Our trip to the Pacific NW....

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Sagebrush
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#16

Post by Sagebrush »

Not cold. Chilly enough in the mornings to wear a sweatshirt but it usually warmed up enough in the afternoons that we didn't need them.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#17

Post by Whiskerfish »

Rusty is very Jealous! She said it was a good thing we have not gone because she would never leave.

I do not see any other people or vehicles in your shots, was there much traffic?

Awesome pics Dean!!
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#18

Post by Sagebrush »

Any time you get into or west of the Rockies there is far less traffic than we are used to in the eastern part of the country. I try to get my shots with out the clutter of modern civilization. I'll walk a hundred yards to get a view I want without a fence or power line in it. I'll also wait for vehicles to clear unless I want one in it to show scale. Just sit back and observe, I've got a lot more to post this was just the first two three days on the bikes.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#19

Post by rtccp »

wow,, those are awesome,,, and sagebrush, on behalf of me and casper and all other canadians let me be the first to apologize for that dufus student kid at the Alberta border , you just got a small taste of the crap we deal with , with out government .....sounds like you had a blast, that is on my bucket list when i retire.... np
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#20

Post by Sagebrush »

After staying the night in Kalispell we were greeted by on and off rain for our trip to Kettle Falls. Even though we traveled through some beautiful country it wasn't much of a picture taking day due to the weather. We followed US-2 until we got to WA-20, the North Cascade Highway. In Idaho 2 merged with US-95 and ran south through desert country that lies in the rain shadow of the Cascades. We got to remove the rain gear on this stretch and did manage to get a couple of picture.

Here Terrie is reading a historical marker that describes a sheep massacre carried out by cattlemen in the late 1800s.

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We arrived at the NGW Western campground around 3pm in clearing weather and immediately began visiting with other members completely forgetting about the camera. Fortunately tlbranth captured a few images and posted them near the end of this thread:

NGW Western.

The next morning dawned wet again and I realized that I left my rain pants back at the campground so off I went to retrieve them while Terrie made a necessary Walmart trip. While there I made on last attempt to steal Hamster's most excellent riding jacket but he was too watchful. I would have made a more determined effort but I figured after the cost of the alterations and extra material needed to make it fit me it wouldn't be worth it. So after retrieving and donning my rain pants and meeting up with Terrie at a gas station in Kettle Falls it was off to Anacortes via the North Cascade Highway. On the east side of Washington Pass it was relatively dry but once we crossed the pass we got back on the wet side of the mountains.

Here are some views of Washington Pass and from the Washington Pass overlook.

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Traveling west on WA-20 brought us to the Diablo Lake overlook.

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On the drop off at our feet on the overlook was patch of rocks covered with moss. The ravens were on the rocks overturning the moss. I assume they were looking for critters to eat under or in the moss.

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A little further west we came to the Gorge Creek Falls overlook.

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After a long day we arrived at the Swinomish Northern Lights Hotel and Casino located on Padilla Bay. This was the best hotel room we had on our entire trip. Even had a Keurig coffee maker with real Keurig coffee in the room. Here are some views from our hotel room, as you can see it was a bit damp outside.

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Lots more still to come.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#21

Post by Whiskerfish »

Looking forward to seeing them!
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and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#22

Post by Rat »

Wonderful stuff .......

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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#23

Post by KYpondman »

Great photos, looks like a wonderful trip.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#24

Post by Sagebrush »

The next morning we had to get up early in order to make the ferry from Anacortes to Sydney on Vancouver Island. It was one of the few mornings that we had to set an alarm clock. If we missed our ferry then next one wasn't until late in the day and we would forfeit our deposit on our reservations for the morning ferry. Turned out we made it in plenty of time.

Our ride before coming in to the dock.

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As you can see the weather remained unsettled.

While boarding the ferry uses it engines to keep the ferry pressed against the dock. This creates a lot of turbulence in the water aft of the ship. There was a harbor seal diving and resurfacing, I'm assuming he is looking for a meal stirred up by the ferry's propellers.

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Finally underway.

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The passage from Anacortes to first Friday Harbor and then to Sydney is lined with relatively low lying islands.

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After awhile we approached Friday Harbor, no vehicles were unloaded or loaded just pedestrians and bicyclists.

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After leaving Friday Harbor is was more island passages.

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After docking and unloading at Sydney it was about a 17 mile ride to Victoria, even so we got rained on during the trip. Because of the on again off again rain showers we decided to park at the hotel and walk to lunch and take in Craigdarroch Castle, a local attraction. Craigdarroch isn't really a castle and wasn't really called a castle by its owner but it acquired the name over time. It was built by Victoria's first millionaire at the end of the 1800's. It cost $500,000 to build in an era when the next most expensive house in Victoria cost a tenth that much. The woodwork in the entrance way and in the formal downstairs rooms is as elegant and as intricate as any I've ever seen. I think you'll see what I mean.

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Looking up the five story staircase from the front entrance.

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The next morning we set out to explore the downtown and harbor areas of Victoria.

These were schooling on the grounds of the Empress Hotel the most prominent landmark on the harbor along with the parliament building.

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These are two hemlock (I'm guessing because I really don't know what kind of tree they are) that have been trained to grow on a 45 degree angle which causes all there branches to dangle vertically from the trunk. They frame the walk to the front entrance of the Empress hotel.

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On the southwest corner of the Empress' grounds is a statue of local woman who came every day to sketch pictures. She eventually became a fixture of the area and after her death the Hotel had a statue commissioned of her. After waiting for the hordes of Japanese tourists that were climbing all over the statue while taking each others pictures to clear out we got these relatively uncluttered images.

