Nomad Adventures

We spent a week at a lovely county park in Randle WA to visit Mt. Ranier NP and Mt. St. Helen’s. Our campground had large shaded sites and had a boat launch on the Cowlitz River. The river was a milky blue shade that wasn’t very clear, so it didn’t really invite us to dive in or kayak it. The name of the park was Cowlitz Falls, but this was another site that was dammed for a hydroelectric project, so the falls are long gone – and have to be viewed underwater, if one could don scuba gear and didn’t mind the poor visibility.

As much as we hoped to thoroughly explore both Mountains, we found that the 2 hour drive to each was prohibitive. So one day we headed out to Mt St Helen’s only to find the route Apple Maps suggested was closed. Instead we ventured north to Mt. Ranier and enjoyed the scenic drive to the Sunrise area, the highest road in the park. A short trail showed beautiful views of Emmons Glacier and we enjoyed a lovely picnic in their secluded picnic table area. Not bad for a less-than-perfectly planned day! I had been to this park for a day trip from Seattle a few years ago, and did an epic hike from the Paradise area of the park. That would have been fun to do again, but the direct road to Paradise was closed on this trip. Guess I missed my ticket to paradise this time.

Ray’s getting a bit burned out at this point by all the to and fro driving, and how difficult it is to get to the parks when we camp outside of them. Also the sheer magnitude of the driving within these parks can be overwhelming since one just can’t easily get through them. Here in the Pacific Northwest (or PNW as I see the locals abbreviate it) the mountains present substantial challenges for any hope of direct routes.

So for this week we stayed at Cowlitz Falls campground, we decided not to go crazy with daily 4 hour drives. But one thing Ray found online that looked super interesting was Mt. St. Helen’s Ape Cave. Discovered in the 1950’s and mapped by a Boy Scout troop, these long lava tubes run under the mountain. One can take an easy 1 mile trail in the lower cave or a more challenging 2 mile trail. The temp is 40 year round and it’s completely dark so redundant flashlights are a must. As we were there midweek, it was possible for us to get our entrance tickets online the day before. What a very cool experience this was! I’m so glad to have had this as a part of our adventure.

We started off on this adventure 6/2 and yesterday marked the two month anniversary of that notable date. Since then we…

• Traveled a total of 4,909 miles (1,712 in the past month)
• Crossed through 8 states (MI, WI, MN, ND, SD, WY, ID, MT, WA)
• Spent $2503 in gas ($1137 in July) -with a range between $3.64 a gallon and $5.10 a gallon – yikes! Seems the further west you go the more it costs.
• Visited 7 national parks
• Camped in 2 state parks, 1 county park and 3 national parks with a total of 17 different campgrounds
• Read 7 audiobooks (finished Peter Ash series and now on to Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt), 5 paperbacks and 7 e-books
• Lost 5 pounds
• Paid $2788 in campground fees ($1170 in July) – double-yikes!
• Learned to boondock at sites without electricity, water hookups but learned that a whole week of boondocking in hot weather isn’t fun, since our generators won’t handle the A/C
• Hiked to 9 waterfalls
• 5 kayak trips
• Enjoyed Numerous bike rides and trail hikes
• Survived one crazy hailstorm and some days of 90 degree heat
• Met some very cool and interesting people
• Enjoyed local smoked fish and fresh salmon
• Enjoyed the freedom of the road!

We just spent an amazing week on the Olympic peninsula in Washington state. The campground we stayed at was just across a quiet road from a lovely private beach on the Salish sea at the strait of Juan de Fuca. We saw large ships come in and could see Victoria, British Columbia right across the water, about 20 miles away.

We had wonderful adventures in this past week. Although we stayed in the northern area of the vast Olympic NP and didn’t make it to the western coast, we had some great hiking, biking and kayaking. And we did see 2 waterfalls too.

