Category: 2024 Travels

Summer 2024 comes to a close! We did get in one very spectacular bike ride at the end, which was a nice way to punctuate the trip. Temperatures in Redding really did not come down, despite the best efforts of the magical sunglasses, but at least the smoke had cleared, giving us the window we needed. It’s a good thing we hadn’t tried to wait it out in Ashland, hoping to see an outdoor show, because that performance got cancelled. As it was, we arrived a day early in Redding, in triple digit heat, and nothing to do until the next morning. So we decided to be mall walkers.

The mall in Redding is everything you could hope for, with really its only requirement being that it has air conditioning. We were not the only couple doing laps and we got into a little competition somewhere on the third or fourth lap. The sneaky couple made up time on us when we went through the arcade, but we were too fast for them. We would like to note that Cinnabon refuses to sell Mini Bons as singles; you can only get them in a four pack. This is a mistake and they should change their policy. This needs to become a movement.

Once we had gotten in all our steps and closed our activity rings, we went to dinner at the surprisingly excellent Thai place, Janya’s, that we found last time. We tried a spice level of “3” and found that to be plenty exciting. Maybe .5 too exciting. For dessert we tried ice cream at 32 Below. It was good, but I found the mint flavor in the mint chip to be too unassuming. The chocolate chips were good though. By that time, the most intense heat was calming down and it was time to go back to Dory to prepare for the early ride.

The only way we were going to be able to complete this 44 mile ride without it being miserable was to get a really early start. We figured that meant getting back by 11, and before noon for sure, because it would already be in the upper 90s by then. We decided we were going to shoot for leaving at 6 am. We spent the rest of the day pre-packing our lunches and periodically declaring, “WE RIDE AT DAWN!!” It helped to use battle cries as much as possible. And by golly, we were on our bikes and rolling at exactly 6:00. It was chilly even.

There aren’t many activities in life that can get me out of bed before showering and sunrise unless it’s some kind of emergency. This ride is worth it. It is just a little bit of rigamarole to get from the campground to the bike trail, but once you are on it, you’re looking at 20 solid miles of protected trail, skirting a river, and finishing at Shasta Dam.

The first third or so is more traveled, as it is closer to town and runs through public parks. There was no one else around in the early morning, so we got to enjoy the sunrise over the Sacramento River all by ourselves.

The next third takes you up and over a ridge, so there is a lot of climbing and descending, coupled with incredible views. There aren’t many access points to this section of the trail, so the only other travelers are bikers.

The last third is a rails to trails that stays steady and flat, all the way to the bottom of Shasta Dam. There is a campground there, and an OHV day use area. No one was there, perhaps because other people are smart about not going camping in dangerous heat. There is one last steep climb up to the dam, where there are always armed security guards posted. And after you cross the dam, there is a Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center was open, and they had some really interesting exhibits explaining how the dam was built. They give tours as well, but we didn’t want to take too much time there. It was already starting to warm up.

We booked it back, keeping a pretty aggressive pace. In the end, we arrived back at Dory by 10:30. It was a mere 89º at that point. We had conquered the day! I then got to take a shower and we both took a long, satisfying nap.

The downside of finishing your goals really early is that you then don’t know what to do with the rest of the day. So we went back to the mall to beat the pinnacle temperatures. While Dory does have AC, and it does keep her cooler than the outside hellscape, it got up to 86º inside and wasn’t all that pleasant. Better to go somewhere. We finished with a return trip to Janya’s, and ice cream at Taste & See, where I had a Captain Crunch flavored scoop on a freshly made waffle cone. That was fun for about the first third, and then I had mild flavor regret. I should have gotten the chocolate ganache.

At last, it was time to hit the “Go Home” button on the Honda navigation system. It’s around a three hour slog down I5 to get home, so we had a lot of time to process all that has happened this summer. Of course, the headline is Richard losing his job, and getting a job in my school district, all in the space of a couple weeks. We are both overall excited about this change, but also anxious to see how it’s all going to work. Money will be a lot tighter, so we definitely aren’t going to be out camping as much. It’s really good timing that we only just got our home into a state where we like it.

And speaking of home, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the new plants had filled in over the summer. I really only lost a couple, and they are on the hillside in the back, where I expected some might not make it. We have missed the cat quite a bit, and we weren’t sure he was going to remember us, seeing as how we had been gone almost as much time as we’d had him before we left. But there he was, all meowzy, trotting toward us at the sound of our voices. There was a minute of hesitation when he saw us, but then he flopped over at Richard’s feet and gave up full belly rub access.

Our neighbors never cease to be the best friends anywhere. They treated us to a delicious homemade dinner and swim. And on their anniversary, no less! We figure we will be able to return the hospitality a whole lot more now.

We gave ourselves a couple of days to regroup before starting work. Besides doing laundry and relearning how to use house things, I really wanted to fix the pond and save the water lily, if it still existed. I went and got a used wine barrel, put in a plastic liner, and bought a little fountain filter. Richard rewired an outside outlet, and boom. Water lily pond! For good measure, I put a wire mesh cover over it. We’ll see whether that can thwart the marauding raccoons. I also cleaned up the front pond and placed all those little rocks I collected over the summer. Home has a good vibe to it.

Some summer takeaways this year include, first and foremost, another thank you to Randy and his guys. We really appreciated having Dory for this trip and the Truma worked flawlessly the whole time. I also officially like the Fantastic Fan cover. That addition meant the top could be open all the time, even in wind. We simply removed four clips and took it off after packing down to head home. Easy peasy.

The biggest star of the summer though has to be my Aventon e-bike. That was a game changer. Not only did it mean that I could do rides with Richard, it also eliminated all of the conflict over him wanting to do rides and me struggling with what to do in the meantime. Overall, we were more connected with each other and I didn’t have bouts of feeling lonely. And I got to experience all the things. Super win!

We also noted that the model of 2/2/2 (less than 200 miles of travel, arrive by 2, stay at least 2 nights) changes the whole feel of the trip. There is less stress and more time to explore. The rule of “get hookups unless there is a good reason not to” is still a good rule. The only thing we didn’t research ahead of time was cell service. On long trips, having little or no cell service gets old really fast. We need to put more effort into planning for reliable service stops. I would say a misstep was not planning the route the other way around: i.e., heading north via inland routes first, in June, and then coming back south via the coast during the heat of July. We could have avoided the high temperatures and smoke if we had done that.

Onward into new territory! We might not be voyager-ing as toujours as we used to, but rest assured we are optimizing life so as to maximize travel joy. As always, no matter how it goes, we will just keep swimming.

Total miles from Emigrant Lake: 134.0, 17.5 mpg, 3 hours 1 min. Site 52 full hookups. Excellent cell for both. Good sewer at site. Nice bathrooms with showers. Pool.

Why did we not reverse this trip and end up on the coast? This is the question we have been asking ourselves this past week. This is not the first time we’ve run into wildfire smoke and triple digit heat at the tail end of our summer journeys. Sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Like, say, if you’re going to Quebec and back, you’re going to hit central California during fire season at the end. On this trip, however, it could have worked equally well to do this loop in reverse, going south on the coast in July, and spending our last nights in glorious cool temperatures, maybe picking up a pie from Gowan’s to take home. Noted for the future, but in the present, we’re just being super duper flexible.

