two miles waiting to get in to the park. They were letting the cars in one by one as people left. I think people were waiting for at least 2-3 hours to drive up the road. The views were amazing but we definitely advise an early start if you plan to drive up the road. Olympic National Park was wonderful with so many diverse features. We were here for over a weekand still were not able to appreciate everything the park has to offer. We hope to return again.

Today we traveled north and then east to the Elwah RV Park near Port Angelas. This is a private campground with full hookups and laundry which we despirately needed after spending 4 nights off grid. We traveled through Forks again and past Lake Crescent, an 11 mile deep glacial lake with crystal blue water surrouded by mountains. We stopped for a while to take photos and take in the beautiful scenery.

We headed back on the road and drove the 1/2 hour to our campground. As Donna was getting out of the car to check in, she realized she didn’t have her wallet. It was in her waist bag that she took off while we were taking pictures at the lake. Since she has an apple air tag in her purse (because she is always forgetting and losing things) we were able to look and see that it was indeed at the lake. We quickly checked in, dropped off our camper and drove the 30 minutes back to the lake. Luckily it was still there.

The next day we decided to take a bike ride on the Olympic Discovery Bike Trail. This trail is a 135 multi use trail that runs from La Push on the west coast to Port Townsend, Washington at the east end of the Olympic Peninsula. We rode about 24 miles to the Ediz Hook Split, in Port Angeles and back. We were able to get on the Olympic Discovery Trail right from the campground.

We followed the Elwah River for a way and it was a beautiful ride. The Elwah River runs mostly thru Olympic National Park. It is famous for one to the worlds largest dam removal and restoration projects This has allowed salmon to return and restored the river’s natural ecosystem. The site of the dam was in walking distance to the RV park. We rode along the river and crossed the river on a cool bike bridge. We then rode our bikes thru tall forests and into the outskirts of Port Angeles and then onto the long spit that ends at the coast guard station. It was a beautiful ride.

We really enjoyed our bike ride and would recommend the Olympic Discovery Trail to others. Tomorrow we hope to head up to Hurricane Ridge in the for a hike.

Coastal Fog

We woke to a very foggy morning. After our usual coffee and breakfast, we headed up Highway 101 about 10 minutes to Ruby Beach. It was low tide and a perfect day for checking out the tide pools. It was sunny about 5 miles inland but the mist and fog was perfect for exploring the beach and tide pools. I took a lot of pictures and my phone kept giving me a message to clean my lense, but the issue was fog – not dust or dirt.

Tide Pools

we walked out into the low tide area and were amazed at the sea creatures and plants we saw. I have never seen so many starfish in my life. And the sea and mines wer so beautiful!

After several hours of walking the beach, we headed to La Push to chexk out a couple other beaches. The sun burned thru the fog but the beaches were equally as beautiful. La Push is a little further north on the western Olympic Peninsula and is the main settlement of the Quileute Indian Reservation, It also has sea stracks and tide pools. It is near the cool town of Forks, Washington which was the setting for the Twilight Series. We enjoyed comparing Forks Maine with Forks, Washington. with the woman at the Visitor Center. She has had other folks from Maine talk about Forks,, Maine as well. It seems that everywhere we go, people are very impressed that we are from Maine. They think of it as a magical place. (We do too). It is definately a great conversation starter. When poeple see our Maine Liscense Plate or Joh’s UMaine sweatshirt he wears almost everyday, they usyally have something positive to say about Maine.

Another Spectacular Sunset

We haeaded home after a full day and after supper, sat outside our camper and witnessed another spectaular sunset. We are not sure where the rainy days of the Pacific Northwest are, but we are not coplaining! Tonight is our last day at this camprgound but, thankfully, not our last night at Olympic National Park. Tomorrow we head to the Elwha Valley where we hope to visit Cresent Lake and Hurricane Ridge.

We headed up the coast and into Washington. We had reservations at Kalaloch Campgrounds for 4 nights but missed the first two nights due to our delay with truck repairs in Colorado. We were going to have to change campgrounds after a couple days. I had read about South Beach Campground at Olympic National Park that was a first come first serve. Since it was a Tuesday night in mid May and it was on the way to Kalaloch, we decided to stop and check it out. We found a site at the edge of the ocean bluff with a great view. We would be able to stay as many nights as we wanted and decided on 4 nights. We wanted to spend a day at the Hoh Rainforest and at least another day at a couple of different beaches. With our National Park Senior Lifetime Pass the cost was only $10 per night. What a great deal! Only about 12 sites of 50 were taken.

We spent the afternoon and evening walking along the beach and relaxing. There were so many giant logs on the beach and we found many sand dollars. We met a couple from Washington who were camping next to us. They had recently returned from walking the Portuguese Camino and we had a nice conversation with them.

That night we fell asleep to the sound of crashing ocean waves. It was the best night sleep we had on the entire tripo far! We are so glad we decided to stay at South Beach Campground.

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Since we have a hard time passing up any chance to have ice cresm, we made our way to Nahelan Bay State Park Camground by way ot Tillamook. Tillamook Creamery has all available types of ice cream, yogurt, cheeses etc. that they sell at their shop at the headquarters.in Tillamook, Oregon. It is quite a place with ice cream shop, restaurant, factory tour and all Tillamook paraphernalia. We ordered our ice cream and sat down next to a couple from Nevada who were also traveling and camping in their van wile visiting grandchildren on the way. They were headed to Seattle to a graduation and planned to travel another hour or two before stopping. We were just traveling up the road about 1/2 hour to Nehalam Bay. They told us they heard good things about that campground. We headed off, excited to stay near the beach for a couple of nights.

Nehalem Bay State Park was just beautifil. The campground was located on a spit separating the bay from the Pacific Ocean. Our campsites was near the bluff overlooking the sand dunes and ocean. We set up and found we were having an issue with our solar energy system. As luck would have it, a young guy named Richard stopped by while biking with his kids to see how we liked our GeoPro camper. He had just bought his. We told him we were enjoying it other than this new issue. He offered to have a look at it and spent over an hour explaining how the inverter may have tripped the electric and more importantly showing us where it was located so it coule be reset. He was such a nice guy. He apparently works for a solar energy comany which was lucky for us. After we got everthing fixed and working again, we went out for a long walk on the beach. We saw that our new friends we met at Tillamook also deceded to camp here, and we had a nice talk with them. It was still windy but a beautiful evening with a stunning sunset. We were amazed it wasn’t raining. Campers gathered on the sand dunes around 8:15 to see the sun set which was 8:40 ish. It was a really spectacular.

The next day we biked to the nearby town of Manzanita for a coffee and to look around. It is my new favorite town – not too touristy with great coffee shop, market and book store. I would consider moving there :). We took another walk on the beach and met a couple who were there for the month working as camrpground hosts – basically for a free site. They have been in almost every state working and staying at campgrounds for a month or two for each stint. I would love to do something like that, That evening, we watched another spectacuar sunset along with many others.on the dunes. The campground has horse camping sites and there were also horses on the beach enjoyuing the sunset. We also saw elk in the dunes.

We really enjoyed our two days at Nahelan Bay State Park campround and thought it was the best campground on our trip so far. We would love to come back with our extended family. Our next stop is up the coast to Washington and Olympic National Park!