Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

Yesterday (Saturday, 11.03.07), knowing very well that the falls was already dried up, I made the two mile hike to Snoquera Falls (Trail #1167) near Camp Shepherd off State Route 410 (east of Greenwater, Washington). I wasn’t concerned about the views, I just needed to get some exercise (plus its cheaper than driving around at $3.00 a gallon).

The hike climbed steadily through the forest from the trailhead near Camp Shepherd. No great views of the surrounding country side, mostly old growth forest with some deciduous trees mixed in (note there would be some great fall colors within the forest in late September).
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A couple of my coworkers (Adam and James) had been planing a trail run to Evans Creek ORV for a little over week. My wife had plans to volunteer that day so I kept saying no. Finally, Thursday came and Adam needed to use my jigsaw to do a little wheel well trimming on his Jeep. Well my wife’s plans for the day changed and she said to go. Sweet.

Knowing very well that the trail system at the Evans Creek ORV area was not designed to larger vehicles like my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser, my intent was that we would stick to the easier trails and/or forest roads. So off we went for the day’s adventure.

Once we pulled into the parking lot of the Evans Creek, we were met by a group of three other Jeeps. We decided to tag along. The emotional fun of wheeling overcame my common sense that my Land Cruiser may not fit on the trails. Luckily there there was minimal recent rain.

I’m not sure what trail we started on because there was no sign (unless I missed it). I know it was just west of the day use parking area. We started off climbing from the road shortly an obstacle that gave a couple of the Jeeps a challenge. Basically the key was to keep to the left of a few rocks in the trail (easier said then done). The long wheelbase of my Land Cruiser definitely helped in this section. Because the trail was relatively dry, it was a pretty easy time in my FJ80 and the trail provided plenty of width to navigate my 112 inch wheelbase through the obstacles (if you’re not familiar with my Land Cruiser, I’m only running an 2.5 OME lift, 31 inch BFG AT tires and unlocked diffs).

We eventually came to trail 198 (which was marked “most difficult”). I was having fun and the trail wasn’t bad so far, so I decided to continue with the group. Well this section of trail ended up being very tight for my 80-series pig. There was quite a few close calls where the off camber sections would push me very close obstacles along side of the trail. I made several attempts to get around certain root but in the end, my flare hit it and I heard a cracking sound. I thought the flair was toast. Somehow, I managed to get by with only deep scrapes in my left rear fender flair.

A little further down the trail, there was a turn that I didn’t think I could make so I tried a alternate route. The path would initially lead me between two trees (with minimal clearance on each side). I should have gotten out and sized up the obstacle first, but I didn’t. I drove up over the roots of the tree and then got high centered on my side steps when my front tires dropped into the hole on the other side. Had I built up a ramp with readily available materials (logs and rocks) I probably would have negotiated the obstacle. To continue, I had to get winched off (the only time all day). After that, the trail was still tight but I was able pass the remaining tight sections with out problem (just throw in a few multi-point turns and some spotting).

After we reached the gravel forest road, we headed up Forest Road 7930 until we reached the ridge. Normally you have a great view of Mt. Rainier from this location but today, you could only see the lower part of the glaciers. In the opposite direction, there are views of the Puget Sound lowlands, however those views were limited by the cloud cover.

By this time, one of the Jeeps in the group headed out, so we took a little time to fire a few rounds through our guns. It had been a while since I shot my 9mm Ruger, but I was actually able to hit a fairly decent grouping at 20 yards. Adam had his .44 Smith cannon and shot a few rounds also.

After making some noise, we headed down to the main road in, stopping to play and take some photos along the way.

We were able to air up at Chuck’s Service & Gas in Wilkeson. We real appreciated the hospitality because air is not a normally provided service. At one time it was, but a few people ruined for everybody.

It was a fun day. If the weather was clear, I could have had some great pictures of Mt. Rainier. I got lucky that the conditions were mostly dry (except for a few puddles). If it had been wetter conditions, my BFG ATs would not have had any traction and I would have probably ended up sliding into something and denting a quarter panel (like James in his Cherokee). The only damage I suffered was some deep scrapes in the left rear fender flare and a little tweaking of my side steps. Would I take my Land Cruiser on those trails again? On the forest roads, not a problem. On the 4WD trails. Nope. The FJ80 is just too much body and wheelbase.

You can view all of the photos from this trail run at Evans Creek Trail Run Photos.

Initially, the family was only going to make a day trip to Oak harbor, Washington to visit friends for the day. However, since the forecast was for nice weather over the weekend, I suggested that we stay over night in a hotel and take the Keystone-Port Townsend ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula the next the morning and do some sight seeing. I suggested Cape Flattery as one possible destination.

Saturday morning, we made it out the door and headed North on I-5. The closer we got to Seattle, you could easily tell that there was a University of Washington Huskies football game in town by the school colors that were on nearly 1 out of 5 vehicles on the freeway.

Once we reached Burlington, Washington, we headed west on Highway 20. Along the way, there are views of Padilla Bay and Fidalgo Bay visible from the highway. It was low tide when we passed, so the mud flats were visible.

