Departure from Yakima to the Winery

 August 28, 2020 Friday

The hotel did not have its usual buffet breakfast, another casualty of the virus, but it handed out lots of packaged food items which we heated up in the room and ate out by the pool. A pleasant and filling breakfast.

We headed out at about 10:00 am, fully charged and gassed, south on I-82 for about 60 miles retracing the route we had followed two weeks earlier before going to a winery. Before arriving there we noticed, as we had during our inbound trip, the thousands of triangle shaped trellises that carried hops vines. The Yakima valley grows 75% of the nations hops and there are many craft breweries in the area. Additionally there were lots of fruit farms which were stacked high with hundreds of fruit boxes that provided the raw materials to the numerous food processing plants we passed.

Yakima is the northern entrance to the Washington State wine growing area. There are a few hundred wineries in the Yakima, Snake and Columbia Valleys, placed into five AVAs and I had no idea which one to visit. I selected Hamilton Cellars outside of Benton City because it had a free electric charging station and was a bit beyond our then current battery charge. It was a few miles off the interstate and the level 2 charging station was present and operating as promised. There were two unused Tesla stations.

The winery and vineyard are in the Red Mountain sub AVA. The winery was started by a husband and wife team who made a fortune in solar panels. The winery was founded in 2006, but the vineyard and tasting room was not established at the present site until 2014. The winery claims to be a net zero operation and at least one of the owners' cars is a Bolt. (We saw him drive it into his house adjacent to the wine tasting area.) The winery had a variety of red wines. No white wines grown here. There was a small indoor area that was not available for seating due to the virus and a beautiful outdoor seating area with an expansive view of the valley. The clerk brought us a flight of 4 wines. We ended up purchasing a case of Malbec 2013, 50% off.

 

After about 1.5 hours at the winery where we added 18 electric miles, we resumed our drive on I-82 until Richland. Here we turned east onto I-182 into the tri cities area.This has three cites that lie at the the confluence of the Columbia, Yakima and Snake Rivers. This point represents the end of the latter two rivers while the Columbia goes on for hundreds of more miles to the Pacific. There are a lot of bridges in the area. First we crossed the I-182 bridge.

Passing through Pasco on the east side of the Columbia River we passed over the US highway 12 Vaughn Hubbard Bridge over the Snake River. 

 

We stopped in Sacajawea state park after crossing the bridge to take in a panoramic view of the area. This was a site of a Lewis and Clark campsite in 1805. As a result of its hot summer days, cool nights and volcanic soil, it has become a perfect territory for the center of the Columbia Valley American Viticulture Area and encompasses almost 200 wineries.

We then began a 2.5 hour drive across southern Washington on state route 124. Initially we passed lots of vineyards, but that gave way to hay fields (the hay was being harvested and we passed thousands of bales of hay in the fields. There were lots of ranches and the area was sparsely populated. It was a hilly area and as we proceeded further east there was also lots of seemingly vacant land. We stopped in Waitsburg to stretch our legs and eat a snack in the Lewis and Clark Trail Park. It is a small town with a population of less than 1300 residents, which is the highest it has ever been. It is an agricultural center but also hosts an artists colony. That is demonstrated in the many sculptures throughout the town. 

                                                        Two story town hall 

After leaving the town we switched to highway route 12. This road stretches from Detroit MI to Aberdeen WA on the Pacific Ocean. We had previously driven on it on several occasions. The terrain became even more arid and undeveloped. We crossed a few summits and finally came to the twin towns on the Snake River, Clarkson (named after William Clark) in WA and Lewiston (named after Meriweather Lewis) in ID. There we crossed yet another bridge over the Snake River.

 

Filled up the gas tank there and then drove 100+ more miles through the Nez Pence Indian Reservation. We entered the Hells Canyon Recreation Area, but did not drive through the actual Hells Canyon, the bottom of which is not accessible by a conventional vehicle and is the deepest gorge in the US. 

