Summary of time:
· Mt St Helens
· Mt Rainier
· Olympia National Park
· Deer at the campsite
· Giant Coastal Redwoods and Douglas Firs
· Early morning ferry to Vancouver Island
Handy hints –
§ Good maps and information about campsites
§ Good camera for the views
§ Take time to stop and enjoy the places where you are
§ Cash to pay for provincial park campgrounds if no-one is around.
Crossing over into Washington on the I5 was over the Columbia River, and all is the same as we’ve been seeing in Oregon, but have a short while driving we turned off heading east and the mountain range in which you would find Mt St Helens. We had lots of information on provincial parks in Oregon, but not much on Washington. We had a map which showed some campsites, so we followed the road to one of the last settlements, but neither of the 2 campsites did we find very inspiring, but at the parking lot there was a map of the area showing all the campsites on the provincial parks, although none of them were very big or had hook-ups. Mum and Dad decided on a site which was at the far side of the Lake, and just before the road, that heads north and past Mt St Helens.
Driving up the road, winding and climbing, you are struck by the beauty of the scenery, and the vastness of the forest, but also the isolation. We were out away from people. We got to the park, and with no campground hosts around, we found a spot, but couldn’t pay as there were no envelopes or place to pay. Also there was no clear indication (1 sign showed $8 which appeared to have been crossed off) of the costs to stop overnight. My parents went for a walk around the site, and also to find someone to pay, someone told them the people were not around and to pay in the morning.
We made camp, wandered around, made a campfire and had dinner. Whilst we were having dinner, a grumpy man came round on his golf cart, and started shouting at us for not paying!! We said that no-one had been around, but we would sort it after dinner, but he continued to shout and be very rude in his attitude.
After dinner i went to pay, and found a few others that had been on the end of the same treatment, so comment was made to the lady we were paying (who was the wife), who was very shirty saying that they had to have time off, and that they had been at a meeting for the camp hosts of the provincial parks in that area. Someone else said that they had seen a sign saying that it was $12, but we were being told it was $14, which was on her price chart, but not displayed anywhere. My fellow guests were getting het up, and wanting details of who to complain to. I agreed with the rudeness of the man, but didn’t really make a fuss on the price, it wasn’t worth it, and also commented that if they were not going to be around it would be good to have the prices up, so people would know before making camp. It was now too late to breaking camp and trying to find anywhere else as it was dark, with the nearest place ½ hr away!
I wandered down to the edge of the lake watching the moon reflecting on the lake. It was so peaceful apart from a couple of generators that people had running for their power! Early to bed and early(ish) to rise.
We were due to have another day with a lot of driving, so it was not a day for lying in. We left the campsite, and headed west and then north, and i must admit that the roads were under repair in some places, or in the need of repair. There are not many roads around this part, which would be covered in snow in winter; there were not places around, of which those we did see were only summer places. We had a lovely windy drive up one side of a mountain range, with not much of a view because of the trees, but we caught glimpses of Mt St Helens. Being a road not well travelled, or many roads off, there are not many road signs, or indication of how far to vista points to see Mt St Helens.
Mt St Helens is volcanic and is still active. Back in May 1980, an earthquake 5.1 on the Richter scale, set off an eruption, the explosion was bigger than the combined power of 21,000 atom bombs. This created the biggest landslide in human history and buried 230sq miles of the forest under millions of tons of volcanic rock and ash. Mt St Helens lost around 3,000 ft from its height. Being something that i remember (couldn’t remember when it was but do remember it), it was another one of those surreal moments that i have had on this trip. It is truly a sight to see. Mum wasn’t really interested in another mountain, but it was something that dad and i were happy to see. I think that there is a road that will take you around to get a different view, which we didn’t follow.
Another mountain that my dad wanted to see was Mt Rainier (14,411ft), it is the US’s 4th highest mountain (outside of Alaska) and Washington State’s highest.
Our journey north took us down the other side of the mountain range we had been climbing up, and it was certainly a drop not far from the road edge, which at times was not where it should have been as it was cracking. At one point there had been a bit of a landslide, and a “temporary” bridge had been put in, 1 vehicle wide. We actually got several glimpses of Mt Rainier in the distance, so we decided not to do a longer diversion round to get better glimpses. When we reached the 504 we headed west, back towards the I5. We were on the lookout for a place to stop, i took a chance on seeing a sign for a recreational park, but it appeared to be a sports park, and not somewhere we could pull up for lunch, we carried on and found a boat launch area with basic facilities, but a great few of the lake and mountains. A great place to stop, with hardly anyone else around....several vehicles, but the owners were out on the lake in their boats.
