Cool little trail across from the Coldwater Lake parking lot. It's also the last parking lot for the Boundary Trail since the road (Spirit Lake Highway) to Johnston Ridge Observatory is closed (March 2020).
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/washington/hummocks-trail
I took this trip after finishing the Coding Bootcamp at PDX Code Guild. My only real plan was to visit the Joseph & the Wallowa Mountains. I basically drove out there and then found lodging.
Pretty much every day I made up the itinerary on the spot.
Eagle Cap Chalets, Wallowa Lake, OR
Dinner at Glacier Ridge Grill & General Store |
| Wallowa Lake |
Morning trip up the Wallowa Lake Tramway; coffee at Summit Grill; photos
Drove up Hwy 3 to Hwy 95
Budget Saver Motel, Coeur d'Alene, ID
Walked down Sherman Avenue. Some big event (sporting, wedding, both?)
Dinner at Crafted.
North on Hwy 95 to Sandpoint
Explore Priest Lake
Best Western Plus City Center, Spokane, WA
Walked around Riverfront Park
Movie
Awesome drive up Hwy 95 to Bonners Ferry, ID then Hwy 2 to Kalispell, MT
Downtowner, Whitefish, MT
Dinner at MacKenzie River Pizza Co. in the revitalized train depot area (Railway Ave & Baker Ave).
Drive to Lake MacDonald and Lake MacDonald Lodge; Going-to-the-Sun Road closed here.
Looped around Apgar Mountains on Camas Rd and N Fork Rd (486)
Decided at 3pm to drive to east side of Glacier Park
Drive on Hwy 2 from West Glacier to East Glacier Park Village; detour on 49 to Hwy 89 at Kiowa; north to St Mary.
Going to the Sun Road was awesome. Past Saint Mary Lake; photos at Logan Pass Visitor Center (closure point).
Baymont by Wyndham Whitefish, Whitefish, MT
Quick spin to Whitefish Mountain Resort. Top of the lift was totally shrouded in clouds
Traveled south on 93 to 28 passed Flathead Lake
North on 200 to Sandpoint, then back to Coeur d'Alene.
Budget Saver Motel, Coeur d'Alene, ID
Killer sushi dinner at Kaiju Sushi & Spirits
Stopped by Walla Walla to see Tom and Judy; late lunch at Crossbuck Brewing
Drive in the dark through the Gorge (I-84) was tough. No street lights, blinding truck headlights
I drove from Portland to Lynnwood, WA. I wanted to be outside of Seattle and close to Hwy 2.
I found my little motel and checked in, then hopped in the Jeep to checkout the water.
I wandered down by Edwards Point and the marina.
I had dinner at Arnie's Restaurant Edmonds.
Between the salad and the main course, fish tacos, I checked out the movie selections.
There was a superhero movie (RDJ) in an AMC theater by the freeway.
I quickly ate my meal and paid the check.
The theater was freaking huge!
In the morning, I randomly stopped by the Historic Flight Foundation is an aviation museum located at Paine Field in Mukilteo, Washington.
I hiked about 1 hr on the Iron Goat Trail. (*Yikes, it's supposedly haunted. must make a trip back).
I found my hotel in Leavenworth and got checked in.
Dinner at Mozart's Steakhouse.
Continued east on Hwy 2 to Hwy 97; south on 970 then to Cle Elum on I-90.
Side trip up to Cooper Lake but I didn't make it that far. I reached stretches of the road with wheel trenches in the snow that were pretty deep. Even with a 2.5" lift, I was running out of clearance.
I turned back around on NF-46 to Cle Elum Lake I was checking my phone and a local resident pulled up next to me. I was right in front of her driveway. I held up my phone to show I was just paused there. She asked how the road was doing by the campground. I told her I hadn't made it that far but told her about the snow trenches. I bet I could have made it all the way. the snow was soft.
I got to the Salish Lodge around 5pm and checked in. The parking valets asked about the sand on my bumper; they recognized it as being from the local forest roads. I told them about Cle Elum lake adventure.
I had a super nice room! I went to wander around the waterfall viewing area. I recalled the opening credits to Twin Peaks and the shot of the Great Northern.
I had a nice dinner in The Attic. They were booked in the main dining room.
I woke up and had a lazy morning. I checked out around 10am and headed into North Bend. I had breakfast at Twede's Diner (R&R from Twin Peaks).
Some where on the way out of town I passed by a car wash. I scrubbed the bugs off the front and washed the top layer of dirt off.
On a whim, I popped up to Paradise Lodge. On the way up the road, I did a quick 45 min hike to a waterfall. It was the first bit of extended movement since the RA symptoms had quieted down.
At at the Paradise Lodge, I grabbed a coffee and took some photos. I thought about Mr and Mrs Haines.
I drove back to Portland.
I drove up to Seattle. On the way, stopped in Tukwila to get some Vans hi-tops.
I had to make a requisite visit to the Market Grill inside the Fish Market. Best filet over greens plate ever. Instead of taking the usual route up I-5 to downtown, then to the Market, I cut up via Hwy 99 on the west side of the sports places, CenturyLink and T-Mobile Park. The Tunnel cuts underneath right by the ferry terminals and emerges by the Space Needle. I plugged in the address for the Fish Market to Google Maps and followed the directions. It told me to take a left in the middle of the tunnel. WTF? I'm not sure if the GPS was off because I was underground or it was routing me as if I was on the surface. Why not both?
I ended up going back in the tunnel southbound thinking I'd missed something. Nope. I was back by CenturyLink Field so I just wound my way onto 1st Avenue, right passed the Art Museum and the Public Market sign.
The viaduct was decommissioned & demolishe, so a bunch of roads were closed as a result. I just defaulted to were I knew to park. I drove by the Marriott where I've stayed multiple times and found a parking structure. I was much further than I'd meant to be but fuck it. I hiked up to the Market and patiently wove my way through the throngs of shoppers to get my coveted meal. Worth it!
I snapped a few pictures of the surrounding area:
Mission accomplished, belly full.
I had no plan to get over to Bremerton. I think I'd booked the hotel that afternoon, last minute, for sure. I drove down to the ferry terminals down by CenturyLink Field. By coincidence and luck, the Bainbridge ferry lineup of cars was enormous but the line for Bremerton was nearly empty. For a minute I'd thought I'd either missed the ferry completely or I was totally cutting in front of dozens of car by accident.
Nope. I drove right onto the boat. Sweet!
After checking into my room at the Flagship Inn on Kitsap Way & Oyster Bay Ave, I drove over to Seabeck on Hood Canal & Debob Bay to get some photos.
This is the view from my hotel room.
Somewhere on Hwy 101 on Olympic Peninsula, north of Olympia.
