Saturday, October 20, 2012

2012 Summer Trip Recap

 

I was looking through the blog posts from this trip and after a few good laughs I decided to pick out my favorite photos and condense the five month trip into one last post. There is nothing new here except the final photo, a self-portrait I took at Tuolumne Meadows.

Camping Sign

My first glimpse of the ocean was at Harris Beach State Park in Oregon.

Harris Beach 3

Notice the color of the sky? It is blue. For the next 70 days I would only see the sun seven times. The drive north on the Oregon and Washington coasts is aptly called the “Pacific Coast Scenic Byway”.

Scenic Byway

I crossed over the Rogue River Bridge and visited Cape Blanco and it’s lighthouse.

Rouge River Bridge

Cape Blanco 11

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

I stayed at Bullards Beach State Park where the sun was nice enough to come out and dry my tent.

Tent Drying at Bullards

I crossed two more bridges, Coos Bay and Yaquina Bay and spent some time at the harbor.

Coos Bay Bridge

Yaquina Bay Bridge 2

Yaquina Bay

There are two lighthouses in this area, Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head.

Yaquina  Bay Lighthouse

Yaquina Sign

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Can you tell that I like lighthouses and bridges? Next stop was at Depoe Bay where I observed a seal and a seagull engaged in a spirited debate.

Depoe Bay

Seal 3

A rare sunny day showed up so I spent some time at the beach.

Beach 1

Followed by a trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Cheese Sign 2

Cheese 1

All you can eat cheesy goodness!

Free Cheese

I also like funny signs. This one still cracks me up.

Horse Parking

At the northwest corner of Oregon I spent some time at Fort Clatsop.

Fort Sign

I had watched the Ken Burns documentary about them just before starting the trip. It was neat to walk in their footprints and see what they saw.

Fort 1

Fort 2

Inside Fort 1

I crossed the Columbia River on the Astoria Bridge and visited two more lighthouses, Cape Disappointment and North Head.

Astoria Bridge

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

North Head Lighthouse 1

I passed through South Bend, Washington, the “Oyster Capital of the World”.

Oyster Sign

Oyster Boats

From there I headed north into Olympic National Park and all it’s green glory.

Olympic Sign

Graves Creek Campground

Quinalt Rainforest

Near Hoh Rain Forest I was stared down by a wild taco and later at Fairholme by a duck.

Hoh Sign 1

Hoh Tacos

Duck 4

Near Elwha campground was beautiful Madison Falls.

Madison Falls Sign

Madison Falls 10

My last night in Olympic was at Staircase campground. I had a spot right on the river and the birds provided nice background music.

Staircase River HDR

Chickadee 2 Upclose

I looped around Puget Sound getting a far off glimpse of Mount St. Helens and continued on to Mount Rainier National Park.

Mt. St. Helens 2

Mt. Rainier Sign

Mt. Rainier 3

I passed by some more signs.

Volcano Sign

Primitive Sign

The one above makes me laugh. If there were no warning signs then that sign shouldn’t be there. I camped at La Conner and got the evil eye from a bald eagle eating a salmon in the pouring rain.

Eagle 3

Eagle 4

While there I checked out Admiralty Head lighthouse and Deception Pass bridge.

Admiralty Head Lighthouse

Deception Pass Bridge

I enjoyed a nice sunset and the next morning found an old weathered boat on my way to the Canadian border.

La Conner Sunset 5

Old Boat 1

Old Boat 3

Border Sign

I visited Peace Arch Park and took a stroll on Canadian soil.

Arch 4

Welcome USA

I headed east and spent some time in North Cascades National Park.

Cascades Sign

Waterfall HDR 2

Skagit Tree

I used my new stove for the first time, making a batch of tacos.

New Stove

I also complained about the terrible working conditions I had to endure.

Office 3

Leaving the park I took some photos of Diablo Lake.

Diablo Lake 1

Diablo Lake 3

I passed through the towns of Winthrop and Leavenworth on my way to Crescent Bar.

Winthrop 2

Leavenworth 1

CB Sign

You can read the post about what happened to me here: LINK

My tent took a beating and ended up looking a little different.

Broken Tent

I passed through Toledo, Washington, picked up a “camping god”, and camped at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon.

Toledo Sign

Camping God

Silver Falls Campsite

I wish I could have spent more than one night there. There is a trail of about 10 miles that takes you by 10 waterfalls. I only had time to visit one, South Falls. The trail goes behind the waterfall for a unique perspective.

South Falls 2

South Falls

I visited two calderas, topless volcanoes that had water inside. Newberry National Volcanic Monument was a surprise. Located around 35 miles southeast of Bend, Oregon, this was probably my favorite camping area of the trip and I did not even stay there. There are two lakes inside and you can camp right next to them. And the beach…

East Lake Beach

Beautiful! Crater Lake National Park was nice in it’s own way. The campgrounds are a few miles from the lake and there is only one steep trail down to the water.

Crater Lake 1

I liked the view from the south rim looking south in the morning light.

Crater View 2

I arrived at Lassen National Park in California just in time for a forest fire. I packed up and left the next morning.

Lassen Campground 2

Another hidden gem was Van Duzen, a Humboldt County campground near Fortuna, California. There were giant redwoods and some great swimming holes.

Van Duzen Trees

Van Duzen River 1

Van Duzen River 3

Speaking of swimming holes, two campgrounds just off Interstate 80 near Yuba Gap had some great ones. Hampshire Rocks,

Hampshire Rocks 2

and Indian Springs.

Indian Springs 2

Indian Springs 1

I camped four nights near Oregon House, California, on the South Fork of the American River. I met some nice people and ate some interesting food.

Morning Beach 1

Crowded Beach

13 Lizards

Lizard Tacos

I finished up at Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite Sign

I spent 3 nights at Tuolumne Meadows hanging out with my friend Glenn.

Hanging Out

TR 6

Tuolumne River 3

Finished up the trip with five nights in Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite Valley View 1

Glacier View 8

Half Dome

On the way home I passed by Tenaya Lake and went down Tioga Pass.

Tenaya Lake 2

Tioga 2

As I was heading south on US 395 I kept hearing a squeaking sound from my left rear wheel. I pulled over a found the problem.

Squirrel 1

So there you have it. The “Reader’s Digest” version of my trip. Beats reading all 30 blog posts. Am I forgetting anything? Oh, the self-portrait. I am always behind the lens, never in front, so I thought I would share this with you in case you were wondering what a camping fool looks like. Enjoy!

Self Portrait

Regards,

Greg

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