Back on the 504 and then the I5, we stopped at Walmart to top up supplies – dad got the drinks whilst mum and i got the other things on the list and a few things besides! We then turned onto the 101 towards Olympia National Park. The road took us past Olympic, another place that surprised me to be the State Capitol, we could see the Gold dome of the State Building.
But we then headed up the West side of the Hood Canal, which is one of the tributaries off the Pugent Sound, which is off the Strait of Juan De Luca which leads to the Pacific Ocean. There were different views along the Canal, small communities along the water’s edge. We had been given a recommendation of a small RV park just north of Hoodsport, thanks Elizabeth for that. It was a small site, but with full hook-up, good restrooms for the RV’s, washing facilities at a reasonable price, and a spa....well more a very small pool sized hot tub, rectangle shaped that had water forced out at one end, that for exercise you could swim against. We all had a go, but couldn’t stay in the same place, lost the battle. It was a great way to relax overlooking the Hood Canal (if you ignored the few cars passing on the road).
The next day was much the same scenery, flippantly written but not much to say, as we headed up north along the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. We followed the 101 as it turned west along the top, and we stopped at another Provincial Park for lunch (Sequim Bay State Park – a great campsite, with a small day use area) with great views over the bay. We felt lucky to find these great spots for stopping and having our lunch.
We then travelled onto Port Angeles, from where you can catch the ferry for Vancouver Island British Columbia, where we checked out the times of the ferries, and how long we needed to be there before sailing...we would be catching the first ferry in 2 days time, that meant we would need to be there around 7am, especially if we didn’t have a ticket, although indications were that there was space for us. We also went to the tourist information to get park maps, and to find out the details of some parks where we could camp.
We were recommended Salt Creek Country Park, which was by a WWII fort, but had great pitches that overlooked the Strait, and you could see Vancouver Island.
So we headed west and found the park. There are not so many people around during the week now as the schools are due to go back, so turning up as long as you didn’t go on a pitch that was pre-booked, you could go anywhere. We chose our pitch, and whilst i walked back up to pay our fee, i walked across the open grass area, coming within about 15-20ft of some deer who were having their tea. They had not bothered as a car passed, slowly, between them on the road. It was an awesome feeling to walk so close to them.
Mum and dad went for a walk as i made a campfire, not the way dad does with loads of lighter fuel, but with paper lighters, kindling, and a few clicks of the starter (the type you use to light a gas cooker). It took a bit of patience, but by the time mum and dad got back i had a roaring fire going, as well as having prepped stuff for and started dinner.
Following the recommendations of mum and dad, i went off to look at the WWII bunkers, it was strange to think of the big cannons that had been part of the defense system here for WWII, i felt like it was more of a European war forgetting about the great part of the war that America had with Japan, it made it more real than all the films that i’ve seen. I followed the path down from the bunkers, and found Tongue Point from where i could see the sun set. I didn’t linger too long as dinner would be on the table shortly, but it is supposed to one of the places to see a great sunset, and the part i saw was good.
The next morning we wandered down to the shoreline, but high tides not long previous meant that there were not many rock pools to explore. I went down before mum and dad, as following the indication of someone else saw a couple of otters that were playing on a log that was caught up in floating seaweed, it wasn’t a early start to the day, and the sea mist meant we didn’t have a clear view across the Strait, but we could still make out some mountains.
We then headed off and decided to take the back roads around Lake Crescent to 101. These were back roads that you didn’t really want to meet much traffic coming the other way, which fortunately we didn’t, but being slightly bigger than cars, it was a bit of a squeeze when we did meet. As we got to the East side of the lake, there was a sign to the beach, so we headed down for a coffee break.
Wow what a view, the smoothness of the water meant that there were some great reflections of the mountain. Dad went for a paddle, and the angle of the slope was so slight he could walk along way out, almost to the barrier balls. I paddled as well and was surprised at the clearness of the water and the sand which was rippled, but not affected by me walking on it.
After coffee, it was onto the 101 and head west around Lake Crescent, up the hill and turn off to Sol Duc. Near the top of the road was a Springs Resort, natural hot springs, which dad was interested in going to but we decided that we would have lunch and then go for a walk up to the falls.
