Day 37: Olympic National Park

Aug 1, 2021

Vanlog, near Port Angeles, WA

Greetings from the northwestern most part of the US contiguous states and the farthest west we will travel on this journey. Today we toured Olympic NP, which is a vast park containing all different climates—from the foggy and rocky coastline to the temperate Hoh rainforest to beautiful Lake Crescent and the mountainous Hurricane Ridge. We saw tidepool marine organisms, bald eagles, and deer. It was a long day of driving and now we are camped in a pullout off Highway 101.

Day 36: Oregon coast

July 31, 2021

Vanlog, Kalaloch, WA

In the morning, we left our friends Scott, Beth, and Sam in Portland, did some quick grocery shopping, and headed away from the heat to the Oregon coast. We started at Ecola State Park, which has a rainforest climate and views of the coastline. At Indian Beach, there were a plethora of vanlifers and surfers catching a wave. Then we drove south on Highway 101 to Neahkahnie Mountain for more coastline views before stopping at Hug Point and Cannon Beach. 

Farther up the coast near the town of Astoria on the Columbia River was the Lewis and Clark National Historic Site of Fort Clatsop, where the Corps of Discovery tested in the winter of 1805-1806 before headed back east on their return journey. Here, we saw a bald eagle, our first on the trip. We also went to the Astoria column, which commemorates important events in the history of Oregon. The 164 stairs in the spiral staircase take you to the top and afford excellent views of the bridge to Washington state and the Columbia River valley. For $1, you can purchase a balsam wood glider plane and launch it from the top of the tower. Crossing into Washington, we followed the coastline to the Olympic Peninsula and our boondocking site along a forest rod near Kalaloch. 

Day 35: Lavender Lake Waterfalls

July 30, 2021

Vanlog, Portland, OR

We drove one mile from our boondocking site to the Trillium lake campground for reflections of Mt Hood in the water. 

We then hiked 4.3 mi RT to Mirror Lake.

Next we were off to find Lavender Valley Farms for some Instagram worthy photos with Mt Hood as the backdrop.

We left Mt Hood for the Columba River Gorge with stops at Multnomah Falls, Horsetail Falls, and the Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery before continuing on to Portland.

Day 34: Oregon is Beautiful

July 29, 2021

Vanlog, Government Camp, OR

Woke up before sunrise with 47 degrees. Sunrise at 5:56 AM at Crater Lake. So worth it! 

Drove to Newberry National Volcanic Monumenr south of Bend, OR and hiked to Paulina Falls and the Big Obsidian Flow. Had our first shower in four days at a public shower at the East Lake Resort.

Then continued north still in the Bend OR area to Tumalo Falls and a 2.3 mi RT hike to Double Falls.

As the afternoon warmed up to 96 degrees we explored the amazing Smith Rock State Park which is like a mini Zion NP with steep canyon walls and a river down below. 

Then we drove two hours to our boondocking site near Trillium Lake in the Mt Hood National Forest. 

 

Day 33: Crater Lake and Toketee Falls

July 28, 2021

Vanlog, Crater Lake National Park

It was an early morning from our boondocking site which we shared with a latecomer overnight. We drove further up the Oregon coast as far as Bandon with more spectacular ocean views.

We had a five hour drive to Crater Lake through some of the Umpqua NF where the wildfires had gone through. We passed one of the “incident camps” where the firefighters lived in tents. Then we had lunch at Toketee Falls, a 120-ft drop. Toketee means “pretty.” You be the judge.

We finally arrived at Crater Lake around 3 PM. We drove most of the 34-mile loop road around the rim. The lake is almost 2000 ft deep and was formed when Mt Manama erupted and formed a caldera. With over 500 in of snow per year, that’s a lot of snow melt that filled in the caldera to make the lake you see today. The deep blue colors are a reflection of its purity and the scattering effects of light off such deep waters. Wizard Island is actually a small cinder cone that formed after the main eruption. There is one place where you can walk down to the water to swim. We waded in. It was not as cold as you might think! We did the hike down in 22 min and back up in 30 min. 1.1 miles each way. Then we stayed for sunset at Cloudcap overlook before camping in the park campground. I was hoping to get Jessica a shower after three straight nights of boondocking but they are unfortunately closed “due to COVID.”

Another amazing sunset!