We finally arrived in Riggins, ID. which because it is just past the time zone line (the northern panhandle of Idaho is in the Pacific time zone due to its proximity to Spokane WA.) we lost an hour and arrived at 8:30. Checked into the Salmon River Motel, a 1950s style motel at the southern end of town. The motel owner permitted me to plug in the car from an outlet in the laundromat. He also suggested several eateries in town, but warned us that they might be closing soon. So as we began walking there we came upon the River Rock Cafe.

We decided to eat dinner there as it was open late. It had a varied menu, but we had the dinner steak specials. Lots of food. No one was wearing a mask.

East through and out of Mt. Rainier Park

August 27, 2020 Thursday

Not wanting to repeat yesterdays futile chase, we ate breakfast in the room from our hardworking food cooler. We checked out of the Gateway Inn at 9:15 and headed back into the Park. Our first stop about 10 miles into the Park was at Christine Falls. We stopped at a small parking lot which gave us access to the short trail leading to an overlook from which we could view the falls. It is part of the Van Trump Creek and descends about 70 feet in two stages. It is traversed by the Christine Falls Bridge. We did not linger here.

 

Our next stop, about 5 more miles, was at Narada Falls. There was a larger parking area here from which there was a view of the falls, but not a great view. After having to seek directions we crossed a bridge that lead to a steep, staircase path which lead us to the lake into which the falls dropped. This two tiered falls drop 176 feet as part of the Paradise River that is formed by glacier melt. 

 

A look downriver and up at the mountain could be viewed from the same spot.

We hiked back up to the parking area, took advantage of some vintage restrooms and then continued east, passing Paradise and Reflection Lakes and transitioning onto Stevens Canyon Road, open only seasonally. After about 10 miles we stopped at Box Canyon. This really a gorge, formed by the erosive action of the Muddy Fork of the Cowiltz River. The gorge began as a crack in the granite bedrock which over the years was carved out by the rocks and pebbles in the river that is fed by the glacier which is only three miles up the canyon. In many places the gorge is only 13 feet wide, but as deep as 115 ft and has very vertical walls.

A short hike on the trail afforded another good view of the mountain.

 

Our final destination in the Park was the Grove of the Patriarchs. It is 18 miles further east in the southeast portion of the Park near the Ohanapecosh entrance.  It is located in a valley at 2000ft and is the only area of the Park from which one cannot view Mt. Rainier. After missing the parking area fro the trailhead and driving out of the Park, we turned around and reentered the Park. he small parking area was full so we parked along the road just west of the trailhead. To get to the Grove we initially hiked on the Eastside trail. This was a wonderful hike along the Ohanapecosh River that was easy, calm and beautiful. Suitable for all ages. This river is one of nine in the Park, one of only two that are not glacier fed and the only one that does not ultimately flow into Puget Sound. It flows into the Columbia River. The water was so clear that you could see the rocks at the bottom. There were lots of mushrooms along the trail. We encountered many other hikers, most not wearing masks.There were lots of trees, many of them big, along the trail. The Western Hemlock is densely needled whose copious quantities of seeds littered the trail. The Douglas fur is one of the largest trees and most abundant trees in the lowland forest. It grows fast and can reach heights of 250 feet during its 1000 year lifespan.

After about half a mile we reached a rickety suspension bridge across the river. It could only safely handle one adult at a time. That was the entrance to the Grove, an island populated by the Patriarchs, very large trees, Trees so large that it made me feel tiny. These trees had trunks that were as much as 40 ft in diameter, 300 ft high and a 1000 years old. After walking a short distance on a sandy trail along the river, we followed a boardwalk loop through ancient giants weaving our way under their canopy stopping at the many interpretive signs along the way. 

 

We hiked back out and then had a picnic lunch near the trailhead. 

After lunch we exited the Park and began the drive to Yakima. Initially we drove south on route 123, but quickly we turned onto route 12 which took us on a scenic drive through the William O Douglas (a former Supreme Court Justice who was appointed by FDR and served over 36 years. He became an environmentalist and in one dissent argued that trees have standing to sue. More lastingly he authored the majority opinion in the Griswold decision which was the first to recognize the right to privacy in a contraception case. He was a vigorous advocate for individual rights and freedom of speech. It was a beautiful drive and we passed the White Pass ski area and traveled through the Rimrock Tunnel.