The walk was a couple of miles through a forest of Douglas firs and Great Redwoods. There were many fallen trees, and they were sawn where they blocked the path, so that people could still get through. These trees were then left to be part of the natural life cycle of the forest, some of the stumps and fallen logs became the ground for new trees (nursery stump & nursery log). They were big trees in that forest, mum counted one of the trees rings to find out its age, which was 200+ (and then noticed someone had already marked 180 near the edge of the log!).
We got to the waterfall, which was not a great height, but was still a wonder to see. Whilst we rested we saw a black squirrel and a small bird similar to a wren. It was so peaceful in the woods; the noise was really only the woods noise, birds in the trees etc.
Getting back to the RV, it was getting on for 3pm and neither mum nor i were really up for the hot springs, but if dad really wanted to then mum would go with him. We didn’t go as we had an hour or so drive to Port Angeles and an early start in the morning. So dad drove, but as we got near the lake again, dad pulled in suggested i drive and went for his afternoon nap on his bed at the back.
When we got to Port Angeles we knew the address of the RV place but we couldn’t see it, so we pulled in at a supermarket and dad got out his phone and we used the GPS, finding that we were not that far from it. Mum and I went in search of it leaving Dad to fill up the RV, as the fuel was cheaper in the US than Canada. As mum and i left the supermarket we saw the sign for the RV place only about half a block down the road on the other side, so we got ourselves booked in, and did a bit of shopping before meeting dad, and getting the RV parked up.
Mum and dad went off to explore Port Angeles and to find a place we could eat. The RV place was only a couple of blocks from the centre of town, so not far to walk anywhere. They found an Italian, and so we got ready and were out not much later, but by the time we got to the restaurant, it was full with 45 min wait, so we went across the road. There were less people in and the food was good. Back to bed for an early night, as were going to be up early.
Getting up early when you need to be is not really a problem, it was still dark outside, but we got moving having taken out all the wood, which we weren’t allowed to take across the border. By the time we got down, paid our fee and in the queue we saw the last of the sun rise whilst we had our breakfast.
The boat was on time and we had a gentle ride across the border.
· Mt St Helens
· Mt Rainier
· Olympia National Park
· Deer at the campsite
· Giant Coastal Redwoods and Douglas Firs
· Early morning ferry to Vancouver Island
Handy hints –
§ Good maps and information about campsites
§ Good camera for the views
§ Take time to stop and enjoy the places where you are
§ Cash to pay for provincial park campgrounds if no-one is around.
Crossing over into Washington on the I5 was over the Columbia River, and all is the same as we’ve been seeing in Oregon, but have a short while driving we turned off heading east and the mountain range in which you would find Mt St Helens. We had lots of information on provincial parks in Oregon, but not much on Washington. We had a map which showed some campsites, so we followed the road to one of the last settlements, but neither of the 2 campsites did we find very inspiring, but at the parking lot there was a map of the area showing all the campsites on the provincial parks, although none of them were very big or had hook-ups. Mum and Dad decided on a site which was at the far side of the Lake, and just before the road, that heads north and past Mt St Helens.
Driving up the road, winding and climbing, you are struck by the beauty of the scenery, and the vastness of the forest, but also the isolation. We were out away from people. We got to the park, and with no campground hosts around, we found a spot, but couldn’t pay as there were no envelopes or place to pay. Also there was no clear indication (1 sign showed $8 which appeared to have been crossed off) of the costs to stop overnight. My parents went for a walk around the site, and also to find someone to pay, someone told them the people were not around and to pay in the morning.
We made camp, wandered around, made a campfire and had dinner. Whilst we were having dinner, a grumpy man came round on his golf cart, and started shouting at us for not paying!! We said that no-one had been around, but we would sort it after dinner, but he continued to shout and be very rude in his attitude.
After dinner i went to pay, and found a few others that had been on the end of the same treatment, so comment was made to the lady we were paying (who was the wife), who was very shirty saying that they had to have time off, and that they had been at a meeting for the camp hosts of the provincial parks in that area. Someone else said that they had seen a sign saying that it was $12, but we were being told it was $14, which was on her price chart, but not displayed anywhere. My fellow guests were getting het up, and wanting details of who to complain to. I agreed with the rudeness of the man, but didn’t really make a fuss on the price, it wasn’t worth it, and also commented that if they were not going to be around it would be good to have the prices up, so people would know before making camp. It was now too late to breaking camp and trying to find anywhere else as it was dark, with the nearest place ½ hr away!
