Pacific Northwest 3
Friday-Monday 18 August - 9 September, 2023
The great Pacific Northwest--wild, intense, unpredictable, but never disappointing. This was a trip of incredible highs and dramatic lows. We experienced such an enormous range of intense emotions as we drove over 5,000 km/3,000 mi, exploring amazing sights.
We faced one obstacle after another. Smoke and road closures were recurring themes. At one point, a red-and-white bar indicating a four-hour road closure came down six cars in front of us! The worst obstacle was a frustrating twisted ankle four days before the marquee adventure of the trip, the hike into Mount St. Helens.
I learned of the raging Sourdough Fire, and the attendant closure of most of the Ross Lake National Recreation Area, only about a week before departure. I hastily replanned and rescheduled much of the trip, running into the bookstore for a British Columbia guidebook, and planning to spend more time in British Columbia and less in Washington. Little did we know that fires and road closures would be an ongoing theme throughout the trip. This region of the world, from the Cascades to the coast, is powerful, dangerous, and stunningly beautiful.
You can follow the pages through our travails and triumphs with links at the bottom of each page, starting with the major US Pacific Northwest cities.
Or you can use these direct links to pages with specific tales of ups and downs:
- The big US Pacific Northwest cities, Portland and Seattle
- Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park, with waterfalls and mountain peaks
- Lakes and waterfalls in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area
- Dramatic mountain scenery and a surprise kitty in North Cascades National Park
- Exploring sites on Vancouver Island, out to the lovely surf town of Tofino and onto smaller Quadra Island
- The charming seaside City of Victoria
- Remote and dramatically beautiful Tofino, with waterfalls and traffic jams along the way
- Steep hiking and a tragic misstep on Quadra Island
- Anticipation, dread, and incredible scenery on Mount St. Helens
- Journey back into the US and along the Olympic Peninsula into Olympia, WA, with expansive views and yet another road closure
- At last, stunning success on the outstanding adventure into the crater
Snoqualmie Falls, east of Seattle.
Eric hiking down from Cascade Pass.
Rainbow Falls. Photo by Eric.
View from Cascade Pass.
Overcast morning at Tonquin Beach, Tofino.
Sunset from dinner on the pier.
Englishman River Falls
View from Chinese Mountain looking back toward Vancouver Island
Rim of Mount St. Helens
View from Mt. Walker, Olympic National Forest, WA
Us at the crater rim
Obligatory shot of Mt. Shasta from I-5 on the way home. It's always good to be back in California again.
Map of our Pacific Northwest explorations.
Total distance: 3,333 mi/5,354 km
Geocaches found: 12
Ferries: 4
Road closures: 4
Fires: Innumerable
Fish fry eaten: 4