We arrived in Yakima about 3:30 and checked into the Howard Johnson's that was just outside downtown. Pleasent place with a very large room. The Visitor's Information enter was closed, so we  drove into downtown without a plan except to plug in the car at the same charging station we had used two weeks prior during our trip out to Washington.

We walked around downtown, but it was very quiet. There were very few people on the street and little car traffic. Many stores were closed. It was also very hot. This was the first time we had experienced hot weather for almost two weeks since we had earlier passed through Yakima.

We settled in at the Single Hill Brewing brew pub. Good beer and low prices. We drank in the outdoor garden where there were lots of dogs running around. Then we walked over to dinner at the Olive Garden. It was very empty. We had a very talkative/friendly waiter who likes to snowboard at a local mountain resort we passed and is studying to become a fireman as he works part time in that capacity. It was the first day that Yakima permitted dine-in dining. I ate way too much soup and salad. We charged up 44 miles on the car courtesy of the Downtown Business Association.

Drove back to the motel where I took a nighttime swim as the sun was setting.

Mt. Rainer

 August 26, 2020 Wednesday

The day started on a discouraging note. We decided to go out to eat for breakfast. The Inn's restaurant did not open for breakfast. I asked for suggestions from the desk clerk but she was not helpful, some maybes and might be open suggestions. We drove west, away from the park toward Ashford in search of an open restaurant. The Copper Creek Inn was closed as was the Wild Berry. The Paradise Village Inn and Restaurant was open.  It was a Ukrainian restaurant which seemed only to serve crepes, so we passed on that place. Drove the remainder of the way into town, but found nothing except some small markets. Discouraged we turned around, return to our Inn and ate breakfast out of our cooler, fruits, nuts and yogurt.

We got back on the road at about 10:00 and immediately entered the Park.

As usual, by waving our senior pass we were waved right in by the Ranger through the Nisqually Entrance, elevation 2023 ft, one of four entrances to the Park, all at the corners of its rectangular shape. We then proceeded on a beautiful 15 mile drive to the Henry Jackson ( a hawkish Democratic Senator from the Cold War period is probably not a good namesake for a national park center) Visitor Center in Paradise. The road was very windy and generally uphill as we rose a bit over 3000 ft in elevation. As the hour was getting late we passed all but one of many turnouts, stopping only at Ricksecker Point, an overlook off a one way loop.It offered spectacular views of a very awesome mountain. 

 

We then made our way to the Visitor Center and the Paradise Inn by about 10:45. The parking lot was full so we, along with a growing number of other visitors parked along the road. I wonder what happens on summer weekends when there would not be sufficient parking for all the visitors.

The virus strikes again. The Inn and all the other buildings, including the Visitor Center, were closed. There were Rangers outside the Center answering questions and handing out maps.

Everything seems to be named Paradise here. Allegedly, in 1889 when Martha Longmire first saw the southern valley below Mt. Rainier she exclaimed,"Oh, what a paradise." Hence the names. Now, what to do? The map showed a maze of trails on the mountain. The books and the Ranger all raved about the Skyline Trail. It enables one to hike halfway up the tallest active volcano in the contiguous US and the tallest point in the Cascade Mountain Range on a circular trail, so that is what we headed to.

The trail is rated as moderate. The trailhead started with half a dozen steps which had a quote from John Muir etched into them: "...the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens i ever beheld in all my mountain-top wanderings." The lower part of the trail is paved, so although it was steep at times, it was easy to negotiate. Also on the lower part it crossed many other trails, but fortunately the trail had very good signage and we were able to maintain our clockwise trail path.. Along the trail was a riot of wild flowers and spectacular mountain views.

As we moved up the trail the surprisingly large number of hikers on the paved trail quickly thinned out. Most of the hikers were not wearing masks. About .5 mile up we arrived at a small circular area where the paved trail ended.There were a few strollers and wheelchairs whose trip ended at this point. Off to the left is Alta Vista, but we decided to forgo that view and conserve our energy. It is not uncommon for the views of the 14,410 ft peak of Mt. Rainier to be shrouded in clouds, but on this morning we had a clear view not only of the peak, but also the Tatoosh mountains to the south and the Nisqually Glacier to the north and west. It is the seventh largest glacier on the mountain and covers 1.8 square miles. The 35 remaining glaciers on the mountain are the result of heavy snowfall. In a typical year 634 inches of snow falls in the Paradise area. That exceeds even the vaunted snowfall in the Wasahch range in Utah. The peak was known as Tahoma, or great white mountain, to the local tribes.

