The Pacific North West PT. 4: East to go North
6/22-6/24
I woke up the following day in the beauty of the wilderness with the buzz of powerlines over head. This small detail is a complaint that many have of this campground, but as a city boy it didn’t really bother me. I headed out on the beacon rock trail. This hike is listed as “moderate” out and back stroll by All trails, but by journey was clocked at 5.3 miles covered in switchbacks that I might argue made for more of a strenuous trip. It didn’t matter however, as it was a wonderful hike with amazing views throughout.
I then headed off east again to explore the gorge some more. On the way I came across the Columbia Gorge River Discovery Center & Museum. This little museum was awesome. I love little local centers that about local history and nature, but sometimes they are super lame. This one on the other hand killed it. I continued on and finally did some laundry before hitting a small winery called Waving Tree Winery located next to the Maryhill State park that I planned on bedding down at for the night. While there I met the highly entertaining bartender and a few people on their way to Glacier. It was an excellent meeting as they were able to tell me all about different rules currently in place at the park and stratogies for dealing with them. We had lots of wine and great conversation.
The next day I awoke a bit hung over and started the drive north toward Seattle. On the way I decided to take a stop at the Washington State History Museum. The two things I’ll say for this mueseum is 1) The Columbia Gorge river center was better and 2) Skip it and See Mt. Rainer instead. I really wish I had had such advice on my trip up.
I pushed on to Seattle in order to reach the MOPOP museum before it closed. I want it know that this is my favorite museum of all time. MOPOP is a pop culture museum in Seattle Center right next to the space needle. It is filled with move, literature and music memorbilia and is a must see on any visit. They also have a pretty regular turn over on exhibits so it’s well worth a revisit.
After the museum I got word that the rascal Jason Perkins was on his way into town, so I met him our by Pier 53 for our final dinner before we really parted ways. It was really nice to have a good friend around for these early days on the road. Truly made for a much easier transition on to solo travel.
After dinner I hit the road again and headed to the Snoqualmie Casino just outside of Seattle for the night. I found out about this location through a friends recommendation to use freecampsites.net to deal with last minute camp lodgings. Apparently many casinos don’t mind you sleeping in their parking lots as long as long as you aren’t causing trouble. I of course felt a little weird about it and blew $150 at their casino. Probably should have just used that money for a hotel, but it was good to have a safe place to test the bed setup I had built in my car.
After a pretty decent nights sleep I struck out again heading east toward Coeur d’Alene Idaho. I have to say that the drive through eastern Washington is miserable, but the sight of Coeur d’Alene is amazing. It is a gorgeous lake with bountiful forest land surrounding it. I drove out down a long and windy gravel road to an isolated camping area with the intention of staying the night, but on arrival I got cold feet. The road was full of large rocks and there was no one there. the absolute last thing I needed was to pop a tire or get hurt in this desolate environment. So I left. That being said I will definitely revisit this area and specifically this campground in the future with other people.
With my planned mid stop busted I sent word out to the folks I met who were on their way to Glacier and got a response from Kim. Kim lived on the Oregon Coast was taking an RV trip with her dog Henry and cat Pluto and had a very well planned trip going. She was staying outside the park that night and offered to let me pitch my tent there so that I could head into the park early to find a spot in Glacier. After another 4 hours of driving I finally rested and prepared for the first National Park of the trip. Glacier here I come.