Our first stop along the way was at the Deception Pass bridge. After a few pictures and a quick peak to the water below, my wife elected to stay with the Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser while my daughter and myself ventured out across the bridge for better photo opportunities.

In addition to the normal traffic over the bridge, there was an organized bike tour on Whidbey Island, which meant much more congestion over the bridge.

To experience the views from the Deception Pass bridge, one must stop and get out of the car and walk. You miss so much by simply driving across. The views are fantastic. We were even able to spot a seal in the water below.

Once back to the car, we headed into Oak Harbor for lunch and then to our friends house just outside of town. After a short visit, we headed to the North Beach at Deception Pass State Park.

After some photos of the kids playing on the beach, I headed out with the camera and tripod for some additional photos of the shoreline. I ended up walking the shoreline from the beach, around the point to the beach just below the Deception Pass Bridge. Great photo opportunities all around. I could have easily spent hours taking photos of the diverse shoreline.

After spending a few hours at the park, it was time for dinner and the back to the motel so the kids could swim in the pool.

The next morning, we headed out to catch the 8:45 Keystone - Port Townsend ferry. I had forgot to set the alarm, so we had to rush a little. Luckily we made it with about ten minutes to spare and the ferry wasn’t full.

We were fortunate that the weather was sunny and the water was relatively calm, though cool. This ferry ride was the first for my wife and daughter. After about a 30 minute ferry ride, we arrived in Port Townsend, Washington.

Once in Port Townsend, we parked the Land Cruiser and searched for a coffee shop in the downtown area. After a coffee and a quick bite to eat, we strolled through the downtown area before heading out. Because of the time of day on a Sunday, most of the downtown businesses were closed.

From Port Townsend, we headed south on Highway 20 to US 101. Along the way, we had great views of Discovery Bay. Once we were on US 101, we headed west through Sequim and Port Angeles. We stopped in Port Angeles for fuel and lunch.

After lunch, we continued west on US 101 until we reached Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park. US 101 follows the south shore of Lake Crescent and offers great views of the lake. Of course, we stopped along the way to take photos.

From Lake Crescent, we continued on US 101 through the Sol Duc River Valley. I pointed out the Kloshe Nanitch Lookout high above the valley floor.

When we reached Highway 113, we headed north towards the Straight of Juan de Fuca where the road intersects SR 112 where we headed west. From this junction, SR 112 also leads east to just outside of Port Angeles. Once we reached Clallam Bay and Sekiu, SR 112 follows the shoreline of the Straight of Juan de Fuca. This stretch of highway is another must do scenic drive.

At the entrance of the Makah Indian Reservation, there was a tribal police checkpoint that was inquiring about our destination. Later we found out that some members of the Makah nation illegally killed a whale the day before (that explains the TV news vans we saw later in the day). We made our way through Neah Bay, Washington and followed the sign to Cape Flattery.

The road to Cape Flattery was in the process of getting paved. All except the last three miles was fresh pavement. The gravel sections were in excellent condition and looks as though it will soon receive asphalt as well.

From the trailhead parking area, it’s about a 3/4 mile hike down to Cape Flattery. The trail is an easy hike through the forest, with many sections on wooden boardwalks over the more damp areas.

Once you reach Cape Flattery, there are great views of the Pacific Ocean, the Straight of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island, and the Cape Flattery Lighthouse on Tatoosh Island. Again, we had great weather.

By the time we completed the hike down to Cape Flattery, it was already mid-afternoon, which didn’t leave much time to do more sightseeing, so we had to start heading home.

The Olympic Peninsula has such a diverse ecosystem, including ocean shore lines, river valleys, lakes, rain forests to the alpine areas of the Olympic Mountains. There is so much to see on the Olympic Peninsula that it would probably take good week to visit all the places you can visit by car. I guess another trip will have to be planned to do some more explorations.

You can view all of photos of this trip at Deception Pass to Cape Flattery Photos.

Over four days, I completed a 671 mile adventure (not counting the additional 465 miles to get to the starting point and back home again) following an overland route through the Cascade Mountains of Washington state, stretching from the Columbia River near Carson, Washington to Chopaka at the border crossing with British Columbia. From my records, about 63% of the overland route was on forest roads.

Over these four days, my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser was driven hard, physically traveling roughly the same mileage that it would take to get to Los Angeles from Seattle via I-5 without leaving Washington state (is this what is considered “severe service” by the manufacturer?). Near the British Columbia border, the odometer on my LandCruiser also achieved the 190,000 mark.

Through all the abuse I dished out to my 80-series Land Cruiser (all these forest roads were not nice graded roads), the only mechanical failure I had was a broken catalytic converter support bracket (once I had climbed up the Bethel Ridge road I noticed a new knocking sound that was terrain specific). The only physical damage occurred while driving the FS-1701 on Manastash Ridge when I heard something hit (stick, rock ?) underneath the body. I stopped and could not locate any damage, so I continued. It wasn’t until I was at home, under the vehicle doing maintenance, that I noticed a dented rocker panel under the drivers door.

Had I known local road closures and conditions better, I could have eliminated some of the backtracking and alternate routes that I followed. I guess that’s why this was also an exploratory route finding trip.