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This is the usual state of this statue.

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What made it unique was the monkey and the dog.

As the day progressed many vendors selling art and jewelry set up on the Empress' grounds.

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There are lots of totem poles scattered throughout the harbor and downtown area of Victoria.

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Most of the totem poles had plaques with the name of the artists and a description of what each character on the totem meant. This one however did not. I'm still trying to figure out the significance of the dirty knees of the woman on top and just why does the bottom character have such a smug expression?

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Walking around the harbor we come to the parliament building which sets at right angles to the Empress.

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Across the street from the parliament is the harbor with pedestrian walkways surrounding it. Being a Sunday morning the harbor tour boats were putting on a precision drill (they called it a ballet) to the music of popular waltzes broadcast across the harbor.

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The crowd is enthralled with the performance.

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Being down on the harbor did provide the best view of the Empress Hotel which dominates the harbor.

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The walkway around the harbor is another prime location for artists to sell there wares and for busquers like this colorful cowgirl to do there street performances.

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After exploring the harbor we spent the rest of the day visiting gift shops and small coffee shops. Overall it was a great day and it was refreshing to not be riding.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#25

Post by HOTT »

Speachless.

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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#26

Post by sunnbobb »

Nice pictures. Gotta love it here. :)
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#27

Post by ericheath »

What an impressive area! Nice pics, Dean.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#28

Post by Sagebrush »

We left Victoria the next morning on the ferry MV Coho. A ship that has been running between Victoria and Port Angeles since the 1960s.

Buoy at the entrance to Victoria Harbor

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There are a lot of sea planes that use Victoria Harbor as an airfield. A couple of them either lining up to land our have just taken off, not sure which.

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Dead ahead the Olympic Pennisula

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The bridge of the MV Coho

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The approach to Port Angeles

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After departing the ferry and having our picnic lunch at the Olympic NP visitor center we ascended the Hurricane Ridge Road into the northern part of the park.

Mt Baker in the Cascades as seen from Hurricane Ridge

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Port Angeles

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We began to climb on the road that followed the rim of this valley. The Cascades in the background.

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Lots and lots of wildflowers blooming all over the mountainous regions while we were there.

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My advice is to put a motor on them

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We eventually arrive at the visitor center parking lot at the end of the road

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The Olympic mountains

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Can you figure out which one is Mt Olympus?

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Just for Whiskerfish, a little porn

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Back to the Olympics

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The view on the opposite side of the ridge from the Olympic mountains.

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A view of the Juan de Fuca straight. Port Angeles is on the near shore and the little white smudge on the far shore across and a little to the right of Port Angeles is Victoria.

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A little better view of Victoria

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One of the best parking lots in the world

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Next up Lake Crescent and the Hoh Rain Forest, both in Olympic NP.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#29

Post by Sagebrush »

After staying the night in Sequim WA, where we spent a couple of hours doing laundry, we headed out toward the Hoh Rain Forest located on the Pacific slope of the Olympia mountains. First we stopped at Lake Crescent Lodge, also a part of Olympic NP, to take a short break and get a cup of coffee.

First a picture of the lodge where for exorbitant amounts of money you can rent a room for the evening. We, however spent an exorbitant amount of money on a cup of coffee.

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View of the Crescent lake from the lodge area.

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A pretty nice rowboat that I assumed could be rented but we didn't enquire about it.

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After finishing our break it was off to the Hoh. The Hoh rain forest gets over a hundred inches of rain a year as a result everything grows larger and every surface is covered with some living plant. Pictures from the mile long path through the rain forest located behind the visitors center. Prepare yourself for a lot of green :).

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At one point the path emerges onto the Hoh river which is glacial fed before plunging back into the fern covered wilderness.

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After leaving the Hoh we made our way to the Washington coast where we stayed the night in a beachfront hotel in Ocean Shores, WA.
The next day we rode south along the coast following whatever road kept us close to the shore. These pictures are of the Washington coast at whatever interesting point we could find to pull off the road and take a few pictures. You'll notice for the most part it was low tide.

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We saw numerous warning signs like these:

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This is the route that the sign was pointing to.

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The mouth of the Columbia river from the Washington side, you can see the breakers in the distance that marks the sand bar at the entrance to the river.

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Along the north bank of the Columbia

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The bridge to Astoria, OR

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Next installment the Oregon coast.
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Re: Our trip to the Pacific NW....

#30

Post by Sagebrush »

After crossing the Columbia we worked our way over to Fort Clatsop National Memorial where Lewis and Clark wintered before starting back east. They have a reproduction of the fort based on Clark's description in his journals. Its a nice little park.

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There wasn't much to the fort as you might imagine as it was a temporary structure. From Fort Clatsop we made our way via back roads, where we saw our only elk of the trip, to US0101 at Seaside. In Seaside we saw a number of people climbing all over this tidal pool looking for small sea creatures.

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Once we got on 101 we just stopped at various turn offs and beaches to take in the flavor of the Oregon coast.

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Overlooking Manzanita.

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The view from Manzanita where we stopped for the night.

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Oceanside, OR and its beach.

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As we journeyed south we came to the Cape Mearse light house. The walkway down to the lighthouse.

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As the name implies the lighthouse is on a cape that juts out into the ocean which provides some nice views on either side of the narrow cape.

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And finally the lighthouse. Its short but its perched high up on a cliff.

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Coming up the rest of the Oregon coast.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

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