On one of our first days here we biked for about 20 miles round trip on the Spruce railroad trail, which ran alongside Crescent Lake. This trail had 2 tunnels and climbed gently through forests with some huge old growth trees. A highlight for me was the proliferation of ripe thimbleberries – so yummy! And Crescent Lake was turquoise blue and crystal clear.

Another highlight was just walking the beach at low tide, after all the kelp and driftwood washed up. It surprised me that the wood was bleached so white, and it was so smooth. We saw nice sunsets from our campground’s private beach and enjoyed exploring the tide pools.

One thing I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss was Sol Duc Hot Springs. Their hot springs mineral water pools were awesome.

They limited the number of cars allowed up to hurricane ridge because the visitor center there burned down in May (they’re still investigating whether it was arson) and they have limited facilities now. But we got up early and were able to get through, and had some amazing views of the Olympic mountains on the way to the top. The High Ridge trail we hiked was wonderful.

All in all, this is one place I could spend a whole season. We missed out on the famous beaches, Forks (of Twilight fame) and the Hoh rainforest, since those were all 2 hour drives from our campground. So I’m adding those to the bucket list for next time.

We spent a solid week at North Cascades at the Newhalem Creek Campground. North Cascades is one of the least visited national parks and is known as the American Alps because of the sweeping Mountain views all along state highway 20.

Before coming to North Cascades, I had read that it was located in a hydroelectric project, but I hadn’t realized just what that meant. There are numerous dams on the rivers and lakes and electric lines running alongside the roads. The area was developed by Seattle City Lights to power the city. The actual national park boundaries include only the very remote areas of the park and the areas alongside the highway and the trails near the rivers and lakes are actually national recreation areas instead of part of the national park. So I suppose that technically we never actually visited the National Park!

We enjoyed the amazing views and the stunning turquoise waters of the lakes and Skagit River (pronounced “Skadgit” with a soft g sound). The best trail was Thunder Knob trail which rose from Diablo Lake to a height of 1867 feet. And a great part of these trails was that dogs were allowed.

I didn’t enjoy boondocking at our campsite, especially when we found out our 2 generators weren’t able to run the air conditioning and the first 2 days we were there the temps hovered around 90. Thankfully it cooled off after that and our boondocking inconvenience was just rationing water and having the refrigerator not work very well. I think we have some things to figure out before we get good at boondocking.

Between Glacier NP and North Cascades NP we stayed 2 nights at a really nice RV park at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Coeur d’Alene, which I learned was pronounced “Core duh Lane.” Definitely not how my 9th grade French teacher would have pronounced it.

But Coeur d’Alene is worth a mention because we had such a memorable time there. The campground host told us about the Centennial bike trail that wound around the lake and also a park where one can spot eagles and egrets. There was a marina downtown that boasted the world’s longest floating boardwalk, so we had to see that too. And when we went biking along the waterfront we found a waterfront park for dogs, with a dock for jumping into the water for fetching floating toys and a roped off doggie swim area. Their parks for humans were really great too! So while I had booked our stay in Coeur d’Alene with no particular agenda in mind, I was glad to have passed through there. And northern Idaho is definitely a place I could spend more time, should we pass this way ever again.

When we arrived at Kalispell and started looking at what we wanted to see in Glacier, we realized that they issue a very limited number of vehicle entry tickets, which I should have reserved for 6 months in advance. Another way to get in for the day is to reserve a tour with one of the park concessionaires. And from my last trip here, I knew that driving the Going to the Sun road allowed the driver little time for enjoying the amazing scenery.

So I reserved a trip on the little Red Bus tour for our first full day in the area, over Ray’s objections. He was certain he’d be stuck in the middle of a 4-person bench seat and be able to see nothing. We had no local dog sitter for Olive for the day. Also… MONEY.

We left the campground by 7:30am and found a quarter mile line-up to enter the park. Many cars were being turned around. Ray’s skepticism and frustration ramped up and I was glad we started off so early and would surely not be missing our bus tour, regardless of the wait.

