Cascades and Olympics, USA, Summer 2009

Cascades and Olympics, USA, Summer 2009

Washington state is the 18^th largest state and home to 7 million people, but except for passing through a few of its cities we spent two weeks in in the most beautiful wilderness areas of mountain and coast that you could ever imagine. It’s the most northern state in the US, bordering the Canadian border to the north and Pacific Ocean to the west. A great spine of mountains runs north to south through the centre of this incredible region. These mountains are The Cascade Range and contain many large volcanoes. Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. They are all considered active volcanoes. To the east of this great range the land is dry and almost desert, unlike the western slopes where large temperate rain forest keep the land cool and misty in summer months and covered in deep snow for months at a time during the long winters.

The beautiful Cascades are not the only mountain range here, lying to the west are the Olympic Mountains and the magnificent National park of the Olympic coastal area. This is an area of unique beauty where humpback and grey whales reign supreme along the wild coastline. It’s not only the coast that enjoys a rich flora and fauna, in the mountains black bear, bobcat, racoon, skunk, cougar, grey wolf, moose, deer, beaver, elk and coyote co-exist with the flora, giving a rich balance to the land.

So here I was only 4 days after leaving Iceland, repacked and ready for another adventure. The US passport office of course pulled us aside and put us in a room to stew while we watched the entire contents of 3 suitcases being unpacked and analysed. Fortunately they were not ours and all they wanted to do was to advise me not to put my passport through the cold cycle in the washing machine again. I informed them dewily that I had crossed the ice caps of Iceland in one of the worst storms nature could muster and they doffed their caps and waved us goodbye but not before I had told them of our entire chosen route. Well they really shouldn’t have asked, they couldn’t wait to get rid of us.

Free at last, we headed into Seattle to buy gas and provisions for camping. Then headed north to mount Vernon and on to Colonial creek in the North Cascades. Up here in the Snoqualmie national forest the air was warm and clear. We found a wild walk in pitch and enjoyed the beauties of the mountains. I was having quite a few problems still with my chest, my ears were ringing badly, I was bothered by terrible cramps and was still having times when I loss the feeling in my limbs, although my fatigue was now only when I was feeling unwell, but the mountain air would hopefully work its magic on me, it normally did.  The Ross lake national recreation area protects the beautiful lake from which it gets its name and also larger stretches of the Skagit River below the dams. We walked the delightful Bridal veil falls and Lake Serene, Pyramid Peak and lake trail, thunder knob and creek trails and along Diablo lake.

While staying at the campsite in Colonial Creek I came upon a short poem in the washrooms. It was writing on the back on the wooden door and made me think enough to remember it, stating “Life should be measured by the number of breaths stolen by beauty and wonder”. I wondered too who had scribbled this note and walked in the same steps as I had, enjoyed the same immense views and faced many of the same challenges in life. Life is beautiful, often cruel, happy, busy but most of all a sequence of different things of wonder if we open our eyes and our hearts.

One day we came upon the old Iron Goat trail, it has a remarkable tale to tell. Built over a hundred years ago to bring the last link of the Great Northern Railway to cross the Cascades, it crossed the Cascades at Stevens Pass and brought a new trade road for the settlements of the Pacific Northwest. The switchbacks were an engineering triumph but with heavy snowfall throughout the winter months it wasn’t long before a disaster was to happen. In 1910, while snow slides delayed two trains in the town of Wellington a vast section of snow on Windy Mountain broke loose and crashed down. Both trains were swept into the Tye River killing nearly one hundred people. It was one of America’s worst rail disasters. As a result a new tunnel was made, bypassing this venerable section. It was a fascinating trail where the old railway was still very evident and you felt as though you were reliving a little piece of history.   

It was an area of great beauty, rich and green. Funny enough we had walked the Pacific Crest trail before in California, here it seems more magnificent and peaceful than ever, rich green forest, lakes and rolling uplands. We were to meet it once more as we travelled down Mt Baker and onto the majestic Mt Rainier.