The day we left Cove Palisades, it took about two hundred miles of smoky driving before we punched through. It was awful all the way from Redmond to Klamath Falls. We let go of Lava Beds and headed south and west, towards Ashland. We could have kept reservations at Lake of the Woods because the smoke was not bad there, but I was just feeling like I wanted hookups, dependable cell service, and a safe, familiar place. Ashland also has the bonus points of being where our son lives, as well as some theatre friends of mine. So I kept on driving down Dead Indian Memorial Road, forty more miles past the mountain lake, until we got to Emigrant Lake, five miles outside of town. We were able to get a site with no problems and parked ourselves with a view for the next four nights. Bliss.

The first order of business, after letting people know we were in town so we could make plans, was to hit the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop for a caramel & chocolate covered apple. The air quality in Ashland was gorgeous and the temperature was warm and not yet too hot. We hiked up the trails in Lithia Park and called it a day. We were both very tired after a 5+ hour drive, but grateful to have accomplished the mission. We noticed that the smoke moved right in to Cove Palisades that night, so our timing was spectacular.

The next day I got to reconnect with really awesome friends. They came out to the lake and we just chatted and caught up for a couple of hours. I absolutely love that. No matter how much time passes, the people I shared my life with while working at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre will always and forever own prime real estate in my heart.

Then later we drove downtown to meet up with our son Darren to take him out for a belated birthday dinner. To our surprise, the park was hopping with tons of people due to an outdoor folk music concert. We had time to wander, go admire the Japanese garden, and listen to music for a bit before meeting Darren at Louie’s.

He looks happy and shares my nature. I used to have a really hard time during unstructured summers, being away from kids and purpose. This is why we go on these crazy trips, allowing as little downtime as possible for me to stew in my own restless thoughts. Dinner was great, and more caramel apples were purchased to share for dessert.

The next day we combined one of Richard’s missions with a hike near historic Jacksonville. Because he will be working for a school district, he needs to show proof of a negative TB test, and get his fingerprints taken. The former he was able to get done in Medford, but needed to return 48 hours later to show there was no reaction. We spent the time hiking in Forest Park. There is an extensive trail system there, with little historical treasures to find. Like, there are preserved train tracks from where a crash happened in 1917. And there is a tunnel that was made in 1934 to channel water to the town. Water still flows from that tunnel year round. There are also lots of numbered benches strewn throughout the park. It’s a thing to go find each one and sign your name to the little pad of paper hidden in a plastic tube under the bench. And when the hike was done, it was time for ice cream at Violet’s & Cream.

This whole time, we were keeping a close watch on smoke and weather reports for Redding. There is one last bike ride we’d really like to do before returning home, but it may prove to be too much of a challenge. We were happy to wait it out in Ashland, but for some reason, there weren’t any shows playing that we wanted to see until Thursday. The tentative plan was to do that and head to Redding Friday morning.

That left us two days to find things to do. One of those things was to bike up to Callahan’s together and see the viewpoint at the top. Richard has done this ride before, and now I got to tag along. I also scouted the road for towability, wondering whether that is a calmer way than I5 to enter and exit town. Yes, it is, by the way. Much calmer and without the steep, narrow, twisty descent with all the trucks. Then we just sort of puttered. I patched my damn boat again, but couldn’t muster the energy to get it into the water. “Maybe tomorrow,” I thought.

But tomorrow dawned through orange smokey skies. Bummer. The blue sky respite got swallowed up and we were really not interested in spending another day, maybe seeing an outdoor show that evening, in triple digit heat. So we bailed. We met up with Darren one last time before hitting the road, hoping the weather reports for Redding weren’t lying about the AQI.

For all the regrouping we did, I’m pretty proud of us for not getting depressed. We skipped some things that would have been nice, and swapped some things that turned out to have been even better. We have learned many lessons, which we always do on long trips, but this year’s big takeaway is: finish on the coast if you can. Unless things are directly on fire there, it’s not likely to be smoky or stupid hot.

Total miles from Cove Palisades: 230.6, 16.8 mpg, 5 hours 23 min. Site 9 full hookups. Awesome cell for both. Good sewer. Nice host. Boat launch. Always love this place, even if I don’t get on the lake.

We have sadly arrived at the tail end of our summer trip. As is often the case, the return to California in the height of summer heat, includes encountering last minute changing of plans, due to wildfires. This year, our final week destinations were to include McArthur Burney State Park, La Pine State Park, and Lava Beds National Monument. There is an enormous and out of control wildfire happening right now in the area around Chico, and the smoke from this fire is sending thick smoldering ash clouds for hundreds of miles north and east. On the day we left Deschutes and headed southward, Richard was reviewing air quality maps with dismay. La Pine was mostly under a deep cloud of red to purple color coded yuck, indicating an AQI of 2-500.

We stopped to regroup at a Safeway in Madras, just before the air started turning smoky. We didn’t have a lot of good options and it wasn’t likely we’d be able to push through the smoke zones without traveling more than two hundred more miles. We threw out ideas and scanned Allstays and Campendium for anything that looked halfway decent where we could hunker down for a three night stay. I stumbled upon Cove Palisades and that pulled up a memory of going to an overlook and seeing this amazing canyon with water at the bottom. We looked it up and found there were open sites for one night, but not three. Here is where things get cool: Richard called a number, talked to the state park “reservation specialist,” and ended up getting us a camp host site with full hookups for three nights. Amazing. People really do want to help, and the park reservation person made it so we didn’t have to move into a new site every day. She warned us that the only downside might be that people would come up to us and ask us questions because they’d assume we were camp hosts. Richard let her know we’re very used to that with our trailer because it’s unusual and draws questions anyway. The best part: the campground was only ten miles away from where we were.

This place is incredible. You would have absolutely no idea there’s a giant canyon around until you get right to the edge and start going down the road. Then suddenly, the canyon valley opens up in front of you, with a spectacular view of carved volcanic rock walls five hundred feet high. The rivers at the bottom are the Crooked River and the Deschutes. They are now lakes because there is a dam at Round Butte. Right now the water is a deep green from algae blooms, but it’s still pretty. Besides the campground and day use areas, there is also a resort and marina, with a little store and house made ice cream sandwiches that are touted as “the best on the planet.” We felt we had won the lottery.

We stopped first to dump tanks at the Crooked River campground, up on the bluffs above the canyon. Then we descended all the way down, went up and over the saddle between the two rivers, and set up in our full hookups camp host site. There was just enough service for me to blog, so Richard went out on his bike and explored. He sent back pictures of the store and ice cream sandwiches, but photos do not capture the size of those things.

After he returned, we had dinner and took a little walk around to the boat launch so I could decide whether I wanted to get a paddle in some time. The park feels like a mini national park. The roads are so nice, with gorgeous views the whole way. Things are well signed and there are ample facilities, especially for water sports. That is clearly the activity of choice and tons of people pull motor boats on trailers. There is really only one big hike, the Tam-a-lau Trail, which we decided to do the next day.