I wandered down to the edge of the lake watching the moon reflecting on the lake. It was so peaceful apart from a couple of generators that people had running for their power! Early to bed and early(ish) to rise.
We were due to have another day with a lot of driving, so it was not a day for lying in. We left the campsite, and headed west and then north, and i must admit that the roads were under repair in some places, or in the need of repair. There are not many roads around this part, which would be covered in snow in winter; there were not places around, of which those we did see were only summer places. We had a lovely windy drive up one side of a mountain range, with not much of a view because of the trees, but we caught glimpses of Mt St Helens. Being a road not well travelled, or many roads off, there are not many road signs, or indication of how far to vista points to see Mt St Helens.
Mt St Helens is volcanic and is still active. Back in May 1980, an earthquake 5.1 on the Richter scale, set off an eruption, the explosion was bigger than the combined power of 21,000 atom bombs. This created the biggest landslide in human history and buried 230sq miles of the forest under millions of tons of volcanic rock and ash. Mt St Helens lost around 3,000 ft from its height. Being something that i remember (couldn’t remember when it was but do remember it), it was another one of those surreal moments that i have had on this trip. It is truly a sight to see. Mum wasn’t really interested in another mountain, but it was something that dad and i were happy to see. I think that there is a road that will take you around to get a different view, which we didn’t follow.
Another mountain that my dad wanted to see was Mt Rainier (14,411ft), it is the US’s 4th highest mountain (outside of Alaska) and Washington State’s highest.
Our journey north took us down the other side of the mountain range we had been climbing up, and it was certainly a drop not far from the road edge, which at times was not where it should have been as it was cracking. At one point there had been a bit of a landslide, and a “temporary” bridge had been put in, 1 vehicle wide. We actually got several glimpses of Mt Rainier in the distance, so we decided not to do a longer diversion round to get better glimpses. When we reached the 504 we headed west, back towards the I5. We were on the lookout for a place to stop, i took a chance on seeing a sign for a recreational park, but it appeared to be a sports park, and not somewhere we could pull up for lunch, we carried on and found a boat launch area with basic facilities, but a great few of the lake and mountains. A great place to stop, with hardly anyone else around....several vehicles, but the owners were out on the lake in their boats.
Back on the 504 and then the I5, we stopped at Walmart to top up supplies – dad got the drinks whilst mum and i got the other things on the list and a few things besides! We then turned onto the 101 towards Olympia National Park. The road took us past Olympic, another place that surprised me to be the State Capitol, we could see the Gold dome of the State Building.
But we then headed up the West side of the Hood Canal, which is one of the tributaries off the Pugent Sound, which is off the Strait of Juan De Luca which leads to the Pacific Ocean. There were different views along the Canal, small communities along the water’s edge. We had been given a recommendation of a small RV park just north of Hoodsport, thanks Elizabeth for that. It was a small site, but with full hook-up, good restrooms for the RV’s, washing facilities at a reasonable price, and a spa....well more a very small pool sized hot tub, rectangle shaped that had water forced out at one end, that for exercise you could swim against. We all had a go, but couldn’t stay in the same place, lost the battle. It was a great way to relax overlooking the Hood Canal (if you ignored the few cars passing on the road).
The next day was much the same scenery, flippantly written but not much to say, as we headed up north along the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. We followed the 101 as it turned west along the top, and we stopped at another Provincial Park for lunch (Sequim Bay State Park – a great campsite, with a small day use area) with great views over the bay. We felt lucky to find these great spots for stopping and having our lunch.
We then travelled onto Port Angeles, from where you can catch the ferry for Vancouver Island British Columbia, where we checked out the times of the ferries, and how long we needed to be there before sailing...we would be catching the first ferry in 2 days time, that meant we would need to be there around 7am, especially if we didn’t have a ticket, although indications were that there was space for us. We also went to the tourist information to get park maps, and to find out the details of some parks where we could camp.
We were recommended Salt Creek Country Park, which was by a WWII fort, but had great pitches that overlooked the Strait, and you could see Vancouver Island.