Mt Rainier national park is a delight. We camped at the peaceful White River near Sunrise Rim, then walked up on green and rocky ridges of Sourdough Ridge, where lakes of turquoise dotted the landscape. Sunrise Lake, Clover Lake and many others. Later we walked down to Glacier Basin where you follow the mighty river of glacial melt waters and feel part of this great mountain. Mt Rainier is 4,392 metres in height, making it the highest peak in the chain and has 26 major glaciers. With its snowfields it’s the most glaciated peak in the 48 lower states. You can walk all the way around the mountain but to climb this mountain you need full climbing equipment.

The park is quite extensive with a good road from the north down to Stevens Canyon. Don’t miss this area if you visit here, it’s a beautiful walk along the slot canyons to Silver falls and the Grove of the Patriarchs trail, but time your visit early as parking can be difficult in high summer. There’s plenty of wildlife in the park too; chipmunks, squirrels, marmots, pikas, deer, black bear, elk and mountain goats but I think the Steller’s jays were the most entertaining of all of them.

We made it to Paradise where the meadows reach down from the huge snowfields above and make a rich carpet of flowers in every imaginable colour. This area has been a park since 1899 when James Longmire established the Park first headquarters and a family home there. When James Longmire’s daughter-in-law Martha first saw this subalpine meadow she exclaimed “This must be what Paradise is like” This area is world famous for its wild flower meadows and I really don’t think I have ever seen a better one on all my travels although it may be rather too busy to be paradise in my mind. I guess it was a little quieter in the 1880’s. Unfortunately we only had time for a walk along Parise valley before it was time to move on to the glorious Olympus national Park.

Now, if you love wild coastal regions then the Olympic National marine Sanctuary is a pure joy. We drove up the coast to Mora camp, hidden in the forest a short distance from the beach. It’s just off the road from the little town of Forks, unheard of until it was taken over by the vampires of “Twilight”.  No wonder those vampires made it their home it was just so incredibly beautiful. Rialto beach is covered in washed up trees from the coastal forest; great giants enjoying their last resting place on the sandy shores of this enchanted place. After storms the trees fill the Hoh River, drifting up the coast like lost ships looking for a safe harbour. The area around Hoh is full of creeks and can only be reached by walking along the coastal path which tumbles up and down along beaches and headlands. If you are backpacking here be careful as the climbs onto the headland sections can only be reached by the aid of ropes and ladders fixed along the route. We enjoyed the section to Strawberry point and back but you can camp along the route and enjoy a fire on the beach as the evening light fades and the sunsets across the Pacific waters. It really is very beautiful here.

We travelled on up to Ozette where you can walk out over the beach and down the coastal trail. Again here you can camp along the way but watch out for high tide when you will need to use the overland trail which is harder and longer due to the think untouched forest that always backs this beaches.

We tore ourselves away from the delights of the spellbinding coast that had worked its magic on us, turning inland to Mount Angeles and up the beautiful saddles trail with its glorious views of the pristine forest below. We camped at the Heart of the hills camp, worrying that there would be too many people there after our time along the tranquil coast but we needn’t have worried as it was as empty as ever. We made camp between five of the biggest cedars you can imagine and I delighted in the wildlife and berries there. Our final camp being Staircase before leaving this very special park. Congress had designated nearly one million areas of the peninsula for protection under the 1964 wilderness act. It included 600 islands most of the Olympics national park and five areas of national forest. It’s one of 380 parks in the care of the national park service and the certainly do a wonderful job in protecting and managing this wonderful wild places while still giving ample access to the public to enjoy the true delights of a wilderness experience and often for no more than the national park fee itself.

We had one last walk up Mount Ellinor before the biggest chinese meal you can ever imagine. In fact the waiter informed us that we had ordered far too much food for two people. We said “don’t worry we will eat it, and we did. He confirmed that he had only ever seen two people enjoy a meal quite so much and they had been in the wild for two week.  I guess that all it takes to make you really hungry, but that first meal was as good as any I have ever tasted. I wouldn’t swap food for the wild though. The wild is always with you and stays forever.