We kept scanning the weather apps for smoke status, but we lucked out the whole time we were there. It was a green light for doing the Tam-a-lau Trail, which is a six mile lollipop. One mile takes you five hundred feet to the top of the bluff, then you get to take in the views of both river valleys for five miles. We saw Bald Eagles soaring overhead and could make out Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters through only a little haze.

Having earned hiking calories, my motivation turned to verifying the “best on the planet” ice cream sandwich claim. We biked five miles to the resort. What a great road to ride! By the time we arrived, all of the chocolate chip cookie sandwiches were gone, so we got a sugar cookie version. I will say, they are huge, and might win the prize for hugest on the planet. I found there to be too much vanilla ice cream to get my mouth around. The cookie was chewy and very good, but honestly, I’ll take an It’s It over these in the “best” category, especially if you can find mint. And guess what! The store also carries mint It’s Its! I knew what my plans for the next day would include.

My plans for the next day were to begin with a nice paddle. I drove over to the Upper Deschutes Day Use area, parked, got my boat out of the roof box, assembled it, put wheels on it, rolled it down to the launch, put on my lifejacket, took a pre-launch picture, and then discovered it was still leaking air. Like it would have sunk before I got very far at all. Oh man, that was frustrating and disappointing. I then had to put the wheels back on, haul it up to the car, disassemble it, put it back in the roof box, all without it having ever touched the water. I’m frustrated enough with it that I’m considering other boat options. But I still told LoseIt, my calorie tracking app, that I spent an hour paddling and deserved the exercise calories for it. I’m sure expended that many just in muttering.

Richard had gone to redo the Tam-a-lau Trail while I was supposed to be boating, so I waited for him at the day use area while I did internet things, like look at other boat options. When he got down, he was kind enough to agree to biking back to the store with me because I deserved a mint It’s It. On the way back, we checked out the one petroglyph in the park, and learned about The Island, which is a thin peninsula between the two rivers that has been designated off limits to people.

The evening was spent trying to figure out what to do next. We’ve been watching Lava Beds closely, and it seemed to have just barely dodged the smoke so far, maybe because it’s a little higher up. But then we saw that it was getting engulfed. If we were to go there, with no hookups for AC air filtering, it could be really bad. It was looking like we were going to have to just punch through and hope to come out of the smoke and land somewhere fun. We dumped tanks using our special host accommodations and went to bed only knowing that the next day was going to be a long one.

We really loved this park and would never have stayed here if not for the unexpected circumstances. Just goes to show you; when life zigs, you zag. And sometimes the zagging turns out better than your original plans. Also, it was fun to pretend to be camp hosts, especially ones with no official duties. We did have one person knock on our door and let us know the bathrooms were out of toilet paper.

Total miles from Deschutes: 114.1, 16.6 mpg. Site B45 (host site with full hookups). Very limited service for ATT and no service for Verizon unless you hike up the bluff. Wifi at the resort. Nice campground with showers, sink, nice bathrooms, kids playground. Boat launches from the Day Use areas. Dump up at campground on top of the bluff before descending into the canyon. Good dump there and potable water.

There are consequences to controlling the weather using supernatural sunglasses. Remember how there was rain and lightning the morning after Richard put in his dark lenses? Well, those lightning strikes set off a bunch of wildfires all over the place. One of them was smack dab in the middle of the bike path section we both wanted to ride. Moving to the next campground, Richard decided he wanted to take on the challenge of riding the whole 56 miles while I towed to The Dalles to pick him up. The plan was proceeding nicely and our spirits were up. I was happily singing to music in the car as I headed east on 84 and noticed a faint haze in the sky. Californians can discern smoke from clouds quite skillfully, but it looked to me like it was coming from a small, possibly controlled burn. I kept going and planned to look it up when I was stopped. I pulled in to the parking lot of the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum, ready to hang out, blog, and do internet things, but my plans changed immediately.

A quick googling told me that the fire was centered around Mosier, right where that section of the bike trail is located, and that it was serious enough to cause emergency evacuations. I knew then that Richard was not going to be able to get through, but I also started worrying about whether 84 might get closed, preventing me from getting through to get him. I texted all of this intel and got back on 84 going west, hoping to get in front of any closure. I could see the fire now crossing over the ridge and heading down toward the highway. I was pretty alarmed, but kept on going until the staging area at Viento. There I waited for Richard, knowing that at least we were both now on the same side of the fire zone. He rolled in after about a half an hour, somewhat disappointed about losing the challenge opportunity, but in good spirits.

We made it back to Deschutes campground without any road closures. We did see many fire fighting planes grabbing water from the river to dump on the fire. It sounds like they got it out pretty quickly, but the skies were now filled with smoke and the trailhead at Mark O Hatfield was definitely closed. We consoled ourselves with a really great grilled dinner of Shawarma chicken served with Tzatziki potato salad with roasted pepper and green onion, and garlicky tomatoes. Wow, this one was really good and easy to put together. The only esoteric ingredient is the tzatziki, but the Safeway in Troutdale had it.

After dinner, we went on a loop hike up the Deschutes River Trail up to Fairy Springs. Our actual purpose for the hike was to earn enough calories that we would be able to then drive to Shannon’s for ice cream before they closed at 9. Shannon’s is very much worth the effort, but I really had to book it up the trail if we were going to get back in time. Few things will motivate me to hike that fast uphill, but the memory of those fresh waffle cones kept my feet moving, in spite of all the sweat and whining.

I am happy to report we made it. I earned a double junior scoop of their homemade cherry swirl and chocolate hazelnut. They also sell about a dozen Tillamook flavors, but their homemade stuff has been something we’ve looked forward to since we made the reservations back in February. It was everything we hoped it would be.

The day set aside for biking the last segment of the bike trail had to be repurposed because the trailhead, even if it was open, sounded like a bad idea. Instead we again drove back to The Dalles, where Richard got his bike some TLC at the SPR Bicycle Shop. The owner was great. He redid the handlebar tape, found and repaired a loose headset, and gave Richard some great intel about a different ride we could do along the river.

While we were waiting for the bike, we went over to the Discovery Center and checked out the exhibits. I had forgotten, but we had done this place before. I remembered as soon as we went inside and saw the beautiful floor with the inlaid stone set in the shape of the river. There are tiles placed to show the locations of the towns, and the river ends at a huge floor to ceiling window, showcasing the river view. It is an absolutely exquisitely designed building. The exhibits are very well done and this time through I learned a little more about how the gorge was formed. Short version: receding ice age floods.

We got the message that the bike was ready, so we went back to pick it up, got in another round at Shannon’s (I had the apple crumble with caramel swirls), and then went and parked at the Lewis and Clark park. We assembled our bikes and rode six miles along the river on a paved bike path. The trail ends at the Discovery Center, and we could have taken the trail from there, but it was stupid windy. Like so windy. We chose to face the headwinds heading west and benefit from the tailwind on the way back. It was a nicely done trail with most of it overlooking the river. There are parts that take you through a more industrial area, which had an unpleasant and unidentified aroma.

