The North Cascades

I have just left my last Washington National Park, North Cascades.  I have to say the last 10 or so days I have spent in the WA parks have been amazing; the parks were more awe inspiring than I imagined, and I couldn't have asked for better weather.  All in all the trip has been great so far.

Diablo Lake

So about North Cascades: it is located, as you may have guessed, on the Northern end of the Cascade Mountain Range (the same range that includes Mt Lassen, Crater Lake, and Mt Rainier).  And as such, it is just as impressive as the other parks in the range, with towering peaks and literally hundreds of waterfalls (hence the name "Cascades").  I spent three full days exploring the park, from the man made lakes along the Skagit River, to the alpine slopes throughout the park.

Proof!  Me and Cascade Peak.

The highlight of the park was a hike I took to Cascade Pass into the sub-alpine.  The hike itself was challenging, but doable, but the views were breathtaking.  At the top, you are surrounded on two sides by pristine valleys, and on the other two by soaring peaks.  During the hike, you can hear the sound of distant avalanches as the ice comes crashing down their slopes.

The view from Cascade Pass.  My car is way down in that valley.

Both of the Falls pics were taken at night with no flash

The other place of note was Ladder Falls.  It sits next to the Gorge Powerhouse, one of the three hydroelectric plants inside the park.  When it was built in the 1920's, they installed a garden along nearby Ladder Creek to show case the beauty of electricity.  While the falls are pretty during the day, at night they are lit by bright colored lights that give them an almost surreal look.  It was different from all the other falls I had seen, but still really impressive.






With that, I am now heading East.  First stop is to the park I was most excited about when I planned this trip: Glacier National Park in Northern Montana.  I'll be there for close to a week, so I hope it lives up to my expectations.  Until next time!

Beaches, Rain-forests, and one angry elk

The last four days I have been spent exploring the expansive Olympic National Park in the Northwest corner of the US.  The park is huge and doesn't have many direct roads, so it was full four days of driving and hiking.

Maple Grove in Hoh Forest

The first two days I spent in the Hoh Valley, a temperate rain forest that receives more than 100 inches of rain a year ( I got lucky, as it has been sunny the entire time I've been in Washington).  Here I was able to explore the depths of the ancient moss covered woods.  It was on one of these hikes, early in the morning with no one else on the trail that I stumbled upon one large bull elk.  He wasn't as excited to see me as I was to see him, so I didn't hang around very long for an extended greeting.  These wildlife encounters have been the theme of Olympic, as I have seen a far greater amount of animal life than in any of the previous parks: Elk, tons of deer and birds, coyotes, and even a few Olympic Marmots.  All of it has been great to see (when you aren't by yourself staring down an angry "cow with antlers".

One of many deer

Its a Marmot!

He isn't very happy to see me

My little camp in the Elwah Valley

On the third day I headed to the North edge of the park, a much more traditional temperate forest area.  But first, I took a detour out to Cape Flattery to view the most Northwest point in the continental US.  It was a long drive and cloudy when I got there, but it was still surreal standing on the edge of the country.  After that was a drive to camp in the Elwah River Valley.  Interestingly, the Elwah River had been dammed for the last century, but a recent dam deconstruction (supposedly the largest ever in the US) has let it flow freely.  I drove up a side road to see the now drained lake, but only got a patchy view through the trees.

The lighthouse at Cape Flattery

On my last full day in the Park, I headed up Hurricane Ridge to view the snow capped peaks of Olympic.  The view was spectacular.  While Mt Rainier was impressive because of its size, the Olympic Mountains were breathtaking in their width; at the top of Hurricane Hill, you find much of the horizon filled with glacier peaks.  After a day spent hiking the hills, I headed down for a much needed shower and early bedtime.

After a short stop Tuesday in Auburn, WA to visit a roommate and get a much needed night in a bed, I am now off to my last Washington Park, North Cascades.  I'll be there for four days, before turning for the long journey east.  Until next time!

To the Coast

Hi all!  I have just left Mount Rainier National Park and am now on my way to Olympic National Park on the coast.

