Lake Wenatchee, WA

 Another state park

Our plans this year have been constantly changing due to the heat and fires in Oregon. We chose hosting this summer since so many campgrounds ae closed and many more people camping making finding last minute sites difficult to find. We hadn't previously volunteered in Washington and didn't know what to expect.

With a lot more last minute openings this year for camp hosts, we saw a last minute opening at Lake Wenatchee State Park for a camp host as we left Fort Stevens State Park on Oregon's coast. Lake Wenatchee is 20 minutes north of Leavenworth, WA in the middle of the national forest and North Cascades. 

Leavenworth is a Bavarian Village style town with an annual Bavarian Christmas celebration and one of the largest Oktoberfest celebrations outside of Munich. It offers up a little slice of Germany in the center of its Pacific Northwest landscape and nearby Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

The novelty of visiting Leavenworth wore off pretty quickly during our weekly trips to Safeway and running into traffic jams of tourists. Our plan to have a nice German lunch out quickly turned to burgers at the drive up burger place on the edge of town.

Lake Wenatchee State Park is a 489-acre camping park with glacier-fed Lake Wenatchee and the Wenatchee River. 

During their annual migration long ago, Native American tribes stopped at Lake Wenatchee for a feast of clams and salmon before heading west to trade with coastal tribes.

Ready for work in our little Gem electric vehicle.

The North Loop has room for larger RVs and we were in the South loop with 100 sites for small RVs and tents on the south side of the Wenatchee River. Our site overlooked the swimming area and had a nice breeze across the lake on warm days which kept most of the pesky mosquitos at bay. Both campgrounds had peaceful walking trails.

New Jr Rangers making a pledge.

Chiwawa Loop Road

Our cycle route was 7 miles to Plain and the Chiwawa Loop. The small "town" had the Just Plain Grocery, Just Plain Laudromat and Plain Hardware which turned out to be a boutique and coffee shop with hardware in the back.

We saw a banner at a resort on our return ride from Plain with Friday night music and tacos. A gal saw us dancing and asked me to two step with her since no one else was dancing and Mike was getting tacos. That was in between "mask off, mask on".

A bridge too bumpy to ride. Made my teeth chatter.

Happy campers leaving a message on our wood shed white board.

Stevens Pass PCT

The most difficult stretch of PCT in Washington, Section K puts hikers through a grueling 127-mile trek (a long ways between resupplying) over harsh terrain and treacherous conditions are rewarded with 

a true wilderness experience in and among some of the country's most pristine and beautiful surroundings. 

We headed out with our packs of "trail magic" (breakfast bars) on an easier 3 miles of this section. It wasn't long until we met a couple of south bound hikers that said they were headed to Mexico. I whipped out a couple of bars. They looked so happy and said they had run out of food and were so thankful. 

They weren't far from the highway and planned to hitch a ride to Leavenworth. We found the diner in Coles Corner that many through hikers stopped at, much closer with some really good food and had been featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Hikers that we had seen while out on the trails would stop and visit with us. It was amazing how much food they could put down.

Stevens Pass Ski area

Iron Goat Trail

The Iron Goat Trail is a walk along the old Great Northern railroad grade built over the Cascades in 1893. At the time it was built, it was considered the best engineered of the transcontinental railroads, taking us on one of the intricate switchbacks that once took trains up the Cascades Mountains. 

There were small waterfalls and several old tunnels with trails going up to the openings. We took the steep counterclockwise direction and were pretty warm when we reached the first tunnel.

The breeze was cool as we entered it. I thought we should just stay there. Many of the tunnels and snow bridges were built by 800 workers — many 

Japanese immigrants — who laid the train tracks across the Cascades through Stevens Pass. 

I know there is a trail somewhere around here.

Things went south as we headed west.

Port Townsend, WA

Forts and lighthouses

We were taking a chance on finding a place to stay without advanced reservations the last weeks of August into Labor Day weekend. After scoring three days at Gilgal RV resort in Sequim, the only place with openings was the fairgrounds in Port Townsend, another first come first serve place. We hoped for electric and water, but would be fine dry camping for a while. After an early start, we pulled into the fairgrounds and grabbed an electric site, dragging our power cord across the field to a building with several other RVs hooked up in a spiderweb. The people around us looked pretty hung over.  There had been a music festival billed as  "Woodstock 50 Years Later" at Fort Worden over the weekend with 4000 tickets sold each day. We decided to pay for one day and take some time to figure out a plan. We took a walk through the campground to see what else was out there, careful to avoid the empty wine bottles laying on the ground. 