We stumbled upon a Google placard at the gates of the largest industrial complex and figured it must be a data center. We googled it and confirmed. It has massive tanks of water and super industrial sized cooling pipes to keep all those hard drives nice and chill. All of your internet search history is stored in The Dalles. Now you know.

The last thing we did was walk up the Blackberry Trail along the Deschutes River at the day’s end. We got a moment of excitement when a snake crossed the path right in front of me. It was slow and uninterested in us, which gave me time to get a picture and note the rattle on the end of its tail. After it was in the grass and off the trail, we went by and for sure heard it rattle at us. No mistaking that! Picture ID says it is a Western Rattlesnake, and for all the hiking we’ve done in rattlesnake territory, that’s the first one we’ve encountered. Super cool!

So we end anther visit to the Columbia Gorge. We were thwarted from completing the bike trail challenge, so we’ll have to come back. I think it would work best to camp at Memaloose next time. That would be ideally located in proximity to the Mark O Hatfield section. Richard has done it before, but I would like to see it some day. Once again, I have to remark on how much that e-bike has increased the camping joy for both of us. It really has been a game changer.

Total miles from Ainsworth (with a double back to Viento): 119.4, 18.1 mpg. Site A32 hookups. Great cell service, finally!! No dump.

I have to begin by mentioning here that Richard has supernatural sunglasses. For years, any time the weather starts to turn from winter clouds to hints of spring sunlight, he gets excited and changes the lenses from rose colored, to dark. Without fail, the weather turns back again and it rains solid for weeks on end. It is such a mysterious and yet predictable phenomenon that now he uses his powers to control the skies. We have been very lucky with weather on this trip, and we attribute that to the fact that he has kept his rose lenses in. Now that we are looking at the tail end of our trip, we know we’ll be heading into the kind of heat that could ruin plans. He went ahead and put in his dark lenses Friday night, so that northern California will cool down two weeks from now. And crazily enough, even though sunny skies were predicted by all weather apps for the entire day on Saturday, we woke up to light rain and solid overcast skies. It not only rained on the drive, but there were lightning strikes. I’m not kidding you guys, there is something paranormal about his sunglasses.

In any case, biking the Columbia River Gorge has been one of the primo destinations for this trip, especially now that I have an e-advantage. We planned for a stop at a Safeway in Troutdale (great Safeway, btw), and then a drop off at the trailhead in Troutdale. From there to the campground was 22 miles and took him an hour and 42 minutes. I towed to the campground, spotted an Alto on the road ahead of me, and got set up. Right away I was frustrated by the dropped cell service in the campground, so I put up the booster antenna. That worked somewhat better, but still not great. Irritating.

Since we only booked two nights here, we needed to do some logistics thinking to maximize what we could do on the bike trail. It is actually fairly confusing. There are three long sections on the gorge that are bike/pedestrian trails. Then there are some connecting sections that take you on historic Highway 30. Some of that is nice, but some of that is narrow and full of touring cars. Then other sections take you on less trafficked surface roads. There is one six mile leg that forces you onto Highway 84, and that would definitely be the low point of the journey from Troutdale to The Dalles. Richard remembered the ride as being one of his all time highlights, but after he did the section from Troutdale this time, he realizes that what he is probably remembering is the last part, between Mosier and The Dalles. He was confused by his memories and questioned whether he was on the right road, since it really was not near the river for this part.

In addition to wanting to ride parts of the gorge with him, I also had a couple of places I wanted to see. One of them is Multnomah Falls, a place I have passed on the highway several times now, without stopping. It’s kind of a tourist scene and not easy to just spontaneously stop, especially with a trailer. So it was on the list as a must do this time. The other place was the Oneonta Gorge. We figured out that really, I didn’t need to bike any part of the route to the west of Ainsworth; it’s just not that inspiring a ride. So, for the rest of the day, we drove to hiking trails and viewpoints, saving Multnomah for the end of day when there would be fewer people.

The hike up to Triple Falls was beautiful. It’s steep and mostly up all the way there, but the falls are cool and unique looking. There is a three way chute that has gotten cut through the rocks, thus the name Triple. It’s worth it to go all the way to the log bridge, and also worth it to take a downhill spur to see Middle Oneonta Falls from the bridge. This trail is about two miles to get to Triple Falls, so four miles for the out and back.

We stopped at Horsetail and Wahkeena Falls, both of which are lovely in their own way. We waited until dusk for Multnomah and oh my goodness. It is worth the hype, though its beauty would be diminished I think if you had to view it through crowds and pay for parking. This was the perfect way to experience this wonder on earth. It is basically like seeing Rivendell appear before you in real life. It does not seem real and even the low light pictures I took with my iphone look like they could be made into a poster. It is that photogenic. Amazing.

The next day we planned to ride the trail together heading east. Right away we got all confused because of the way the route is chopped up between bike trail and road. We found a helpful sign that lays out the entire bike route, noting important things like where it takes you on 84, where it’s a bike path, and where it’s on a road shared with cars. We ended up deciding to take it in out and back sections, using the car to frog leap past the not as nice bits. Otherwise we would have been looking at a very long ride.

We set out from the trailhead staging area at John B Yeon State Park, Elowah Falls. Going east, we were on a bike trail that closely parallels the highway. It was nice to not be with cars, but honestly, this stretch wasn’t particularly spectacular. We rode until we got to a huge concrete staircase with little channels on the edges to let your bike tires pull you down to your inevitable death. There was no way in hell I was going to try to keep the reins on my 46 pound ebike all the way down those stairs. Richard is getting really good at unhooking from plans now, so we just bailed right there and rode back. We were shocked there was no information anywhere about there being a three story stairway on the bike trail! (there was totally information about the three story stairway; it was in fact the first item listed on the informational sign that I took a picture of and didn’t read).

Since we had plenty of time, we decided to stop at the Bonneville Dam and see what was there. We stopped at the Fish Hatchery where there is an information center, a gift shop that sells drinks and fudge, and a beautifully landscaped display of lots of fish. We had a nice lunch and laughed at the weather reports, as they kept delaying the predicted sunshine to later in the day. Weather forecasters must have been confused, since they are not aware of the magical sunglasses effect.

We are pretty good now at breaking down the bikes and getting them in and out of the car. It’s a maneuver for sure, but it doesn’t take that much time. We were at the next launching point at Wyeth trailhead in no time. That portion is really really nice. There are four waterfalls to see along the way, and raised bike trails which offer wonderful views of the river. This was more like it!

We made it a treasure hunt to find all of the waterfalls and the only one that is tricky to locate is Lancaster Falls. That one requires a half mile trek up a steep little trail that is unmarked. You catch it at the foot of Hole in the Wall Falls by crossing a small bridge.

With all of the falls crossed off the bingo board, we headed back. By the time we got going, it was time for the afternoon headwind. Man, those gusts do not mess around, especially when you are right beside the highway. It was a big, satisfying day.

