Day 1: This unforgettable adventure started with a moderate hike through the awe-inspiring North Cascades of Washington to a turquoise colored, glacial lake which was unfortunately still frozen in the middle of June. Following this, we headed back to Seattle to catch sunset and eat dinner in the waterfront town of Edmonds.
Day 2: The day started off with a guided tour of the Boeing Factory, the largest building in the world. With that done, we headed straight for the Olympic Peninsula, visiting world-renowned lavender fields along the way and ending the day at one of the major highlights of the trip, a muddy hike through a lush rainforest to catch sunset on one of the most remote beaches in North America.
Day 3: Waking up in our oceanfront log cabins, life couldn’t be any better, but we moved on to the many short hikes we had for the day. The first took us to the Northwestern most point of the contiguous US where we could spot sea lions from high up on the cliffs. Next up were the mossy rainforests and remote beaches of Olympic National Park which were overflowing with marine life including starfish and crabs. We ended the day where my daredevil self decided to crawl a narrow beam to get onto the now non-operational, heart-stopping Vance Creek Viaduct.
Day 4: A break from nature for a change, we headed to the city of Portland, sightseeing rose gardens and eating food from several vendors just because it was THAT good. After filling up, we got a private tour of the first brewery in Portland which created the first IPA in the USA, by the brew master himself and stocked up on beer. We were now set for a BYOB pedal-powered barge ride down the Willamette River through Downtown Portland for sunset.
Day 5: Heading back to the wilderness, we ate more of Portland’s mouth-watering food before doing a moderate hike offering views of 10 waterfalls, some of which you can walk behind. We headed for lunch in the town of Eugene and ended the day with a relaxing soak at some remote hot springs in the middle of a National Forest.
Day 6: Waking up before dawn, we drove up to a mountain pass located in the middle of a lava field which offered us views of several towering volcanoes at sunrise. Following this we had a quick hike to a sapphire-colored swimming hole fed by a thundering waterfall. The second half of the day was reserved for rock climbing at world-class Smith Rock State Park with the aid of 3 expert rock climbers.
Day 7: We headed straight for a small mountain lake for sunrise to catch a gorgeous view of Mt. Hood’s reflection in the calm waters. Next up, we did the best hike in the Columbia River Gorge to several stunning waterfalls and ended the day with a private wine tasting at a vineyard, affording us views of the Columbia River and Mt. Hood for sunset.
Day 8: Sleeping in a bit after stargazing long into the night, we had a riverside breakfast and cooled down at a swimming hole to prepare us for what was coming next.. a guided whitewater rafting trip down the raging White Salmon River. This adventure-packed experience was more than enough for a day so we headed for our lodging at Mt. Rainier National Park.
Day 9: We had to make the last day count, so we woke up well before dawn and headed for a short but steep hike which gave us jaw-dropping sunrise views of Mt. Rainier. At this point, we headed for Seattle and after eating our lunch at a beachfront restaurant, to everyone’s dismay it was time to end this epic journey and head back to the airport.
