WA, OR, CA trip

[96 EVO]

Yeah, I was surprised last winter Chahalis Walmart ended overnighting!

It used to be a perfect first night stop on our migration south!

[jacwjames]

5 hours ago, hex_nut said:

MRNP has 2 major lodge complexes.  Sunrise is on the Northeast side as you come up from Enumclaw, and Paradise is on the South side.  We often made a long day of it visiting Sunrise in the morning, stopping at Chinook pass and Tipsoo lake picnic area for lunch and then continuing around the loop to Paradise in the afternoon and evening.  If the weather is clear, the view of the mountain from lake Tipsoo and Chinook pass is gorgeous.

I certainly agree with your decision to visit Mt St Helens.  I have fond memories as a teenager fishing Spirit lake with the mountain in the background.  Be sure and stop and watch the video (and the view) at the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  I hope you have good weather, the views are spectacular.

Richard

From where you are at Alder Lake, you will probably want to reverse that direction and go to Paradise first and then on to Chinook pass and lake Tipsoo.  From Chinook pass you will have to decide whether to return the way you came or go on around the loop to the Sunrise side.

Richard

That's what I did and it worked out well, no line to get in, minimal traffic.  The view driving up was good, had a decent view of MR.  By the time I got to the top it was clouded in.   I took a different longer route to go back to Alder Lake, scenic drive with very little traffic but took me an hour longer. 

My neighbor here in the campground said that several times during the summer they tried to get tickets for entry and never could, he couldn't believe I just drove right in with no tickets. 

I'll look at the other visitor center and check if I'd need tickets, I doubt I'd get lucky again if tickets are required. 

Mt Saint Helen looks like a decent stop, wondering there are any places to stay.  All the state campgrounds appear to be closed for the season, went past a number with the entry gates closed.  May have to get creative. 

[96 EVO]

8 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

 

Mt Saint Helen looks like a decent stop, wondering there are any places to stay.  All the state campgrounds appear to be closed for the season, went past a number with the entry gates closed.  May have to get creative. 

Ha, I remember when that volcano blew.

I live a couple of hundred miles away, and have no plans of visiting it! 

[jacwjames]

It looks like relying on Walmarts on west coast is a pipe dream, I'll continue to check but not hopeful. 

I had to get a part at an RV repair/part shop and talked to the manager.  I asked if there was a local ordinance, he said no.   He said he still see's people parked at different business and on the back streets people will just park and camp for weeks/months.  

I did get a 2 night stay with Harvest Host a winery in Port Angeles.  Worked out pretty good.   So I'll try more of these. 

Will also start checking on Casino's 

If needed I'll stop at campgrounds, didn't come this far to throw in the towel and go home.  Too much invested already. 

[96 EVO]

Did the majority of my last hibernation trip in casino parking lots!

Out west, Walmarts are few!!

[96 EVO]

Plenty of Walmarts, few that allow overnighting.

[Martinvz]

Jim, keep the trip journal going. 😀 We are planning a similar trip and I can definitely use all the help I can get. 
Actually, I’m a little jealous right now just because I have to winterize the coach today. 

[hex_nut]

Give a call to Harry Gardner Park in Toutle, Wa., it is on the way up to Mt St Helens.  It was destroyed when the mountain blew, but has been rebuilt and reopened.  I think it is a county park.

Richard

[jacwjames]

4 hours ago, hex_nut said:

Give a call to Harry Gardner Park in Toutle, Wa., it is on the way up to Mt St Helens.  It was destroyed when the mountain blew, but has been rebuilt and reopened.  I think it is a county park.

Richard

When I get close I check, it is a small park, 11 RV sites.  No one in office now.   Can't get in the reservation system.  But it looks like it on the way so I can stop and check.

