Off the beaten path
(2009-12-26 00:42:07)
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Please also see my post downstairs for suggestions. Here are a few ideas/suggestions (not knowing where you are coming from and what you like):
-Portland: Rost Garden in Washington Park is a great place to get a view of Mt Hood and city skyline over sunset. Roses will be in full bloom in August and they also have live free concerts (on weekends?) there. Have to say Portland is an easy city to get lost. Basically, anytime you go from one side of one of the more than dozen of bridges, it's easy to get confused. One night I accidentally crossed 12 bridges on one trip. I don't think it's me since I'm do perfectly fine in some of the most confusing driving cities such as SF.
-Crater Lake NP is what I considered as a postcard NP (Grand Canyon is another one of such kind). That means, the view you see on a postcard is exactly what you get when you get there (WYSIWYG). It is a long drive going down there just to visit Crater Lake. I believe there are some scenic drives out and around the area. Years ago, I visited CL NP while on business in Medford, OR. If you have made it that far, you might as well visit the Three Sisters and Mt Bachelor. You'll have to figure out how to connect the dots since I've only seen them from the plane. I heard Bend, OR area is quite scenic too but never been there yet.
-If you did Olympic NP in the very rainy March, definitely should consider doing it again in August. You can skip the Hoh Rain Forest but don't miss Hurricane Ridge and the beaches - Riato, Ruby, etc. People go there in March to watch storms.
-Mt Rainier - the obvious. Be sure to go to Sunrise in the morning and Paradise in the afternoon. Carpets of wild flowers should be out for sure first 1/2 of August.
-Scenic drives in WA: basically, any roads East-West going through the Cascade are scenic. You can do the Cascade Loop as suggested by the previous post (they are really two loops if you count Hwy 20 as the other one)
-End of Hwy 542 in the Mt Baker area. It's a day trip from Seattle or Vancouver and would be easier to get to if you enter US via Surrey. Mt Shuksan reflected in Picture Lake is the most photographed view for a good reason. Weather permitting, you might also see Mt Baker at Artist Point.
-Another good stopping point (perhaps not to be missed either): Deception Pass off Hwy 20-You can visit Deception Pass State Park and the Deception Pass bridge.
Visit Washington Park in the town of Anacortes and watch sunset over San Juan Islands on top of Mt Erie. And don't miss the local shrimps in the area - these are cooked shrimps (ready to eat) sold along Hwy 20.
-Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands is a great place to visit. Go to Moran State Park and atop Mt Constitution on a clear day is a 360 degree view of all the snow capped mountains (Olympics, Cascades, Rainier) in 2 coutnries, Puget Sound, and Pacific Ocean. There is nothing like it.
$200 Bump vouchers? - always wondered if they are worth taking. Figure those vouchers would require me to buy a ticket from the airline (which generally doesn't offer much of a discount), I never volunteered to get the $200 vouchers. I only volunteer for completely free tickets when I am not in a hurry to get home, which I usually am.