On the road again - 20 August 2012

One of the reasons for a road trip across America was to catch up with family in the Pacific Northwest.  So we took a few days out to spend time with Bradley, Susan and Linnea as well as a side trip over the border to see our good friends David & Rachel.

Bradley had arranged a whale watching boat trip from Anacortes which we enjoyed on Saturday but the rest of the time was simply spent relaxing.

This morning saw the start of the second leg of the trip as we changed from a westerly heading to a southerly heading down the Pacific Coast bound for Los Angeles.  Bradley suggested that we should leave the I-5 at Hwy 20 and take the Deception Pass bridge to Whidbey Island then the Coupeville to Port Townsend ferry back to the Olympic Peninsula, thus completely avoiding all the traffic snarl around Seattle.  It also meant that most of the trip was along various coasts, bays or inlets and thus much more scenic than a motorway.

Curiously, the ferry captain announced that they had to perform a Coast Guard mandated safety drill and, so mid-channel, the ferry came to a dead stop, they lowered a rigid inflatable lifeboat, put two crew aboard and they set off for shore while we got under way again.  Apart from proving that they could deploy this boat and that it was operational in the water, I have no idea what the exercise actually proved. Nevertheless it was an interesting diversion.

We spent a little while browsing the shops in the historic part of Port Townsend, all of which were full of wares designed to part tourists from their dollars; we resisted.  After that there was a long run alongside the Hood Canal which does not actually seem to be a canal, more a sizable inlet; and then over to the Pacific Coast and our stop for the night at Willapa Bay

231 miles today, total trip 5972. States: Washington (and British Columbia, briefly)

Cascading into Washington - 15 August 2012

An interesting morning was spent exploring the Winthrop enviorons.  Firstly the town itself has re-invented itself as an early 1900s Western town  with wooden sidewalks, hitching posts, old fashioned signwrighting as mandatory, wooden sidings, corrugated iron roofs and so forth.  It looks kust like the set from a Wild-West movie apart from the absence of horses and stetson (being worn, plenty to purchase) and presence of modern transportation..

Above the town is the Schafer Museum which was quite an amazing and interesting collection of historical buildings and memorabilia from the area's history, from the gold-mining and apple growing past.

A few miles from Winthrop is the original Smokejumper base and we were privildeged to have a personal tour and explanation of this fascinating facility.  The base is very self sufficient, as they make, on-site, all the specialized equipment, jumps suits, packs, etc and repair (but not make) all the parachutes.

Then it was time to get back on Hwy 20 for the scenic route across the North Cascades, stopping at the all the available viewpoints before we turned off and headed north to Bellingham, to be with family for the next few days.

177 miles today, total trip 5654. States: Washington.

Central Washington - 14 Auguat 2012

Spokane was just down the road so we stopped there for breakfast in the Riverside Park along with the homeless still asleep on the park benches.  After a quick look at the Spokane Falls we swapped the mountains and conifers for rolling hills with grain in the middle of the harvest season. Some fields cut, others being harvested and some very ready for the combine to visit.

There was an abrupt change in the topography as the grain fields ceased and were replaced with rocky lands covered in sage brush and then suddenly it was back to fertile wheat fields as far as the eye could see.

The roads were die straight for miles the only variation being altitude as we rolled across central Washington then descended to the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam.

Built as part of the New Deal to create employment after the Great Depression, the Grand Coulee Dam was, until 4 years ago, the largest dam in the world, nearly a mile across, and until three weeks ago, the generators in the most recent power plant were the largest in the world.  The Chinese have just commissioned generators with a whisker more capacity than the units at Grand Coulee.

We took the dam tour which after the requisite post-911 screening and accompanied by a federal guard, took us to the pump house where they pump 3% of the river water 85m up to  Banks Lake from where it irrigates many thousands of acres of otherwise arid land and grows most of the mint  and lots of potatoes for the USA.

Although the biggest hydro producer in the USA and one of the biggest in the world, irrigation, not electricity, was the prime reason the dam was built, electricity is just a very useful by-product.

Instead of taking the direct route from Grand Coulee we ventured north to pick up the scenic route along Hwy 20 into Winthrop passing through orchard territory along the rivers.  Anywhere within pumping distance of the rivers is verdant green, beyond that boundary is burnt dry dusty brown at this time of the year.