[TomV48]

On 7/31/2024 at 7:04 AM, jacwjames said:

Thanks, I'll add that to my search list

When I was in Utah last year I stayed at a couple campgrounds for a week and used them as a home base as I visited NP's close by, that worked pretty good so I'll looking at doing that in CA.  King Canyon, Sequoia, and but just recall Death Valley are fairly close together so I'm looking for camping near Loan Pine area.  Anyone have any recommendations.  Found state operated campground but no hookups.  Not sure what the weather will be in Oct/Nov, assume I could boon dock but just have to watch battery levels, which I am use to doing. 

Several choices if you Google the Lone Pine, CA area.   Tuttle Creek is a BLM dry campground.  It has a dump and I bet potable water at dump but I would not swear to that.   We come in full and go home lighter.  There's a lake with a campground too just south of town on the west side of 395. I'm sure there are others but I can only speak for the two I have used 

On 7/30/2024 at 1:43 PM, jacwjames said:

I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a trip, probably starting in Oct and expect ~2 months or longer depending on how it goes.

My goal is to see the National Parks along the west coast.   I'll start in OR with the North Cascades National Park first then work my way south zig zagging as needed hitting the NP's along the way.  I'm pretty flexible and don't envision problems finding places to stay overnight and short stints in campgrounds. 

But one area I need advice is places to stay while I take a trip to the Channel Islands National Park  Hope to avoid driving into LA.   Is there a smaller community with either public or private campgrounds convenient to ferry locations to the Island.  

Any other advise or recommendations.  Not really into "touristy" things but would be interested in historical sites. 

Thanks.

 

Working my way down the list of NP's, got 35 down and working on the rest.

 

Up South of San Luis Obispo along Pismo beach area there are lots of private parks and a couple of State parks,  at least Pismo South at Oceano has water and electricity with a state park related dump up the beach.

In Ventura there is a fairly nice but pricey park Ventura Beach Resort.  North of Ventura there are at least 3 waterfront Ventura County camps. Two smaller ones are tight but have hookups while the larger, Rincon is dry camp.

Many choices, less scenic in and around Oxnard.

Good luck

[jacwjames]

So I've been busy, after Mt Rainer .  The park was essentially closed with the campground shut down and even the visitor center clossed.  Learned a hard lesson there.   So I headed toward Mt Saint Helens

I did a search on both my Garmin and Iphone and both came up with the same destination.  I did not confirm, I just drove.  Signs I passed all said MT ST Helens so I kept driving.  Initially road was what you'd expect, it then turned into a narrower two lane black top, still OK.  It then turned into a dirt road with NO place to turn around so I kept driving up a steeper and steeper dirt road, dropped down into 1st gear and climbed, road was a little rough but passable.   Finally made it to a large blacktop area, it was the Climbers Bivouac, this is where the climbers stage to ascend the mountain.  CRAP 

But since I was there I decided to hike to the 4800' elevation, anything above that needed a permit.  Not gonna lie, it stressed my body.  Many much younger hikers passed me going up and down.   But I made it and took pictures as proof along with screen shots of the elevation and coordinates.   Hiked back down and made a B-line back down the road.  As I was leaving the parking area I had to make a loop around the circular drive, with all the "kids" looking and and one guy pointing his finger yelling "it was him" which I assume was the response to the obvious question about "what idiot would drive a 40' motorhome pulling a jeep up that road.  

Made it back down and decided to just drive toward Crater Lake and just pulled into a rest stop for the night.  Actually slept pretty good but sore the next morning. 

Got to Crater Lake and again, all the campgrounds anywhere close were shut down.  On a side note, pretty much all the state campgrounds were also closed.  

In Crater Lake I did the tourist thing, snapped some pictures, looked at the roadside exhibits, the main visitor center wasn't open.  Been there done that.

Head to the next park, Lasson Volcanic National park, I was making good time, filled up with fuel in OR, and headed south on I5 and jumped off on a secondary.  I saw large signs about Burney Falls SP and set my sites on that.   Kept seeing signs, started to get dark, was getting close and saw a sigh showing campground on the left, CRAP, as I pulled in there was a sign 30 limit.  Pulled in and decided to just park off to the side and get some sleep.  Next morning unhitched the Jeep and drove into the camp ground with maybe 10 small sites but there was a small circular drive at the end.  I did stop and get an early morning picture of the sun coming up over the lake.    Went back to the coach and drove it down to the circular drive and did a 6 point turn to get around it.  As I drove by one guy sleeping on a cot out in the open propped up and looked at thinking WT#. 

