Washington/Oregon Roadtrip
Before heading home after living in Vancouver for a year, I decided to take a week long road trip by myself through Washington and Oregon. I'd only gone on one camping trip in Washington since living in Vancouver and there was so much I still wanted to see before leaving the west coast. So I mapped out everywhere I wanted to go, put together an itinerary (which is rather uncommon for me, I usually don't plan before a trip) and got a rental car for 9 days! I started off my trip in the North Cascades, I arrived 4 hours after leaving Vancouver and car camped for the night in a campground parking lot which was closed for the season. The next morning I woke up eager to start my first day of the road trip. I really wanted to go to a place I'd seen photographed a million times, and I thought I was on the right trail. I hiked for 3 hours at sunrise and never saw the spot I was looking for. I didn't have service either so I was running behind my schedule already, so I headed down to Mt. Rainer instead. Later, after getting wifi realized the spot I was looking for was a lookout off a hwy and I instead went for a hike, it was still nice but this just means I have to go back one day! Mount Rainer National Park, didnt even feel real. I stayed for approx. 24 hours and my entire time in the park, everything was covered in clouds or fog and I was still blown away. I can't even imagine what it looks like on a clear day. I went on 4 different hikes around the park and camped there for the night. It was one of my favourite places I've ever been in America and I defiantly need to go back. Next I headed down to Portland/Columbia Gorge Area, I spent a day driving an old scenic hwy and hiking around multiple waterfalls in the area. I camped near by the city, the campsite had a shower so I took advantage realizing it was probably the only one I was going to have for the next few days. The next day, I went on one of the best hikes of my life. I was a little hesitant on going at first because I was reading reviews online, saying "unmaintained trail", "not suitable in bad weather", "dangerous", etc. while it was pouring outside and I was going to attempt it alone. But I said screw it, who knows the next time I'll have this opportunity and went for it and have no regrets. It was steep, unmaintained, slippery from the rain, involved a lot of rock climbing, questioned myself a few times but the second I climbed up over the last rock surface I was so happy. I climbed around the steep ridges of Munra Point for about a half hour in the rain, while the clouds were moving in and out around me, I even sat down for like 5 minutes and just couldn't believe how lucky I was to have a place like that all to myself for so long. I didn't see anyone else on the trail and it was probably my best experience of this trip. From Portland area, I headed south, stayed near Mt. Hood in a random parking lot of the side of the hwy that said "overnight parking allowed", cooked some soup and crawled in the back of the rental and read until I feel asleep. The next day, I headed down to Painted Hills. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, really cool landscapes with little walking trails all around. I spent the day there, talked to lots of tourists and then camped near by for the night. The next day, I drove to Rock Smith State Park, it was in the middle of no where and these rock canyons just stuck up in a small area in the middle of flat land. There were rock climbers everywhere and hiking trails all around. I hiked around the park for most of the morning and then drove to the coast. I arrived at the Oregon Coast just after sunset and car camped by the beach. It was nice to be back by the Ocean and it reminded me of previous trips to California and how beautiful the west coast beaches are. From here I spent the rest of my trip driving up the west coast of hwy one, making lots of stops along the way at many beaches. I ended my trip in Olympic National Park, slept in a walmart parking lot my last night and then headed back to Vancouver for my last night with my roommates before boarding a plane back to Ontario. It was my first road trip alone where I didn't feel lonely or bored once. It was quite refreshing to spend time alone and finally travel after being in one place for so long. It was a great trip and I got to see everything I wanted to see before I left.