At this point the trail was no longer paved and at times it became difficult. We staggered up rocky staircases and the many loose rocks on the trail. Even though it was late August, we came upon snowfields which at times covered the trail. There were many places to stop and observe the breath taking views. We finally arrived at Glacier Vista, 6300 ft. It offered sparkling views of the glacier to the left and the peak straight ahead. 

 

From this point we could see the people up at Panorama Point, the crown jewel of this hike. However this final part of the trail was rated as strenuous, the trail was getting steeper and rougher and it did not seem to be worth the effort to negotiate the additional 600 ft in elevation and several hairpin turns. So we began the descent. Going down the unpaved portion of the trail was just as hard as going up. Because we did not complete the Skyline Trail Loop we did not get a close up view of Myrtle Falls, but we saw it from a distance.

When we got back down to the Visitor Center we snacked and took a bathroom break, We then searched for an easier, and perhaps less traveled trail.Tthe Ranger suggested the Nisqually Vista trail. It was a good suggestion. The trailhead for that is at the northwestern end of the lower parking lot so we had a short walk to get there. At the entrance to the trail there were two park service building built in the rustic style that appeared to be unoccupied. As promised, on this trail we encountered virtually no other people. Instead we encountered a variety of wildlife, many birds and small mammals and several deer.

There were fields of wildflowers and views of the Nisqually glacier, falls and river.

This area of the park was much lower in elevation than the Skyline Trail and there were many tall trees.

This trail was a 1.2 mile loop that had only a 200 ft gain in elevation, no steps and a well maintained gravel path. Easy on the feet. We walked back to the Visitor Center via the Avalanche Lily Trail and then along the road to our car. It was after 6 and the parking lot had thinned out, but there was still a lot of daylight, so we decided to drive down to Reflection Lake. We could have hiked there but it would have been a 4 mile round trip with elevation. Not doing that at that time of day. Our drive took us on Valley Road and then west on Stevens Canyon Road to a trailhead for the Lakes Trail. We then took a short hike to Reflection Lake. That afforded a nice view of the mountain.

Very few other hikers were there, but none were wearing masks. 

We then drove back toward Ashford past our Inn looking for a place to eat dinner. Riding down the mountain we picked up 16 miles in electricity. The Wild Berry, a Nepalese restaurant received good reviews, was open and was not crowded. So we ate there on the outdoor, covered patio. Good food, reasonably priced and quality service. It was after 9 when we got out of there so we just went back to the Inn.

 

Driving the 101, Pacific Beaches and Nighttime at the entrance to Mt. Rainier

August 25, 2020 Tuesday

After cooking a big breakfast and packing up we said good-bye to the Olympic Suites Inn, checked out by 9:00 am, left Forks and drove south on 101. Our final destination would be Mt. Rainier, half way across the State of Washington, but I planned to make some stops along the way.

We passed the Hoh River as it entered the Pacific and came to the wild Washington beaches. Our first stop was an overlook and trailhead for Ruby Beach. Unfortunately it was very foggy so we had only a minimum view of the acclaimed beach. Given the thick fog and the steep and rocky trail to the beach we didn't go down to the beach and instead continued south to Kalaloch Beach. This Beach has several entrances and we stopped first at the Beach #6 overlook. Here too it was very foggy, but we walked around the overlook which afforded a good view of the beach. It was very wide and largely sandy with not as many pieces of driftwood as at Rielto Beach. We did not spend a lot of time there.

Our next stop was Beach #4 which had a good trail down to the beach. The trail walk was short and brought us on to a wide, flat (I assume it was low tide) sandy beach, with a foggy view. In some places the sand was very fine. It was an otherworldly view. As we walked on the beach we came to some areas which had lots of dead crabs or crab parts. There were occasional rivets of water rolling down to the ocean and frequently large groups of birds, common murres and tuffed puffins seemed to predominate, either flying above or massed on the ground. During the walk, which occurred in the late morning, we encountered very few people, but saw seastars and anemones in the tidepools.