So headed onto Lassen Volcanic NP.  Yup, one of the two visitor centers closed, but I was able to watch the movie and go through the exhibits in the north entery.  I could not drive through the park due to length but that was OK.  Unhooked the Jeep and did the drive stopping along the way with appropriate picture taking.  Didn't do any hiking, sore from the Mt St Helen fiasco.  But the park was still a worthwhile stop. 

Headed toward Reno and then onto Ely NV.

Edited October 16 by jacwjames

[jacwjames]

I had driven through Reno back in 2009 when we went to AK.  I don't remember it being that bad but it was crazy.  Only good thing was that the diesel prices dropped by ~$2 or more a gallon.  Filled up in a small town east of Reno, asked around for places to park and even called a store that "let people park" but NOPE.   It was getting dark and reluctantly I kept heading east, I don't like driving in the dark but the road was decent, fairly straight and flat, and hardly no traffic.   I was hoping to find a rest stop but they don't have many on the back road hwy's and the ones they do have are not marked well so by the time you see one your past it.  Finally searched on my GPS for a fuel stop, ~30 miles ahead so I pushed on to there. 

Ended up in a little crossroads with a bar called Middlegate Station, went in and had a great burger, some conversation, and they said I could park overnight.   In the dark I could see the bar  but really didn't grasp what it looked like until daylight.  Not gonna lie, I probably wouldn't have stopped if it was light out but looks can deceive!!   Plus in the daylight you get a sense of how desolate it is/  So if you are driving between Reno & Ely it's worth the stop.  The Burgers are famous. 

Headed onto Ely, went ahead and filled up at a Flying J, the Open Roads card worked but only a $.05 discount, better then nothing because the small towns are significantly higher and a full tank should get me close to my nest parks back in CA.

NOW the bad news.  The Great Basin NP is essentially shut down, the Visitor center was under construction and by the time I saw a sign that said "Limited RV Parking" it was too late I had to keep going, parking lot was jambed and the construction company partially  blocked both ends of the only road so I couldn't make a wide swing.  I to stop, back up a little and do a 3-4 point turn and I did not drop Jeep.  PLUS, a Class B van parked right in the middle of the RV parking and partially blocked the exit.

Then I tried to find a campsite and a ranger told me that the only campground with large sites is under construction.  While I was driving the wash boarded dirt road I was trying to find the sweet spot and got to close to a limb and knocked my passenger side mirror off.  #$%! I was pissed and asked myself why I came to this park. 

Head back down to a small town and got a campsite for a couple nights.  Took the mirror off and am trying to fix, the shaft that sticks down was broke, trying to repair enough to get me going.   Used a piece of steel and JB Weld epoxy, hope it works. 

Life goes on!!

 

 

Edited October 17 by jacwjames

[Tom Wallis]

I was just reading your thread and wondering if you are coming West again for the California leg of your trip. I live just off of Highway 50 in Dayton, NV. I'm on 5 acres and have a 50 amp hookup if you want to spend a night. Plus I can give you lots of info on traveling down 395 and were to stay in Lone Pine. Also, I'm just 20 minutes from Virginia City which is a great attraction.

[jacwjames]

22 minutes ago, Tom Wallis said:

I was just reading your thread and wondering if you are coming West again for the California leg of your trip. I live just off of Highway 50 in Dayton, NV. I'm on 5 acres and have a 50 amp hookup if you want to spend a night. Plus I can give you lots of info on traveling down 395 and were to stay in Lone Pine. Also, I'm just 20 minutes from Virginia City which is a great attraction.

I really appreciate the offer, always good to have options. 

I may take you up on it depending on how my mirror repair holds together and whether the cosmetic mirror I used to replace the OEM mirror holds up.   No may can I travel through CA without decent side and rear site.    I'll know how it does as I'm driving toward CA tomorrow.   Looks like you are due east of the park and Yosemite is due south. 

