Washington and Oregon Round Two

October 2-11, 2020

TL;DR: Saw some really gorgeous sights on this trip, sipped some very tasty wine, dipped into some Bavarian beers, and capped it all off with a close-up visit with the towering Mt. Rainier.

The sights

Spokane

In order to explore, we parked in the Riverside State Park where the “Bowl and Pitcher” were, AKA three big rocks. The campground was full but we found a good spot to park, and then biked our way into town: uphill for the first bit, and along a tight road. But it got us into town! Had a delicious meal (see Flying Goat in Roadfood) and a very pretty bike ride along the Centennial Trail.

Lake Chelan

Pretty big small town behind a huge natural dam with lots of vineyards and a huge lake. On the east side of the lake, the town of Manson is particularly cute with a good ratio of tasting rooms to laundromats, and a few holes in the wall. Pretty good wines, too!

Lake Wanatchee

This really lovely lake is about 30 minutes north from Leavenworth (via a beautiful drive along the Wenatchee River) with paved roads, a good amount of space between the road and water, and some really beautiful houses. Quiet but enough people to feel like a community; gorgeous colors in the water, and lots of tree-covered mountains.

Leavenworth

Apparently this town of 2,000 gets two million visitors a year (!). Lots of restaurants and open beer gardens along the main street, which was closed off to cars, which was great. Had some quite delicious Bavarian food (see Roadfood). Dogs everywhere, and cute shops open (all required masks!).

8-mile Lake hike

This was sort of similar to the Alice Lake Hike in Idaho, where you’re in a valley and work your way up with lots of trees changing colors, creeks, and crystal clear water streaming over rocks. And of course, having the moon just over the mountaintops doesn’t hurt.

Went through lots of pretty fern groves, with gorgeous mountains in the background the whole time. We think we saw lots of ash trees and some cotton-y/pussywillow-looking plants.

Mount Rainier National Park

Super gorgeous park with a very dense forest. The fifth national park in the United States, Rainier covers 236,381 acres—which includes Mount Rainier, a 14,411-foot stratovolcano (i.e. tall and cone-shaped).

We hiked Skyline Trail one day and it was magical from start to finish. Started at Paradise Visitor Center and just went up and up toward the mountain. So gorgeous pretty much every step of the way. Decided to go clockwise and very happy about it.

Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the continental U.S., and we were in awe of how thick and blue the individual glaciers are. We also walked by snow, which is crazy because it’s literally just sitting in the sun all day… there’s just that much of it.

Looking away from Rainier was just as breathtaking. You could see Mount Adams and Mount Saint Helens in the distance, which were also enormous, and all the way up into the clouds.

Saw a few guys hiking up carrying ski gear, which was insane.

On the way down, we were searching for some goats that a lady said she saw and almost missed them because they were the color of the snow! They were just chilling on the mountainside in the sun.

Decided to go down into this lower valley with waterfalls. Greens, yellows, reds, lots of water, and winding paths. Beautiful views everywhere you look, almost like Glacier National Park.

Cove Palisades State Park

We were gonna do a quarter-mile nature loop with our beers but saw that it was one mile to the rim trail, so decided to do that. Wasn’t that great in sandals…. Saw a baby gopher snake but no rattlesnakes. Phew! Really amazing view from the top of the gorge and the two bodies of water/canyons. Nice view with the sun setting behind the rim. One single boat waterskiing.

Bend

Super cute. Breweries everywhere and easy to walk around and find places. Went to Deschutes, Crater Lake Distillery, Bend Brewing Company, all good. Good regulations for Covid, and everyone seemed to be following them. Really nice neighborhoods and small parks.

Also took a quick detour through Sisters, OR. It’s a pretty small town, but has a beautiful mountain backdrop and seemed to have just enough cute stores and restaurants to keep you busy.

Klamath and Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge

This is where we originally started our 2019 trip, and we’re back for more! Saw two bald eagles: One on a power line and one flying over. Drove the autotour again (Jess got behind the wheel for one section so Bri could take some pictures!). Saw one bald eagle, a sweet hawk, a ton of pelicans, and ducks. Pretty quiet other than some hunters.

Details, details, details

Some of the lakes in Washington are actually reservoirs. Before they filled them up decades ago, they cut a bunch of trees down, and when the water level is low, you can still see the stumps sticking out.

The closer we got to Seattle, the worse the traffic got. Good reminder that we are just really not into cities anymore.

Was pretty epic to see Mt. Rainier from the highway, 60 miles away, then get closer and closer and closer.

We saw a fox!

As we made our way south, the landscape changed to more of a dry/high desert climate with a lot of farms and wide open spaces. Very dry and remote.

And then this happened…

We thought we made it to the Centennial Trail in Spokane but it ended up being a trail straight to a homeless camp. No people though.

Saw quite a few Biden signs in Spokane, which was very reassuring after a lot of Trump signs in Montana.

Even though our RV park at Lake Loon was a little odd, the views in the morning from the dock were quite spectacular.

After our hike, we thought it would be cool to get up and see the sunrise on Mount Rainier the next morning. But it wasn’t quite clear enough… Fog also thwarted our effort to see Mount Saint Helen’s. Next time!

In Bend, we were stopped by a woman with pins that said “Tuck Frump” and “Stop killing Black people.” She also told us we were a good looking couple. So. Our year was made.

Tried to see the sunrise at Crater Lake on our last morning but… it snowed. And we had zero visibility. A Class C was also tailing us for no reason which was really scary. We finally found a spot to turn around, got stuck for a few minutes, got unstuck and slowly made our way back to safety.

Now we know

Drove out of Bend through Deschutes National Forest which we’d like to return to and explore. Lots of lakes and mountains peeking through the clouds, lava beds, and tree-lined roads.

A lot of places in Oregon still don’t allow self-service at gas stations. In addition to the gas, the guy got out a ladder and cleaned the windshield (which was much needed)!

When we were driving along the Hood River, Bri saw signs for an 11’9” tunnel 40 miles ahead (Layla is 12’), so we had to cross early/pay a $3 toll. Worth it.

Road food

Spokane’s Audubon neighborhood is lucky to have The Flying Goat for chewy char-crusted pizza, amazing (nut-free!) pesto and an excellent beer list.

Crispy schnitzel, wursts, and German beer at Bavarian Bistro.

Using high-quality Oregon ingredients, Bend’s Foxtail offers decadent tiramisu pancakes, a croque mistress on an everything croissant and marionberry-frosted muffins.

Where we stayed

Night one: Site A 3, Shore Acres, Washington on Loon Lake

Got here right at sunset, which was beautiful, if a little sketchy? We couldn’t plug in even though we paid for hookups, but it was fine. We just wanted to go to sleep.

Night two: Site 7, Chelan State Park, Washington

One of two remaining spots. A big park with lots of families running around.

Night three: Wanatchee Confluence State park, site 32, Washington

Lovely park right where the Wanatchee and Columbia Rivers meet, with lots of room between the sites. Also had a nice path for running!

Night four: Site 100, Icicle RV Park, Washington

Happened upon this park after we went up to 8-mile campground and it was closed, and wow it was gorgeous. Right on the river.

Night five: D3, Cougar Rock Campground, Mount Rainier National Park

Were pretty nervous about getting a spot but so happy when we did! There were actually a lot of spots available, but many were closed because of “hazardous trees.” Couldn’t level here, but it was late and we were tired so we just called it a night.

Night six: R4, Cougar Rock Campground, Washington

Switched spots the next night. Fit like a glove and had a great little picnic area to the side.