We went to the Apgar Visitor Center and were able to find parking. Another win. When it was time to board the red bus, we were odd numbers thanks to a family of 3, so I volunteered Ray to sit in the front next to the driver. It was the absolute primo seat, allowing him to film from the front as well as the side. I also hadn’t realized the canvas top of the bus rolled back to create an open viewing area that let passengers imitate gophers and stand up to pop our heads out for a better view. Our tour guide, or “Jammer Driver” as they are known, was so in love with Glacier that his enthusiasm really shone through. And I felt totally safe on those narrow, windy roads with thousands of feet of drop off, right below my window.

Ray had been getting a little jaded with the parks. He has been rating them, and felt that Grand Tetons would be the very best, and how could any others compare? But the views in Glacier, the bighorn sheep, the mountain goats – all made him rethink his rating system.

Our tour took us to Lake McDonald Lodge then up to Logan’s Pass. What a fantastic trip! Not having to drive allowed me to gawk without interruption.

The remainder of that day was spent trying to figure out how to get back into the park. Should I book a horseback ride? A whitewater rafting trip? Take our chances on snagging one of few vehicle 3-day passes released for the following day at 8am? in the end I opted for begging the internet gods to smile on me. At 7:55 I was locked and loaded to request the vehicle pass to Going to the Sun road and St Mary’s, the section of the park on the other side of the 50-mile long mountain pass. I tried again and again. The “spinny wheel of death” showed the available passes dwindled from 300 available to 195, to 70 to 11 with each request I made and I was sure we wouldn’t get one… but finally, success! We would be allowed into the park for 3 days. Yay!

We decided to repeat the trek we made with the Red bus, heading to Logan’s Pass. But now we would have time to hike the trail there to Hidden Lake, assuming we could find a parking place! We left plenty early and brought Olive with us, thinking with the cool nights and high altitude, she’d be fine in the truck. We had to wait for about half an hour to snag a parking space by following someone who was leaving. When we got to the trail, bighorn sheep were RIGHT THERE. As we walked further, we saw mountain goats right next to us too. It was a few mile trek, but Hidden Lake was really nice. Overall, an easy, nice trail. Turned out to be Ray’s favorite so far.

We were too low on gas to keep going east to St Mary’s, so we headed back to the western entrance after our hike. Some of the trails I wanted to check out on the way down had parking lots way too full for us to get into. So we decided to come back bright and early the next day for them.

We were better prepared for hiking the next morning, leaving our campground at 5:30am. A surprise was that we weren’t alone when we hit the parking lot at Avalanche Lake, where the Trail of the Cedars also begins. But unlike the previous day, we were able to park. So far this was my very best hike. Several miles of well-worn pathway, alongside a cascading river and around Pacific rainforest cedars, with moss-covered trunks and trails winding around massive boulders. What’s not to love!?

That’s about it for Glacier. Although we do have a pass for one more day, tomorrow is another long travel day so heading back to the park for more driving today doesn’t appeal. There’s so much more I would have liked to see and do, but camping outside the park boundaries really limited us. Perhaps we’ll consider work camping here for a season so we can fully experience all the park has to offer. After all, this is Ray’s favorite! (So far!)

In case you’ve been wondering what we’ve been up to, we have had several travel days between Grand Tetons and Glacier NP.

Our first stop was a Harvest Host 1-night stopover in Three Forks MT at Bridger Brewing Company. We didn’t even unhook the trailer for that one, but just boondocked in their huge gravel parking lot. We patronized the restaurant there, which you are obligated to do with Harvest Hosts, and the meal was ok. The homemade root beer was my favorite, but Ray discovered he doesn’t like the flavor combination of steak and chimichurri sauce.

We next went to Fairmont Hot Springs RV park in Anaconda MT where we really enjoyed the outdoor pools warmed by the natural hot springs. At least I really enjoyed it – Ray complained it was too hot.

We discover the Copperwell biking trail on our last night there that was so fun! But we weren’t expecting such a scenic and wild ride, and both of us forgot our cameras! Sorry about that.