As we left the beach we encountered a surfer coming in. He said this was a typical weather day and that the beach was usually uncrowded. This beach is part of 65 miles of coastline protected with Olympic National Park. From the beach a marine sanctuary extends 135 miles north and south and from 20 to 50 miles offshore.

Returning to the car we continued south along the ocean on the 101. We passed the Kalaloch Lodge, a nice looking wooden structure just off the beach. Looked like a nice place to stay. As we passed  South Beach we left the beach part of the Park and approached Queets. At that point the 101 turned east and we drove along the southern boundary of the Park.  We passed the entrance to the Quinault Rain Forest, but had to forego that attraction since we still had a long way to travel. 

We continued east and drove through Aberdeen. The town was named for the Scottish city and lies at the head of the expansive Gray's Harbor. As we drove through we crossed several river bridges and observed many handsome Craftsman and Victorian style homes.  On the outside of town we stopped and purchased food for lunch. A few miles out of town we stopped at Twin Bridges County Park for a picnic lunch. 

The Park had recently been renovated so we ate on a new picnic table and took a brief hike on a new trail down to an along the river.

We then proceeded east on 107, skirted around Tacoma, drove a short stretch north on I-5 and then east along increasingly scenic roads to the southern entrance to Mt Rainier  National Park. We drove through the small town of Ashford and stopped a few hundred yards east of the park entrance where we  checked into the Gateway Inn. The Inn is an older facility with a main lodge and about a dozen cabins set in a forest of towering trees. We were given a small suite with a small kitchenette on the second floor. The outlet on the light tower did not have enough current to power the car and the Inn would not let me plug into the outlets for RVs even though many were vacant. 

After unpacking I walked to the park entrance and picked up a park map. We ate dinner out of the cooler.  I took an evening walk among the tall trees and made some phone calls. The telephone reception during the walk was poor and the internet reception in the room was even worse. 

 

Rialto Beach

 August 24, 2020 Monday

We cooked a big and hearty breakfast in the Inn's kitchen and left the Inn about 10:00 headed for Rialto Beach. We retraced our drive from the prior day, north briefly on 101 and then west for several miles on 110. However today instead of the failed attempt to proceed on 110 to La Push, we turned on to Mora Road. On the way to Rialto Beach we crossed the Sol Duc and Dickey Rivers while frequently paralleling the Quillayute River which flows into the Pacific and passed . It also separates Rialto Beach, a/k/a Mora, from La Push. The scenery along the drive was scrub forest until we neared the coast, when the landscape turned to thicker forests with tall trees. It was about a 30 minute drive.

The road ended in a parking lot that was pretty crowded, but not full. There were picnic tables, water and restrooms at the parking lot. There was a short paved trail which took us over the dune and out to the beach. This was not a shoes off, sand between you toes beach. Rocky, and fairly wide at what seemed to be medium tide, there were lots of drift logs, some of them very large and others clustered together as if they were park of a child's pick-up-sticks game. Lots of gulls squawking and other sea birds patrolling the sky while the waves crashed and at times we were sprinkled with sea spray. Our view was immediately commanded by off shore rocks known as sea stacks which rose vertically out of the ocean. Behind us were towering trees and a lush undergrowth.

 

We decided to head north along the beach to Hole-in-the-Wall, a large rock formation, a sea carved arch. However the trail was along the beach and the tide was coming in so it became increasingly difficult to navigate the trail. Instead we turned around and headed south. We climbed among the driftwood, watched dogs romp in the water and I took a brief dip into the waves. After taking a break at a picnic table to eat the lunch we had prepared, we walked almost to the southern end of the beach From there we could see across the river to La Push and First Beach.

 

By the late afternoon we had finished our stroll and we returned to the Inn. I again parked the car behind the Inn and plugged in. We cooked dinner and ate on the balcony watching the sun set. Ate too much ice cream.