231 miles today, total trip 5475, States: Washington

Ribbon of blue - 13 August 2012

Although there were no "must see" sights on the itinerary for today, it was nevertheless quite a scenic trip.  As we are in the mountains rather than the plains there are no direct roads west from Whitefish, MT to our next stop in Newport, WA so the day was spent zig-zagging up towards and away from the Canadian border following a ribbon of blue rivers and hydro lakes through forests of firs, pines and spruce.

The first hydro lake was on the Kootenai River creating Koocanusa Lake which went for miles and miles. We only followed a portion of the USA part as the lake reaches way back into Canada, hence the name - no doubt.  Not far downstream from the dam was an unexpected highlight, the Kootenai Falls, which though neither especially high or wide are quite spectacular with the various rock ledges that the water cascades over and around.

Just after crossing into Idaho, we left the Kootenai River and dropped south through the forest (without any water) to pick up the Pend Orielle River which we followed until it became Lake Pend Orielle, another hydro lake.

We followed the shoreline up and over the top, crossing Pack River and Priest River to the delightful town of Sandpoint where they claim to have the world's longest retail bridge.  It is constructed out of huge tree trunks and is quite a delightful space.

The difference between this and the "real" retail bridges such as Rialto and Ponte Vecchio is that the street has entirely disappeared and it was originally built as an ordinary bridge and the shops were an entrepreneurial experiment when the bridge fell into disuse.

All too soon, but only after the best value ice-cream in the USA at Clark Fork, Idaho had been and gone and we were in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.

308 miles today, total trip 5238. States: Montana, Idaho, Washington.

Coming back from the sun road - 12 August 2012

The day had a very early false start when the alarm sounded at 0200. A meteorite shower was occurring and the sky was partly cloudy when we turned in. We were told 0200 would be the best time and since there is almost zero light pollution in this part of Montana we decided it was worth a wake-up call.  We saw total overcast and went back to bed, to wake to a cloudless sky in the morning. Nature can be cruel sometimes!

In the trip planing we had decided to follow the Wise Men's example and return by a different route and I was sure that I had read the West to East was the best way to make the trip over Going-to-the-Sun Road.  In endeavouring to confirm that detail I found so many comments that suggested both ways were good and since the day dawned cloudless we decided to enjoy the views along Going-to-the-Sun Road in the opposite direction.

As before there were plenty of stops for photos and a walk to Sun Point and the Barring Falls.  All in all a slow, relaxing and fantastically scenic day.

After checking in at Whitefish we set off to see the town which has had the main shopping street remodelled, reasonably recently by the look of it. It is really very quaint and well done making it a most appealing looking town.

After attempting to access the lake and finding our way blocked by a fee required State Park, we stumbled upon the town beach which was free and enjoyed a refreshing dip in this surprisingly warm glacial lake followed by picnic dinner in a gazebo overlooking the lake.

97 Miles today, total trip 4930. States: Montana.

Going-to-the-Sun-Road - 11 August 2012

This romantically named road was carved out of the mountainsides in the 1930s and is now a National Civil Engineering Landmark, a National Historic Landmark and is on the Register of Historic Places, the only road in the US with all three designations.

The name comes from 2939m high Going-to-the-Sun Mountain which dominates the central part of the drive.

Apparently referred to as the Mt Everest of routes for motorcyclists, it is not really a patch on the alpine passes of Europe for driving fun, but a great drive, nevertheless.

There are ample pull-off places for photography stops but only one major carpark at Logan Pass.  The info says that the carpark is full by 10:30 and that was certainly our experience. Within 15 minutes of our arrival, there was not a park to be had and 2 hours later when we were about to leave the

"vultures" were circling ready to pounce on anyone looking like they were heading for a vehicle.  I considered offering our park on eBay but there was no 3G signal, scuppering a fantastic money-making proposition.

It is only 50 miles from end to end but photo stops and walks extend the trip to fill the bulk of the day quite easily.  To round off the day we drove north from St Mary to the booming metropolis of Babb (Pop. 1 horse) and then up to Many Glacier where we went bear hunting and if we had been lucky enough to capture a shot of

Goldilocks we could have completed the set as we were privileged enough to see a big old daddy grizzly and a mother black bear with a cub. Because we spent too long snapping the grizzly we missed the spectacle of a moose ambling over the road and swimming across the lake to the other side.  When we arrived the moose was still distinguishable on the far shore, about a kilometre away..

The bears were totally oblivious to their furiously snapping adoring public as they occupied themselves working their way through their quota of 100,000 huckleberries per day that they eat during the summer to prepare for the winter hibernation.

107 miles today, total trip 4833  States: Montana