To top it all off, heading back to Dory, Richard got news that he is now officially the fourth Levenberg to be employed by the Lafayette School District! He applied for a job as Computer Specialist, which has the huge benefit of being on the same schedule as me. This means vacations will be true vacations for him, for the first time in ten years. He made it work at his last job, but it was always stressful to do these long trips and need to find service all the time. This could be an incredible improvement in the way we just keep swimming. I honestly do love my district and it sure has been good to my family. So happy for him and what a relief!!

Total miles from Seaquest: 94.8, 17.8 mpg. Site B18 full hookups. We are getting frustrated with lame cell service in the site. I put up the booster antenna and that improved it, but it wasn’t fast. Nice to have electric hookups, but sure do prefer internet in the site on long trips. Dump, but non optimal, so used sewer in site. That was fine.

This stay is a do over from when we breezed through a couple of years ago. Our purpose was to explore Mt. Saint Helens and we allowed three nights for this. It was a straightforward drive from Skokomish, moving from 101 to I5 along the way. We arrived a little after noon and were able to pull right into our empty site. We have noted many times on this trip that early departures, like rolling between 9 and 10, work best for us. We have kept the mileage between campgrounds to well under 200, so that gets us to the next stop with time to do an initial exploration. We also tend to avoid afternoon highway wind, and that is a super bonus.

We walked over from the campground to the Visitor Center, which is all devoted to telling the story of Mount Saint Helens. You would think that the park would be located close to the mountain, given all the focus on it, but it is actually over 50 miles away. When you watch the movies depicting the eruption in 1980, it starts to make sense that they would not build anything close to the volcano. As such, you’re looking at a lot of driving if you want to go check things out. The visitor center does a good job explaining the geologic forces at work, and also shows some jaw dropping footage. It’s funny, since I remember when it happened, being in high school at the time, I had it filed away in my brain as sort of “recent.” The math says this was 44 years ago, and that’s a bit sobering. My childhood memories are becoming more historic by the day.

We took a short marshlands trail just outside the visitor center which offers lovely boardwalk strolling with the mountain looming in the background. I admired the pond lilies, and sighed about my deceased pond lily. My raccoon friends are now outside pets I guess, because they are coming to bathe and frolic most nights. I need to name them.

We still had some time before dinner to get in some steps, so we walked the trails around the campground. It’s a pretty place, with tons of ferns and wildflowers. The trails aren’t anything to rave about, but they’re pretty and will get you a couple miles.

The next day we spent getting to and exploring Ape Cave. It’s an over 70 mile drive, down 5 and over on 503, just to get there. We had thought about maybe adding some biking or kayaking to the day, but really the drive takes up a big part of the day and the caves take time to go through. Also, 503 would not be that fun to bike.

The Ape Cave is a lava tube with a lower section and an upper section that you can hike. The lower section is easy, with a mostly flat surface to walk on, no obstacles to climb, and plenty of headroom until you get to the end. It’s about 3/4 of a mile one way and pretty darn cold. I wore my down jacket and gloves over the top of a fleece and was comfortable.  I was happy to do the lower tunnel and would say, as long as you can manage a steep metal staircase to get in and out, just about anyone can do that one.

The upper tunnel is a different story. We read reviews ahead of time and I had already tapped out before the trail description was finished. There are 27 boulder obstacles you have to scramble over, which means you are clamboring with your hands and feet to get over piles of rocks. The kickers though, are called “The Wall” and “The Squeeze.” Both of those sounded like there was a strong chance I would freeze and not be able to make it across, leaving me with then having to reconquer 27 boulder piles. I’m good, no thanks, have fun Sweetie.

Richard was into doing the upper trail, so I killed a little time, and then took the overland return trail to meet him at the exit. That’s easy and only a mile and a half. Richard was so motivated to not make me wait for him, he jammed through it in under an hour and actually got to the exit before me. He would have beaten even that time if he hadn’t run into a school group with dozens of teens wearing matching green T-shirts, all out for a day trip with an adventure camp. It sounds from the description that some of these kids got signed up for the camp precisely because their parents felt they needed more adventure in their lives. Richard says one of them was whining continuously, and loudly screaming periodically, saying he wishes he had never come to that camp. Everyone take a moment to appreciate camp counselors.

“The Wall” is described as an eight foot straight up ascent on a slippery rock surface with no footholds. There is a looped rope to assist, and people routinely stop at the bottom and offer you their knee so that you can reach toward the top. Then, people usually assist at the top to help pull you up. If you make it up that, you’re pretty locked in to getting through “The Squeeze,” which Richard thought was harder. It sounds like maybe there is a way to belly crawl through a tight tunnel, or you can go to the left and climb around it. He said that was tricky until you get to a point where you can grab ahold of the back side of a boulder to help pull you up. I have no regrets or FOMO on having Richard be my stunt double for this hike.

There was a volunteer at the opening of the tunnel, answering all kinds of geologic questions about how such a thing formed. She was super at explaining it all. The way to think of lava tubes is rivers of flowing lava that follow existing stream beds. They run down the water channel and eventually the top of the flow starts to cool and harden. That forms a roof. Underneath, the lava continues to flow because now it’s inside of an insulated channel. The molten liquid continues through, but thins out as the flow slows down. That makes the air chamber below the ceiling/roof. Eventually that cools and hardens too, which makes the floor. Over time, lots of time, soil and earth get carried down those same low valley pathways by water, thus covering the tube and making it end up under ground. Water finds its way inside, carrying silt and sand, which covers the floor. It’s all pretty damn cool.

We finished the day doing a hike in that area called the “Trail of Two Forests.” This is a place where old lava flows surrounded big tree trunks, forming circles. The trees burned up and eroded away, leaving empty pot holes in the ground. In some places, the same thing happened over the top of a huge fallen tree, which then leaves a tunnel.

For our next day, we drove out on 504 as far as we could go. There was a big landslide, cutting off the part of the road that goes up to Johnston Ridge Observatory. We couldn’t see that, but we could do the Hummocks Trail and part of the Boundary Trail. The former is about a 2.7 mile loop with numbered stops along the way and posted QR codes that will give you information about the geology of the area. I guess scientists were pretty excited after the May 18, 1980 eruption because it helped them understand what can happen when volcanoes blow. Hummocks are places where giant piles of debris have gotten thrown from the exploding mountainside. Over time, moss covers the surface, making a home for soil producing creatures. These areas can create lush and fertile oases and homes for all kinds of plants and animals.

Along both trails, we saw scores of wildflowers everywhere. There were places where swaths of lupines and clusters of St. John’s Wort mixed together like a blue and yellow Van Gogh painting spread across the ground. Also paving the way in little floral sprinkles were Indian paintbrush, penstemon, foxglove, and monkey flower, to name a few.

The Boundary Trail goes all the way up to the observatory, but that was not our goal. It’s a steady climb of 1759 feet and goes on for 4.4 miles one way. Too much to chew. We kind of struggled with whether to try to get to the Loowit Viewpoint, which would have been about three and a half miles one way. It was fairly hot and the trail is exposed almost all of the time. I pulled the plug at two miles out, knowing it would be the same back, plus the Hummock miles. I think it was a good call because we clocked in at over 7 miles and 1400’ and I was pooped.