Next stop Kalispell MT, about 30 miles from Glacier NP. I wasn’t able to secure a spot at the campgrounds inside the park, so we’ll see if it’s easy to visit the park from there or not… stay tuned!

I wasn’t expecting to feel nostalgic as we approached July 4, which has never been a super-big deal for us, so I was surprised when I started feeling almost homesick for those Muskegon picnics on the lakeshore and fireworks that ring all the way around the lake. Nope, just going to be another day in the camper, biking around, route planning and cooking over the fire.

But mid-afternoon at the Swan Lake campground someone mentioned the community picnic they were having at nearby Irwin, described as a can’t-miss event. So we biked to the town park, where we found 50 or folks gathered and the food already put away. But we did get to grab a beer and join the crowd for what was a unique fundraising experience for me – a helicopter dropping numbered balls corresponding to tickets that were purchased. Apparently the ball that got closest to the flag in the baseball field won half the pot, with the other half going to the Chamber of Commerce, presumably for the fireworks display.

There was much excitement as the 600 balls were dropped and winner announced. We didn’t arrive in time to get in on the ticket purchase, but it was still fun being part of that red, white and blue crowd.

Later that evening our campground host let us know there would be good fireworks viewing right from the campground and we were invited to join the other campers and kids around the campfire. I didn’t try the new s’more version on croissants instead of graham crackers, but again – so cool to be part of the celebration.

Even as a nomad traveler just passing through there was something so great about feeling that little bit of connection to a community and knowing wherever one is in the country there was celebration that day. I’m grateful to have spent my first holiday in Idaho among those folks, even if it didn’t diminish those cherished memories of sailing our boat on Muskegon Lake and watching fireworks in all directions.

I’ve been working on the route planning for Christmas and New Year’s and I only hope that TX gulf campgrounds are as great as Idaho was to spend a holiday.

Visiting the Grand Teton NP this week took more planning than we anticipated since we weren’t able to get a reservation at a campground inside the park. Instead I booked at an affordable RV Park in Swan Valley Idaho, that google maps had indicated was 37 miles away from the park. But when we drove down from Yellowstone and through the Tetons, we kept driving and driving forever, round and through the mountains. The 37 miles was actually as the crow flies, and it was more like 90 miles of roadway and 2 hours each way to the park. So we took one day this week to road tour in the park and went back for a full day of kayaking and hiking at String Lake and Jenny Lake.

Our campground host Woody had told us about String Lake and showed us pictures of their paddle board trip there, and they even offered to dogsit for our long day in the park. Our day started before 7am when we hit the long road to the park. We were one of the first cars in the parking lot and first on the lake. Mist covered the tops of the mountains and the lake was crystal clear. As I paddled I looked down to see a whole school of large fish swimming just below me and all around the kayak. What a perfect, peaceful paddle!

We started off on this adventure 6/2 and today marks the one month anniversary of that notable date. Since then we…

• Traveled 3,197 miles
• Crossed into 7 states (MI, WI, MN, ND, SD, WY, ID)
• Spent $1366 in gas (yikes!)
• Visited 3 national parks (not counting Tetons, which we drove through but are visiting this week)
• Stayed in 2 state parks and 2 national parks with a total of 10 different campgrounds
• Read 5 audiobooks (now on book 6 of Nick Petrie’s Peter Ash series), 3 paperbacks and 4 e-books
• Lost 4.5 pounds
• Paid $1618 in campground fees (double-yikes!)
• Learned to survive on a main diet of sandwiches, potato chips, canned baked beans and the occasional hot dogs, cooking over fire whenever possible
• Learned to boondock at sites without electricity, water hookups
• Saw 5 waterfalls
• Scenic NPS boat tour to Little America Island in Voyageurs
• 3 kayak trips
• Enjoyed Numerous bike rides and trail hikes
• Survived one crazy hailstorm
• Met some very cool and interesting people
• Enjoyed the freedom of the road!