Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason. Today’s reason was Road Closures.
I woke up in Des Moines to a peaceful and sleepy campground. By the time I had cooked up some Oatmeal (living large, I’m taking this roughing-it idea seriously), and packed up my site, none of the other tents and trailers had any life to offer. It was a new day, and although the sun wasn’t shining, I was ready to make some moves.
The plan was Mt. Rainier. So for starters I mapped out a route from the chaotic maze of highways that are all tangled up south of Seattle, to the northern entrance of the Mount Rainier National Park. The 401 circled around the park and offered a sort of tunnel through the dense woods. It was a very nice drive. Then it ended, abruptly, at a ‘Road Closed’ sign. I was all of ten minutes from a great viewpoint, but no, for some reason in late May the crew in this neck of the woods considers the area still ‘closed for winter’. At the time this seemed ridiculous, but after backtracking for a ways, then circling around and finding the south gate of the park I understood the situation at Mt. Rainier.
It had started raining at about 10:30 this morning, and it didn’t stop once, except for a period of time on the roadway leading to the base of Mt. Rainier, where it started to snow. By the time I reached the Paradise look-out, it was a full fledged, middle of winter style, snow storm. The morning was gone, it was after lunch, and I had spent several hours now chasing the glacier covered volcano. I finally made my way to a fabulous lookout, and all I could see is snow. I bought a postcard and assume that it’s what I would have seen had it not been hell-freezing-over. I couldn’t help but laugh. I loved that my Mt. Rainier experience was nothing like the travel guides described it. No where did the Eyewitness book say anything about old ladies bickering at each
other about the lack of picturesque views while getting hammered by blowing snow. There was nothing about needing 4 wheel drive for the ten inches of fresh white-stuff waiting for me at the top of the driven clime. And I certainly didn’t expect to find a completely different season within the national park gates, but then again I asked for adventure. So I didn’t see the volcano covered in glaciers, but I get video of myself in a blizzard…
I made it to the Pacific Ocean and am camped out in the Cape Disappointment State Park Campground. The name was just so intriguing. I can hear the waves crashing near by and the cool breeze is blowing through the near by trees. It’s still raining, so I am hiding out in the back of my truck, cozy and dry. I took highway 4 west from the I-5 along the Columbia River. As it turns out it is the same route that Lewis and Clark took on their little adventure. ‘Lewis and Clark and John’. It was a very scenic drive. An adventure then and definitely still an adventure now.
I spent a good part of the day driving down secondary or even tertiary highways, with long stretches of nothing but trees and the empty road. I felt like I was driving through the set of an X-Files or Twin Peaks episode. I can’t believe how much I have been able to see in only three days.
I woke up in Des Moines to a peaceful and sleepy campground. By the time I had cooked up some Oatmeal (living large, I’m taking this roughing-it idea seriously), and packed up my site, none of the other tents and trailers had any life to offer. It was a new day, and although the sun wasn’t shining, I was ready to make some moves.
The plan was Mt. Rainier. So for starters I mapped out a route from the chaotic maze of highways that are all tangled up south of Seattle, to the northern entrance of the Mount Rainier National Park. The 401 circled around the park and offered a sort of tunnel through the dense woods. It was a very nice drive. Then it ended, abruptly, at a ‘Road Closed’ sign. I was all of ten minutes from a great viewpoint, but no, for some reason in late May the crew in this neck of the woods considers the area still ‘closed for winter’. At the time this seemed ridiculous, but after backtracking for a ways, then circling around and finding the south gate of the park I understood the situation at Mt. Rainier.It had started raining at about 10:30 this morning, and it didn’t stop once, except for a period of time on the roadway leading to the base of Mt. Rainier, where it started to snow. By the time I reached the Paradise look-out, it was a full fledged, middle of winter style, snow storm. The morning was gone, it was after lunch, and I had spent several hours now chasing the glacier covered volcano. I finally made my way to a fabulous lookout, and all I could see is snow. I bought a postcard and assume that it’s what I would have seen had it not been hell-freezing-over. I couldn’t help but laugh. I loved that my Mt. Rainier experience was nothing like the travel guides described it. No where did the Eyewitness book say anything about old ladies bickering at each
other about the lack of picturesque views while getting hammered by blowing snow. There was nothing about needing 4 wheel drive for the ten inches of fresh white-stuff waiting for me at the top of the driven clime. And I certainly didn’t expect to find a completely different season within the national park gates, but then again I asked for adventure. So I didn’t see the volcano covered in glaciers, but I get video of myself in a blizzard…I made it to the Pacific Ocean and am camped out in the Cape Disappointment State Park Campground. The name was just so intriguing. I can hear the waves crashing near by and the cool breeze is blowing through the near by trees. It’s still raining, so I am hiding out in the back of my truck, cozy and dry. I took highway 4 west from the I-5 along the Columbia River. As it turns out it is the same route that Lewis and Clark took on their little adventure. ‘Lewis and Clark and John’. It was a very scenic drive. An adventure then and definitely still an adventure now.
I spent a good part of the day driving down secondary or even tertiary highways, with long stretches of nothing but trees and the empty road. I felt like I was driving through the set of an X-Files or Twin Peaks episode. I can’t believe how much I have been able to see in only three days.
I’ve reached the coast, now it’s down the 101 to warmer weather. South Baby, South!
Day Three: ‘Closed Road’ or ‘Quit Planning Things and Just Git Er Done!’
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