We scored one full hookup site in an area that looked pretty docile. I stood guard ready to defend our site while Mike gathered our truck and trailer. By 1pm most people had cleared out, the trash had been cleared and the fields were now empty. We extended our stay to 4 nights in our little slot at $25/night.

A favorite thing to do while visiting Puget Sound is taking a Washington Ferry anywhere. The ferry from Port Townsend is a 45 minute ride to Whidbey Island. Rather than drive on, which

requires a reservation and charged by the foot. We paid $4.40 each way and walked on with our bikes for a ride on the island to Coupeville and Oak Harbor. Some cyclists had ridden the short 3 mile route to Coupeville for lunch or breakfast before heading back. We prefer to ride more miles but it can be pretty hilly in places. Starting at sea level, the only place to go is up.

Walking on and securing our bikes.

Port Townsend from the bay.

The first day was bright and sunny as we crossed. We watched a seal catching breakfast and an otter swimming along the ferry. The second day was foggy. But the fog cleared as we rode giving

us a chance to have fish tacos on the pier as we watched the boats tie up and the loud navy jets flying overhead.

Ring the bell if you see a whale.

We happened upon a Navy gentleman swearing in on the front of the ferry.

 Extending our time in Port Townsend gave us another chance to ride a different route on Whidbey Island to Ebey Landing on Hill Road and on to Fort Ebey.

Set on the western side of Whidbey Island, Fort Ebey was constructed as a coastal defense fort during the Second World War. Its battery was dug into a high bluff overlooking Admiralty Inlet. The park's concrete gun emplacements and underground rooms are great for exploration. A flashlight would have been handy.

On the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, you can walk a fine sandy beach between high bluffs to reach the Point Wilson Lighthouse at Fort Worden State Park. 

Views are wonderful of Mt. Baker, Vancouver Island, the San Juan Islands, and the Cascades behind them.

Our stop at the post office that was built on a bluff overlooking Port Townsend in 1895 was worth a visit even though we had only planned to mail some things.

The postal employee encouraged us to walk around and check out the views.

Fall is in the air.

A stop at Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge on our way to Willamette Mission in Oregon.

It was a fun return to a place we had previously enjoyed while working in Bremerton and Seattle.

Sequim, WA

A quick visit

We had made several visits to Sequim while working in Seattle and Bremerton over the years. This is one place we could return over and over and never get tired of being here.

By the middle of August, the lavender fields have faded and many harvested. But riding our bikes along the Olympic Discovery Trail by these lavender farms, stores and farm markets is always a treat. It has one of the driest areas in western Washington and considered the "banana belt".

The pole at the Sequim Civic Center was carved by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s carvers and watched over us as we enjoyed the farmers market.

Baby and big artichokes

I am not sure why we wanted to share the waffle but you can't go wrong with lemon custard on a crispy vanilla Belgium waffle.

Olympic Discovery Trail

The Olympic Discovery Trail over the Dungeness River at Railroad Bridge Park as we rode 25 miles over the mostly flat rail trail. 

Whimsical Woods along the bike path makes fun bird houses from natural items found around the area.

We could see the Dungeness Lighthouse at the end of the 5 mile Dungeness Spit which is part of the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge, watching the barges bring their wares from China through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. You can even become a lighthouse keeper and stay at the lighthouse.

 Looking up into the trees there were bald eagles perched on a snag. I think he was looking at us.

On our walk back up the trail, we watched what looked like a kangaroo mouse according to the wild life person at the trailhead. Maybe he was a deer mouse, but he was sure cute and not concerned with us and he bounced around gathering seeds.

Crescent Lake

Marymere Falls is a nice short 1.5 mile walk from Crescent Lake and was a good stop on our way to Sequim.

Relatively easy walk up through the forest along a good trail crossing two bridges and then steps up to the viewpoint.

 I had hoped for another ride on the Coho Ferry to Victoria, British Columbia from  Port Angeles. But with limited time in Sequim, that would have to wait this time.

Now on to Port Townsend 30 miles down the road.