We had time to check out the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. They win the prize for Best Visitor Center because they had a freezer with ice cream sandwiches and mint Klondike bars. They also had movies and pictures and stuff, but really, they had me at ice cream. If you’re from the area, I’m sure you know how major this eruption was. Like, it blew off half of a ten thousand foot mountain. The surface of Spirit Lake created clouds of steam because it was literally boiling. They talked about blast zones and the devastation caused by the pyroclastic flows and mud floods. The destruction and reshaping of the entire valley is hard to comprehend. The thing that stands out to me though is how there was this guy, Harry Truman, who owned a lodge on Spirit Lake at the foot of the mountain. Though there were weeks and weeks of warnings for people to evacuate, he refused. Ok, fair game, if that’s how you want to die, that’s your call. But the movies of him showed he had cats and I can’t stop thinking about that. I’m going to choose to believe that someone insisted on taking the cats to safety and they happily live their best lives and didn’t get squished under two hundred feet of flaming mud.

We feel we really did get the full Mount Saint Helens experience here. Seaquest is a good place to stay as a jumping off point, but everything is just very very far apart. However, after seeing all the pictures of the aftermath, I think it’s a fine idea to place the campground rather far away from the exploding mountain. Fun stay!

Total miles from Skokomish: 102.5, 17.8 mpg, 2 hours 45 min. Site 58 no hookups. No solar. No cell. Wifi sort of sometimes at kiosk. Frustrating cell service. Good dump with potable water. Tippy site; had to use all the leveling blocks to raise driver’s side. Private site with lots of room.

We have learned so much about Olympic National Park on this trip. First and foremost, we get it that the park is enormous. Our goal was to hit a couple of broad regions and explore in sections. This stay was supposed to be in Staircase Campground, on the eastern side. But the other thing we have learned is that this is really more like a National Wilderness than a National Park. The bulk of the land is in the middle, is rugged, and accessible only by long backpacking trails that climb over mountains. Some of the campgrounds, like Staircase, seem to be intended as jump off points to venture into the interior. As such, these roads are not always paved. We discovered that the road leading to the campground was going to include 6-8 miles of gravel, running along the side of Lake Cushman. For sure there was not going to be cell service out there, and for sure we were going to feel just that little bit on edge. So we changed up the reservations and grabbed a site at a private place right at the beginning of the lake. It was way more expensive, but it made for a far easier travel day, with hookups and wifi. We deemed it worth it.

From Fort Ebey, it is a short distance to the ferry terminal. We arrived around 9:30 and got right on the 10:15 boat. Ferries are fun and we splurged and got a soft pretzel to split. They mistakenly brought two, freshly baked, out to us at our table and we did not correct them. Note for future self: hot soft pretzels are my Kryptonite. Saying that I will have the will power to save one for later is probably bullshit. But it was so good.

We took 101 down the western side of Hood Canal. That is a pretty stretch of road, with a few tiny towns along the way. In terms of places we might consider staying in the future, the state park campgrounds of Dosewallips and Potlatch are possibilities. There is also Big Creek if we want to be near Lake Cushman.

The trails around the lake are mostly about climbing to the top of a mountain and getting a spectacular view. We were seeing relentless switchbacks and elevation gains of at least 3,000’ on most of the hikes. Honestly, that’s more of a climb for me than sounds fun. Those are just up, up, up, “ooh, ahh,” and then ouch, ouch, ouch, all the way down. We also could have driven the unpaved road out to the campground, just to see how bad it would have been, but there was nothing particularly compelling waiting on the other side. Dunno. Maybe we missed out on a nice campground, but we had a lovely time next to a nice lake, with electricity, internet, and ice cream.

Now that I have been indoctrinated into the world of fitness watches, I am motivated to close my activity rings every day, just like Richard has been, which I  have been openly scoffing at. We got in a little hike around the area which took us on logging roads through lush and lovely forests. Clocked over three miles and earned all the badges. Yay us.

The next day we biked over to Big Creek Campground, which is an unserviced Forest Service place. We noted that there was one bar of LTE for both of us over there, so it could potentially be a cheaper place we could stay in this area. We hiked the Upper Big Creek Loop trail, which is almost five miles and climbs a mere 1,000’ gain. You don’t get breathtaking views, but you can see the peaks of Mt. Elinor and Mt. Washington looming overhead. It also crosses several rivers along the way. The bridges seem to be all new and very sturdy. The rivers tumbled over logs and rocks, joining together to eventually form Big Creek. It was really pretty.

We made it back in time for relaxation (napping), with time to spare before Richard had to hop on a Zoom call and do an interview. Yes, he is actively looking at employment options now. He said the first thing the interview panel said when he logged in was, “Wow, your background is REAL!”

We had a delicious grilled dinner with steak and onions in a sweet balsamic sauce, over a baguette, with melted cheese, and a salad of arugula and radishes in a dijon vinaigrette. For dessert, Richard made me a cheater s’more using the microwave to poof the marshmallow. Using Ghirardelli chocolate definitely ups the s’more sophistication rating.

We had a great time, even though I didn’t venture into the lake that was literally right there. Our site was nice and set apart from other campers, but lots of the sites are not that way. If we had been more inside the loop, we would have felt a bit crowded and close to huge rigs and their accompanying huge families. Site 1 was great though. Expensive, but great.

Total miles from Fort Ebey: 85.0, 16.4 mpg, 3 hours 35 min including ferry time. Full hookups, but the sewer outlet was raised and awkward. Used the dump when we left and that was much better. 1 bar of LTE sometimes, but excellent campground wifi. Not sure how many sites can hit the wifi, but ours did. Day use area with boat launch. Campground store with snacks and hot dogs and ice cream coffin.

This stop represents the northernmost point on our trip, and the “destination” designation for Summer 2024 travels. The main draw for me, besides being a cool place to see, is that my bestest friend from high school has settled here and it is always great to catch up with her. Well done, Anne! You are living your best life in an amazing part of the world. Really glad you have a place for us to park our trailer so we can mooch.

We had initially made reservations for the Port Townsend to Coupeville Ferry for 12:30. But then, when we found out about the 101 closure and detour, changed it to 4:15. Then, when we found out about how bad the detour sounded and tried to change back to an earlier time, there were no reservable spaces available. Oh well, we’ll just try for standby, we figured. The woman at the ferry kiosk seemed to have already been burned by people doing this, so she made many really emphatic statements telling me she could not guarantee when we’d get on, whether we’d get on, and that we would be relinquishing our reservation. It wasn’t actually a problem and we got right on the next ferry, so she was probably just fed up with tourists and wanted to do a CYA.

The people running ferries have all my respect. You can tell they have tons of experience playing Tetris with vehicles and they know exactly what they are doing. You just wait for someone to wave you forward, follow the hand gestures, and trust that they already know you have a roof box and a fan cover, and are watching all the things as you pull into a really tight space next to other trailers or giant trucks. Man, they’re good. We loved the exhilaration of the ferry ride, and figure we have only ever done that two other times. We got to ride across Puget Sound with the wind in our faces, while chatting with locals about things to do, see, and eat while on Whidbey Island.