So we headed west and found the park. There are not so many people around during the week now as the schools are due to go back, so turning up as long as you didn’t go on a pitch that was pre-booked, you could go anywhere. We chose our pitch, and whilst i walked back up to pay our fee, i walked across the open grass area, coming within about 15-20ft of some deer who were having their tea. They had not bothered as a car passed, slowly, between them on the road. It was an awesome feeling to walk so close to them.
Mum and dad went for a walk as i made a campfire, not the way dad does with loads of lighter fuel, but with paper lighters, kindling, and a few clicks of the starter (the type you use to light a gas cooker). It took a bit of patience, but by the time mum and dad got back i had a roaring fire going, as well as having prepped stuff for and started dinner.
Following the recommendations of mum and dad, i went off to look at the WWII bunkers, it was strange to think of the big cannons that had been part of the defense system here for WWII, i felt like it was more of a European war forgetting about the great part of the war that America had with Japan, it made it more real than all the films that i’ve seen. I followed the path down from the bunkers, and found Tongue Point from where i could see the sun set. I didn’t linger too long as dinner would be on the table shortly, but it is supposed to one of the places to see a great sunset, and the part i saw was good.
The next morning we wandered down to the shoreline, but high tides not long previous meant that there were not many rock pools to explore. I went down before mum and dad, as following the indication of someone else saw a couple of otters that were playing on a log that was caught up in floating seaweed, it wasn’t a early start to the day, and the sea mist meant we didn’t have a clear view across the Strait, but we could still make out some mountains.
We then headed off and decided to take the back roads around Lake Crescent to 101. These were back roads that you didn’t really want to meet much traffic coming the other way, which fortunately we didn’t, but being slightly bigger than cars, it was a bit of a squeeze when we did meet. As we got to the East side of the lake, there was a sign to the beach, so we headed down for a coffee break.
Wow what a view, the smoothness of the water meant that there were some great reflections of the mountain. Dad went for a paddle, and the angle of the slope was so slight he could walk along way out, almost to the barrier balls. I paddled as well and was surprised at the clearness of the water and the sand which was rippled, but not affected by me walking on it.
After coffee, it was onto the 101 and head west around Lake Crescent, up the hill and turn off to Sol Duc. Near the top of the road was a Springs Resort, natural hot springs, which dad was interested in going to but we decided that we would have lunch and then go for a walk up to the falls.
The walk was a couple of miles through a forest of Douglas firs and Great Redwoods. There were many fallen trees, and they were sawn where they blocked the path, so that people could still get through. These trees were then left to be part of the natural life cycle of the forest, some of the stumps and fallen logs became the ground for new trees (nursery stump & nursery log). They were big trees in that forest, mum counted one of the trees rings to find out its age, which was 200+ (and then noticed someone had already marked 180 near the edge of the log!).
We got to the waterfall, which was not a great height, but was still a wonder to see. Whilst we rested we saw a black squirrel and a small bird similar to a wren. It was so peaceful in the woods; the noise was really only the woods noise, birds in the trees etc.
Getting back to the RV, it was getting on for 3pm and neither mum nor i were really up for the hot springs, but if dad really wanted to then mum would go with him. We didn’t go as we had an hour or so drive to Port Angeles and an early start in the morning. So dad drove, but as we got near the lake again, dad pulled in suggested i drive and went for his afternoon nap on his bed at the back.
When we got to Port Angeles we knew the address of the RV place but we couldn’t see it, so we pulled in at a supermarket and dad got out his phone and we used the GPS, finding that we were not that far from it. Mum and I went in search of it leaving Dad to fill up the RV, as the fuel was cheaper in the US than Canada. As mum and i left the supermarket we saw the sign for the RV place only about half a block down the road on the other side, so we got ourselves booked in, and did a bit of shopping before meeting dad, and getting the RV parked up.
Mum and dad went off to explore Port Angeles and to find a place we could eat. The RV place was only a couple of blocks from the centre of town, so not far to walk anywhere. They found an Italian, and so we got ready and were out not much later, but by the time we got to the restaurant, it was full with 45 min wait, so we went across the road. There were less people in and the food was good. Back to bed for an early night, as were going to be up early.
Getting up early when you need to be is not really a problem, it was still dark outside, but we got moving having taken out all the wood, which we weren’t allowed to take across the border. By the time we got down, paid our fee and in the queue we saw the last of the sun rise whilst we had our breakfast.
The boat was on time and we had a gentle ride across the border.
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