Headed North

Finally got some last minutes details taken care of with the truck and camper and was able to point it north towards Alaska.  This will be my third time driving up and hope to get off the main road and explore some stuff I haven't had the chance to in the past.  Have driven up the Cassiar and the Alcan so not sure which route I'll be on this time.  Will make the decision once I get north of Prince George. Of course, any drive to Alaska one has to deal with the ungodly traffic getting through Seattle.  Tiffany tries to convince me that some people love living there and the traffic and masses of people don't bother them.  I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that as it bothers me in a big way.  The traffic was at a crawl on a 6 lane interstate for well over an hour.  Sitting there watching people texting, cutting others off, blowing their horn as they try and move up one space, flipping one another off, etc., etc., it doesn't appear to me that they're very happy. Just my observation though.  

Didn't get as far north as I had planned due to the traffic so decided to stop for the night prior to crossing the border.  Beautiful campsite......WalMart parking lot.  Wasn't a total loss though as I met some fellow campers either going north or returning back to the states.  Sat around over a couple of cold ones and discussed past and planned travels.  Guy in the large, very expensive motorhome, told me that the definition of a Canadian snowbird is someone driving a half million dollar motorhome looking for a "free" place to park it.

After the WalMart Rally and crossing the border the following morning I made a wrong turn somewhere outside of Vancouver and ended up having to drive right through the heart of downtown.  Took awhile but was fun doing some people watching as I worked my way through the downtown corridor.

Finally broke out of the congestion of Seattle and Vancouver and got on the Sea to Sky Highway headed up towards Whistler.  Was getting late so started looking for a campsite.  Had to stop and take a picture of this.  Big sign out on the road advertising campsites for $35.  Again, Tiffany tells me that some people like camping like this.  Once again, I'm not getting it.  One can be crammed in like this where you can hear the camper next to you fart.

To each his own but I opt for a different experience.

Kept working my way north finding some more good sites over the next few days.

Days have consisted of short drives, some road repairs and of course taking Petey on some hikes a couple of times a day.  We usually stop during the day at least once and do a three or four mile hike.  Petey gets his hikes or he's none too happy.  So many good hiking trails along the roads here in BC.  Petey on the prowl for bear!

Not much in the way of wildlife so far other than a few moose and one bear crossing the road but no real photo opportunities.  Hopefully, that will improve.  I have however seen some sign that bear are in the area while out on a few hikes.

When I win the lottery I'm trading in my rig for this.  Ran across this family travelling in this sweet rig.  It's a massive rig so not real sure where you could take it but the living would be fine in it.  It's just so big you couldn't really do much off road stuff with it.  God forbid you ever bury this thing in the mud.  The thought of digging this thing out back in the bush by yourself would not be a fun day.  Looks cool rolling down the pavement though.

Backpacking in the Olympics.....

London is heading back off to college in a couple of weeks for his Sophmore year so we decided to backpack into Lena Lake in the Olympic National Forest for a little hiking, exploration, camping and some fishing for a final summer outing.  This hike is located a little north of Hoodsport on the Olympic Peninsula and is a really pretty area with some old growth forest, crystal clear streams, and beautiful lakes.  There is also some climbing routes up a little higher in The Brothers Wilderness area.  We took a late evening exploration hike up towards the rock buttes but ran out of time and steam on my part.  Decided to save it for a future trip.  Was a fun outing but each time I backpack with a loaded pack I am slowly coming to the realization that my knees, or anything else for that matter, aren't what they use to be.  Going downhill with a load anymore is torture on the knees.  Trying to keep pace with a fit eighteen- year probably didn't help matters either.  The older I get the more I despise the young!  Will be headed north soon back to Alaska.  Won't be on the motorcycle this trip but will be taking the camper so Petey can come along.  Looking forward to getting back up north and exploring some stuff I didn't get around too on my last trip.  Check back often for updates.

Sunset from camp that evening....

Fine dining......

On the drive home came by a field that had some cool old cars, trucks, and campers.  Pulled a U-turn and checked it out as both London and I like to look at this old stuff.