From the ferry landing to my friend’s house it was just a couple of miles. Because she is awesome, she had already asked her neighbor about us parking on the private drive across from her house. We needed all of our lego blocks to stabilize, but we were actually totally level and had the solar panels charging away by 2pm. After that, Anne graciously let us use her laundry facilities and her refrigerator/freezer. After about a month on the road, our freezer has enough ice build up that the door starts to have a hard time opening. You can defrost using insulated grocery bags and some ice, or you can visit a friend and mooch their fridge space for an hour or two. While these things were happening in the background, Richard explored the area on his bike and I got to chat and catch up.

Anne had already shared stories about the abundant wildlife in the area. We saw deer wandering around, munching in front yards, the entire time. The deer are so plentiful, it makes you think about how there are not many predators there. Apparently there are a few coyotes who have somehow swum their way from the mainland, but generally the deer have it pretty good. Anne has seen Bald Eagles, and we definitely heard one at Fort Ebey. And as we were sitting on her porch chatting, a large owl silently swooped down in her yard, wings spread wide, and stared at us for a while before lifting off and disappearing in the trees.

For dinner, we walked to a Thai place in town called Phad Thai. It presents more as a house than a restaurant, but the food was good and the satay portions generous. We learned a whole new thing from Anne about how to indicate your preferred level of spiciness by stating, “zero stars”… “three stars,” etc, when you order. Does everyone know this already? We tried 3.5 stars, just to be difficult, and have decided that was probably half a star too spicy.

We then walked through the downtown Coupeville area, which is charming and full of wonderful places to live it up. One such place is Kapaw’s Iskreme, which kind of reminded us of Seinfeld’s soup nazi. It is only open from 12 to 5, and there are laminated rules posted on the stairway bannister outside. Single scoops are comprised of three small scoops. Double scoops have six small scoops. Yes, you can choose different flavors. You can also get a small single scoop on a cone for $1 if you are under 10 or over 50. We were unclear about whether this is something they like you to do, or not, because it is not listed as an option. If you point to the sample display and say, “Can I get that?” they will say yes, and they will only charge you $1 if you’re over 50. But it will seem like you’ve uncovered a secret.

The next day was busy. We started by riding out together along Madrona Way, to Penn Cove Road, to stop at Monroe Landing Public Beach. The island is very funny shaped, so it’s hard for me to keep my bearings when the land continually shifts its position in relation to the water. The island is one long winding shoreline, so there are a million opportunities for spectacular views. We rode back into town and met up at the ice cream place with Anne and another special high school buddy. Anne brought her two dogs, and Karen brought hers, and her husband Matt. We licked a variety of delightful dripping flavors off our cones and made plans for the rest of the day.

We needed to dump our tanks, and there are only two options on the island, neither one of them being at Fort Ebey State Park, where we were staying for the next two nights. As a group, we decided to all head up to Deception Pass. We tried unsuccessfully to get reservations there, but figured we could use their dump and Day Use, and get in a nice scenic hike. Matt knows a ton about the area and knew exactly where to go. We were able to dump for free, park Dory, and head up to the north side of the park.

Deception Pass had been noted as a “must do,” and I can see why. In addition to the cool, photo worthy bridge, there are just a lot of little islands and waterways that all intersect in this gorgeous area. The “Deception” part of the name comes from the treacherous currents that have foundered many a ship over time. In fact, right from the parking area we saw a nice looking sail boat washed up on shore and very much aground. Matt explained that it is not uncommon for people to anchor their boats, go have some fun on land, and come back to discover their floating home has pulled loose and is now land based. That would be a bummer.

We hiked an incredible trail, all together and with the dogs. You get to see the bridge from down below, the beaches of the state park across the water, and gaze all the way across the maze of straits and sounds to the San Juan Islands. In the hazy distance, you can even make out the Victoria peninsula. We had an incredible hike and made plans to meet back up at Anne’s for dinner. All we had to do was drop Dory in her site at Fort Ebey and drive just a couple miles from there. It was the perfect day of reconnecting dear friendships over ice cream, nature, pizza, and marionberry pie a la mode.

On our last day on the island, we started with a nice loop trail through the park. The day was foggy, so we began with the inland parts. All of the trails are named and well signed. You can definitely choose your own adventure and make for any distance of your choosing, just by taking cut off trails. This is where we definitely identified a Bald Eagle using the Merlin app, but did not see him. Along the trail, we passed through the World War II gun battery bunkers. There is a kiosk explaining how this area got built up quickly, to prepare for an attack from sea or air, but was only in use about a decade.

We ended up on the bluffs, and by that time, the blue sky was just beginning to peek through. We got in some Dory time before riding into town for ice cream time with Anne. I couldn’t choose just one senior scoop flavor this time, so I got a single. It was too much ice cream, but I’d probably do it again. The Huckleberry Cheesecake was incredible.

We have dinner food still in our fridge that hasn’t been cooked because we’ve been going out. Still, that did not win over Anne’s promise of a place that serves “the best BBQ west of the Mississippi.” How can you skip that? The place is Orlando’s, with an unassuming exterior, located in Oak Harbor. We had baby back ribs, mac & cheese, bbq baked beans, and fried biscuits. I’m no expert in BBQ, on any side of the Mississippi, but I’ll go ahead and plant my flag and claim she’s right. It was so good, the kind where the meat just falls off the bone.

With goodbyes, promises to make this a habit, and one last sunset, we called it a day on our island experience. I really give it to my friend for crushing her life so thoroughly that she has settled permanently in such a beautiful place. It has all the amenities you could possibly need, and yet all the remoteness too. It is a beautiful place indeed. Five stars (but not on the spicy scale).

Total miles (to Anne’s house) from Port Angeles: 44.8, 16.1 mpg, 2 hours 49 min with ferry ride. Site 45, no hookups. No solar. Frustratingly bad cell for both of us and cell towers annoyingly close by. No dump. Choices on the island are Deception Pass or South Whidbey State Park. Anne’s house has fantastic solar and great service, but you’ll need to befriend her before you can stay there.

We have no regrets on making the decision to get ahead of the 101 closure. We do have the desire to come back some time and better explore the Sol Duc area. Our short excursion up the road was enough to show us that the area is beautiful and unexpected circumstances prevented us from getting very far into it. It will be a do over goal for another time.

We saw the bridge construction on the way out and we get that they have built an entirely new short bridge to replace the existing one. I am not an engineer, so I don’t understand the ins and outs of why they couldn’t route traffic across one bridge until they were ready to switch to the other one. I’m just glad we didn’t find ourselves on the other side of that spot after 6pm, or on the next day.

The town of Port Angeles has enough services to be very helpful for things like dinner, ice cream, and restocking, but not so big as to be a traffic problem. The KOA is just a couple of miles past the town and not far at all from a bike path. If we hadn’t been hungry, we could have biked into town pretty easily. But we also wanted to bring back groceries, so we just drove.