Since I began posting my trip reports, I’ve received suggestions for several possible alternative routes to explore. Obviously, a person could substitute more 4×4 trails to the route, especially in the Naches/Cle Elum/Liberty areas. There may also more 4×4 trails or unimproved roads that are not clear on the maps that could be added in the route. Since I was traveling solo, driving designated 4×4 trails was not a goal for this trip.

After mapping out and driving this route, I’m hoping that this trip may lay the groundwork for an official overland route such as the Oregon Discovery Route (too bad the Oregon Discovery Route ended near Walla Walla and not closer to the Cascades).

My goal for this trip was to break down the North-South route through the Washington Cascades into manageable daily drives. I had originally planned each as follows:

Day One: Carson to Packwood.
Day Tow: Packwood to Cle Elum.
Day Three: Cle Elum to Chelan.
Day Four: Chelan to Chopaka.

The only day I did not reach my daily driving goal was on day one. Had I got an earlier start and eliminated some backtracking and/or driving dead end roads, it would have been an easily achievable goal. If a person desired to stay in comfortable accommodations, you could easily plan out each nights stay.

Would I do this again? In a heartbeat! (probably not this year though). I would rather have some friends/vehicles along to include more designated 4×4 trails. I would also add an extra day or more to the time frame to not be so rushed. I would also like to spend a day exploring the ghost towns and mines of the Okanogan region of Washington state.

Trip Summary:
Total Miles Driven: 671 miles (approximate)
Paved Highway: 95 miles (14%)
Paved County Roads: 158 miles (23%)
Paved Forest Service Road: 133 miles (20%)
Improved Gravel Forest Service Roads: 252 miles (38%)
Limited Maintenance Forest Roads: 33 miles (5%)

In case you missed some of the trip reports, you can catch up on each day by following these links.

Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Introduction
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day One
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Two
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Three
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Four
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Final Thoughts

This year was the third year attending the annual PNW4WDA annual jamboree. As in years past, I volunteered to help ARB serve their annual Friday dinner for the event. This is always a lot of fun and a great group of people to work with. They do a great job on putting on the dinner.

Since the event was a sellout, all the trail runs on Saturday were quickly filled. This was also the first time I was actually going to wheel my FJ-80 Land Cruiser, so I decided to sit in and attend (and assist where needed) the Four Wheel Drive 101 class presented by Chris Wood of ARB. This is a great class and you will pick up tips whether you are brand new to wheeling or a seasoned veteran. A great emphasis is placed on personal safety and preparedness. There were also some excellent discussion and demonstration on vehicle recovery techniques including a demonstration on how to winch you vehicle backwards with a front mounted winch.

After the presentation, the rest of the day was spent on the Clover Springs Trail with a few stops along the way to practice off-road driving techniques. An especially important practice session was backing down a hill using only your mirrors.

By time we got back to the jamboree base camp, we had been on the trail nearly eleven hours. A long and fun day. I look forward to next year.

You can view my photos of the trail run at Clover Springs Trail Run.

Summer in Western Washington usually doesn’t start officially (at least weather wise) until July 5 of each year. Today (06.24.07) was no exception. The forecast for the day was for rain and a snow level of 5000 feet.

Since I worked the night before and my wife’s nephew was coming over for dinner, I had to keep the day’s adventure somewhat local from my home. Flipping through the book Washington Byways, I found Tour 49 - High Rock Lookout Loop and it fit perfectly into the day’s time restraints. I loaded up the dog in the Land Cruiser and headed towards the Cascades in hopes of finding some sun above the low hanging clouds.

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Last Sunday (June 24, 2007), I ventured into the High Rock area near Mt. Rainier. The weather was overcast and rain most of the day meaning in no great views of Mt. Rainier. These are the photos I shot on this adventure. Most are taken from the inside of my Toyota Land Cruiser.

High Rock Loop Photos

The complete story of this adventure will be coming soon.

After the floods in the Fall of 2006, many of your favorite Washington state backcountry roads and hiking trails have some amount of damage. Before you head out you may want to find out if you can even reach your intended destination.

Even though many of you do not agree with their agenda, the Washington Trails Association has kindly provided a database and map of damages hiking trails and backcountry roads throughout Washington state that will be kept up to date as conditions change (and as the snow in the high country melts).

Winter on the West Slopes of the Cascades usually lasts well into Summer, with many places not being snow free until late June or even early July. With the recent summer-like weather in Western Washington, I had a desire to go see how high the actual snowline was at this time of year. So I set off for another day of exploring. This time, the rest of my family decided to stay home and do other things. Only the dog was anxious to go, as always.

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Now that I have my eight year old daughter interested in photography, there is no way way that she’ll miss an opportunity for a road trip with her dad. Before her new interest in photography, it was agony on even the shortest trip, the typical “are we there yet” or “when are we going to get there?” of an eight year old. That has all changed since my wife and I let our daughter have our recently retired Sony Cybershot DSC-S30 1.3 megapixel digital camera (yes you heard it right, recently retired; replace by a Canon Powershot A550 and a soon to arrive Nikon D80 SLR).

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