The Peak

Bench Lake

My trip to Mount Rainier was short, but it was amazing.  This was the first time I had been there, and I was blown away by the shear size of the mountain and the  weather was beautiful.  The numerous waterfalls and glaciers that covered its slopes were a sight to see.  I spent most of Thursday exploring the park, hiking to old forest groves, waterfalls, and snow fed lakes.  All of it seemed so impressive and clean.  I will definitely be back.

I am now heading North and West to the coast, where I will spend four days in the beaches and temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula.  I will then be heading for a night in Seattle where I will hopefully be able to update everyone again.

Northward

Hi All,

I have now survived my first two national Parks!  I'm currently sitting in a Starbuck's in Eugene with the first wifi access I have had so far, so I figure I would give everyone a quick update.

So far, everything has been going great.  I started the trip with a night (Friday) at the Boy Scout Camp I used to work at, Camp Lassen,  I received a warm welcome and it was good to see a lot of familiar faces still around.  I didn't stay too long, as I wanted to get going on my trip, so Saturday morning I headed further up the Mountain to Lassen State Park.  I was only spending one night here, so I wanted to make the most of it.  Lassen NP has a single road that goes from the South end of the park up to the peak, then back out the North end of the park.  I have to say it is one of the prettiest drives I have ever been on, with a wide variety of forests, and some spectacular views.  I stopped for a few hours to take a hike to Bumpass Hell, the parks largest concentration of geothermal activities.

Bumpass Hell Steaming

 It was definitely worth the hike.  I then headed to the North are of the park where I made camp in the Crags Campground, the parks smallest one.  It was peaceful and perfect.

My humble campsite

Plaikni Falls

The next morning I continued my journey North on my way to Crater Lake National Park.  This too, would be a shorter stop with only two nights in the park.  It also took me most of the day to get to the park, so Sunday was spent mostly driving and setting up camp.  I realized I am beginning to pack the car up very efficiently, with everything in easy reach.  I woke up early ( I can't seem to sleep past 6 AM,  the sun comes up so early!) on Monday intent to explore the park, but was delayed a few hours trying to reserve my campsite for that night.  After that, I went to explore the park's scenic loop trail and take a few small hikes.  The first was to the Pinnacles, some impressive geological features at the edge of the park.  Then, another hike to Plaikni Falls, which had few people and was a nice site.  After that I made my way around the rest of the island, stopping for pictures.  By two, the roads were getting crowded, so hurried my way back to camp to relax.

The Pinnacles

Today has been mostly driving to the Portland area where I will spend the night with the Staub Cousins.  After that it is up to Washington and Mount Ranier, and I will hopefully give you an update after that.  Until next time!

The Journey Begins

It's been a hectic week of packing and moving, but I am finally hitting the road!  My first stop will be Camp Lassen, a Boy Scout camp I worked at for 3 years, before heading off to Lassen Volcanic National Park, the first park of the trip.  Hopefully I will be able to update after that, but if not the next stop is Crater Lake in Oregon.  I am really excited for the trip but at the same time more than a little nervous.  It will be a long road, but I am ready!

The First Post

Hey All!

Welcome to my travel blog!  Here, I will give updates on my progress and experiences, as well as post lots of pictures.

For those of you who don't know, this summer I am going on a 3-4 month trip across the United States visiting over thirty national parks as well as other points of interest.  I will be starting on July 12th and won't return until sometime around Late October/ Early November.  By car, I will start off traveling North to Washington, then across the northern US all the way to the Eastern most point of the U.S.  I will then head South as far as the Carolinas, then Eastward through Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas to a final stretch through the Southwest.  Most of the nights will be spent camping in the parks, with a few nights in motels, friends houses, and probably a few in my car.

I will post regularly about my project and try and share as much of the experiences with everyone stuck at home.  On the sidebar, you can find a list of the national parks I will be visiting, in order.  There is also a box listing my most recent location and links to my planned route as well as other useful resources.

At the bottom of the blog you will find contact information.  I would love to keep in touch with people while traveling, so please feel free to contact me.  If you find yourself on or near my route, it would be great to see friends and family, so please let me know and I will stop by.

I think that's it for now.  Right now I am still in full planning mode, trying to make sure everything is ready for when I leave. Happy 4th everybody!