We found a place called The Rail that makes mostly burgers, but also has a steak salad on the menu with a sweet curry dressing that was really good. We split that and followed with a trip to Welly’s. This ice cream place was very highly reviewed and specializes in mixing mashed berries into an ice cream base, producing something that looks like berry soft serve. Richard had that, while I had a scoop of mint chip. I won’t ding them points for the mint chip, because it is not their main gig, but it was the kind with hard chips that don’t have a lot of chocolate flavor. But I survived the ordeal and we went on a little walk up and down the waterfront.

It’s a cute town, with a little park at one end, and a marine animal center at the other. In between are some coffee shops, little stores, and restaurants. Parking at the wharf was easy and there is a whole arcade place if that’s your vibe.

Short stay, which served its purpose. For future thinking, this might be a fine and dandy place to act as a base camp if we wanted to explore the Hurricane Ridge area of Olympic NP. At the time we passed through, the Hurricane Ridge Road was closed. It did open back up later, but we’ll save that one also for another time. Olympic National Park is big. All in all, switching plans and making this stop made travel the next day much, much easier.

Total miles from Fairholme: 34.9, 18.1 mpg, 1 hour 31 min. Site 310. Electric and water hookups. Dump, but didn’t use it. Great cell for both.

Our next stop in Olympic National Park is in on the northern region, at Lake Crescent. Richard scored a cancellation reservation in probably the best site in the campground. There is a view of the lake through the trees, with only a couple of walk in tent sites between you and the water, which is an unreal shade of brilliant turquoise.

I had lunch at the picnic table and spied what I thought might be a jumping spider. There’s a woman on TikTok who makes videos of jumping spiders and gives them adorable little voices and amusing dialogue. It is so stinking cute that it has worn away much of my spider aversion. But only for jumping spiders. I’m sure I’ve encountered tons of them before, but have never noticed. This little guy seemed very curious about me and I imagined him with an adorable voice. I tried to take a close up picture, but then remembered jumping spiders jump. I’m not so over my spider aversion that I would be ok having one land on my face, so I only got a semi focused shot of him before he scurried away.

The blue water was calling to me, and we had plenty of time in the day to get my boat out. This was my first test of whether my patching job worked, and I’m happy to report that I think it did. I enjoyed a nice paddle of a couple of hours, just gently bobbing, surrounded by beautiful blue things. Richard meanwhile explored the Olympic Discovery Trail, which became our primary activity for the next day.

For our first full day, we planned to ride the Discovery Trail to the eastern end of the lake and back. There was information online saying that part of the trail was closed due to a slide, but we would still be able to go pretty far. The other information we stumbled upon online was something about a bridge closure on 101 that was scheduled such that it would cut off our travel route. There was a detour listed, which looked not only a lot longer, but quite twisty. We figured we could spend part of the day after the bike ride driving the road so that we could get a sense of whether it would be ok for towing.

The first part of the plan turned out to be glorious, with the pleasant surprise that the whole trail was open. From the campground, you need to climb up one steep dirt path in order to get to the paved trail. But once you are there, it is a rails to trails, gorgeously flat and smooth surface, all along the lake. We looked at the other possible places you could get up to the trail, but the other options make you traverse a gravel road. You can also climb two miles up 101 from the campground to a staging area.

This trail is just superb. You get tunnels, lake views, incredible scenery, all on an easy pedal. In the middle, there is a foot trail that takes you around an outcropping into the lake and leads to something called Devil’s Punchbowl. This turns out to be an Instagram worthy swimming hole where the water is clear and opalescent. People make it a day trip, bringing floaties and swim suits, and jump off the bridge or nearby rocks into the water. At the end of the trail is the Log Cabin Resort, so probably most of the people we saw were coming from there.

After we got back from the lovely ride, we reconsidered doing the scouting drive. It was already getting late and it seemed like the drive was going to take two and a half hours. That seemed both surprising, and excessively long for a detour, given the 101 route was going to be under an hour. This gave us pause, but we had no cell service and it’s really hard to research things when you can’t Google them. Instead, we got out the Nemo chairs, this being the first time we’ve pulled them out this whole trip. We lazed about and ran the generator in order to charge the bike batteries and the trailer batteries. Napping won, over information gathering.

The next day’s plans kind of all went kablooey. We started out with the plan to ride up Sol Duc road to the resort at the end, do a couple of short hikes along the way, and maybe drive down to the Storm Mountain area and get in the two short trails there. But somewhere in the backs of our minds, we were wondering how bad it was going to be to get detoured onto the much smaller highways 113 and 112 the next day. That was going to be a long day, with a ferry to catch at the end. And it was disturbing how few people seemed to know anything about the imminent closure of the only major route through the area. Like, we started to question whether it was a real thing. Again, no service.

We went ahead and got our bikes set up and rode up to the National Park kiosk on Sol Duc road. I asked the ranger, just in case she knew anything. She did not seem to be too aware of the 101 closure, except in an “oh yeah, I think they are going to close the bridge,” kind of way. I asked about 113 and 112 and she was really not encouraging. In fact, she used the phrases “narrow,” “windy,” “steep drop offs,” and “I wouldn’t do it with a trailer,” which got me working on an alternate plan. We found a place on side of the road where we each got one bar of LTE and we both started making calls.

First off, I’m going to give the Washington Department of Transportation a big ol’ thumbs down for their lack of communication around a major road closure. There were no signs anywhere on our way in, warning that this was going to happen. Richard called the phone number and the person who works for the Washington Department of Transportation, for the Olympic region, did not seem to know about the closure. She got his number and had someone call back later who did in fact confirm that as of 6pm, the highway would be closed in both directions to all traffic and would remain closed for two weeks. Yes, the detour routes are two lane roads, one in each direction. Yes, they are windy. Should you take those roads if you are towing? Hmm…. well I guess you could… if it’s not a really big trailer. Yes, there are there some “tricky” drop off sections. Seriously??? This is a fail, people.

So I made a snap decision and got us a reservation for that night at a KOA on the other side of the closure. All we had to do was pack up, hitch up, dump, fill, and drive twenty miles to get past the stupid bridge before 6pm. It was around 1pm when the switcheroo went down.

Richard was reeling after all of this unexpected plan switching. He was also feeling the vast remoteness of Olympic National Park. We cut our bike ride short, but did get in a beautiful hike on the Ancient Grove Trail before turning around and rolling mostly downhill back to the campground. As we were pulling out and enjoying 101 as it skirted the lake, we wondered what people would do after 6pm if they had a big trailer. Or were bicycle touring. But it wasn’t going to be us. We got the hell out of dodge and will (hopefully) never know just how tricky 113 and 112 actually are. Washington needs a GoFundMe for some light up signs.

We have no regrets on the call we made, at all. But we do need to come back some day to do the Sol Duc area properly. The road that we saw was really beautiful, and fabulous to ride. I know there are lots of things we are missing, but we are looking at this trip as a scouting mission to get an idea for what Olympic National Park is all about. It’s huge and there’s a lot to take in. And there is very limited cell service. And sucky road closure signage. But worth it.

Total miles from Kalaloch: 64.3, 16.0, 2 hours 10 min. Site 53. Great site. Nice and big with lake view. No hookups. No cell service. You can hit service on 101 at Sol Duc road. Good dump with potable water. Boat launch.