Was a fun couple of days with London before he heads back off to school to get "edumacated"

Hike up Mount Ellinor

A couple of weeks ago Tiffany and I decided to take the camper for a night up in the Olympic National Forest.  Had done a little research and decided on the hike up Mount Ellinor which is west of Hoodsport on the sound.  It's a nice hike with great views but has a substantial amount of elevation gain. From the upper trail-head, the round-trip is just over 3 miles.  A short hike distance wise on the map but, there is a 2500 foot elevation gain in a little over 1.5 miles.  It starts off steep, gets steeper, then gets steeper/rockier again and remains that way until reaching the summit.  Every step for 1.5 miles is up! Rather than spend money for an overpriced, crowded campsite we opted to do a little exploring on some remote forest service roads where we found a spot with a view. Fired up the BBQ for the evening meal and watched the sunset prior to turning in.  Following morning located the trail-head and headed up.

 Mount Ellinor in the background

Had heard that most of the time hikers encounter mountain goats once up top so decided to pack the camera gear and glad I did.  One can get some good shots up top with a little patience and the right lens. The goats are very accustomed to human presence but can become aggressive.  A few years ago a hiker was gored and bled to death on this trail before they could get him off the mountain.  In the fall, many times the park service has to close this trail down due to their aggressive behavior during the rutting season.  Ran into a couple of photographers who were carrying bear spray just in case.  They stated that they'd had problems in the past while in the area and it was recommended to them by a ranger to carry it.  Park service requests that no one urinate on the trail as they are attracted to the salt and will defend the spot.  We had one in the trail going up and he was in no hurry to move.  We waited him out until he decided he had something better to do.  They don't seem to have much concern or fear of hikers on the trail.  Having hiked around them in the past over the years, I had no idea that they were this aggressive nor that a death had been caused by one.  I know now.

View from the summit looking west towards Mount Olympus.

The hike up has many large boulders to get over and I was having to lift Petey over many of these.  I knew coming down it was going to be much of the same.  Had I knew how difficult a trail this is I would probably not have brought Petey and saved the hike for another time.  With 4 inch legs, this is not an easy trail!  With help, he made it up but simply gave out on the hike down so I placed him in my backpack and hiked him out.  He seemed to enjoy the hike out as he just rode along back there enjoying the view.  My back.....not so much.

Headed out late that evening and shot the sunset over the sound looking west towards the Olympics.  We plan to get back over this way as often as we can.

Northwest Overland Rally

While attending the Overland Expo down in Arizona earlier this year I had heard about a smaller rally which is held in Plain, Washington.  Seeing as it was only about a three-hour drive, figured I'd go over for a few nights, camp and do some riding in the area.  It's basically a large gathering of "Overlanders" whether it be by adventure style motorcycles or four-wheel rigs.  Vendors, classes offered on off-road recoveries, photography, etc.. In short, an outdoor gathering of like-minded people who are into the motorized outdoor scene.  Was a fun rally with lots of cool rigs, some great riding in the area, interesting classes, but, and this is a big but......it was friggin hot!  Record temperatures were being set in the area. Town of Wenatchee which is a short distance to the east recorded triple digits temps. This makes for some hot camping and even hotter motorcycling dressed in riding gear.

Lots of different types of rigs can be seen.  It's a smorgasborg of trucks, tents and campers.

Friday night they had a motorcycle skills course set up for riders wishing to give it a go.  The competition was run by Quinn Cody, a former DAKAR rider.  Some of the guy/girls could really handle those bigger rigs on some terrain most wouldn't try.

Most of the time when you get a group of motorcyclist pushing themselves you may also get some of this as well.

 Was able to get out on some solo rides in the surrounding area.  If nothing else to gain a little altitude and get some air flowing just to beat the heat.  Touratech was leading rides of with varying degrees of difficulty throughout the day.  Not being one for group rides I didn't participate but did use some of their tracks provided.  

Doug, all the way from Australia, was camped next to me.  Really nice guy who had purchased this Sportsmobile here in the states, sight unseen, over E-Bay.  Came over and had it completely gone through and customized to his liking.  Was a sweet set up and he'd added all the bells and whistles an Overlander would want.  He was in the states for a couple of months doing a solo roam about before having the rig shipped over to Ireland where he planned on catching up with it a later date.  He was into Sportsmobile's and had many campers stop by to view it. 

Left the rally early and headed up in the Wenatchee National Forest to check out some future campsites, unload the bike and do some riding as well. 

Got out of the area just in time.  The following day they had some wildfires kick up due to the heat and dry conditions that have been with us all summer.  Over two dozen homes were lost in the fires.

(Wenatchee fire photo taken off  the internet)

Rolled back into Tacoma late the following day and was treated to a full moon.