I knocked off the mirror once before and had to drive through Naples to get to a friends house where I had parts overnighted to fix it. 

 

Edited October 17 by jacwjames

[jacwjames]

Mission accomplished finally, went back to the park and drove the scenic route, great views at 10500 ft.   Was told that today was the last day the road would be open for vehicles, it is suppose to snow and they shut it down when that happens.  So it appears I had good timing. 

Also got lucky and was able to get a ticket for the Lehman Cave tour.  It was the short tour but worth it.  Easy in and out down a ramp.  The formations were memorable.

So been there done that, onto the next NP, Yosemite.  Going to be a long way there across nothing land again.  

 

Edited October 18 by jacwjames

[96 EVO]

Good thing you got south of the PNW.

It's about to rain. Lots!

[jacwjames]

Ya but the cold weather is chasing me now.  Closest big town (and I use the term lightly) is Ely, ~30 miles to the west ant the 10 day forecast is showing low's in the 20's.  Windy as heck now and calling for snow, temps are dropping.  Pulled in my water hose tonight just in case. 

So I'm headed to the SW toward Yosemite tomorrow and hope I can out run the snow, I don't mind the cold, can't drive as good in the snow, I will if I have to but would rather not.

 

 

 

 

Edited Friday at 02:47 PM by jacwjames

[jacwjames]

Well, got cold here last night with wind gusts.  Woke up with a dusting of snow on the Jeep and at higher elevations looks like there is more. 

In hind sight I probably should have just got a RV spot in Ely and drove the Jeep to the NP, ~60 miles one way.   Unless you want to do some long hikes at +10,000ft elevation the park can be visited in a half day.  The cave tour is worth while but you have to have advance reservations or the longer tour or see if there are any cancellations or openings.  That's what I did, there was an opening at 1:30PM for the short tour. 

 

So time to leave, GPS routes me back through Ely and I know going west there are some climbs so will assess the route when I leave here and may force it south. 

If I make it to Ely I'm going to call around and see if I might find a mirror.   If not going to get some supplies in case my fix doesn't work.  After I put everything back together yesterday I found that the mirror adjustment doesn't work.  With that I could put a large ~1/2" carriage bolt through the shaft and hold everything together.  The mirror assembly will have to be replaced anyway. 

 

[jacwjames]

So I drove from Park NV through Ely, I stopped at the NAPA store and bought a side view mirror to try and fit into the frame.  Then onto Tonapath NV and stopped for fuel, this will be the last cheaper diesel until I come out of CA.   The route from Ely to Tonapath was on Hwy 6, very desolete, I think I passed 20 cars in ~150 miles.  I settled in behind a semi just to have a sense of "company".   Then drove ~130 miles to Lee Vining CA where I found a spot to use as a base camp while I visit Yosemite.    The had quite a bit of traffic, and at one point a merging road had lots of semi's

https://www.monovistarvpark.net/  

The parks name says it all, it is near Mono Lake with decent views.  This is a nice campground has mostly smaller sites, only thing I could get was a back in site, water and 30 amp electric, which is OK for me.  ~$50/night.   Not sure exactly how far it is to the park, I saw a sign for a Tioga Pass, which looks like it will be a scenic drive to get into the park. 

 

[jacwjames]

OK, Got up early, still on E TN time so I've been getting up early.  It was barely light when I left the campground this AM, no real traffic across Tioga Pass to get to Yosemite but it's ~70 miles and most of it 35-45 mph so took a while.  By the time I got to Yosemite the place was packed.  Thousands of people, and hundreds of cars.   Drove around the valley, stopped at the lodge to see if I might get a tour ticket, the guy behind the counter just laughed.  So kept driving and stopped and getting out and walking to get the iconic pictures everyone sees.   But as time went on there were more and more people and limited parking.  People is crazy as they say.

So I took the other route out of the park just to get a different perspective, only drove ~15 miles before turning around, traffic was getting even worse but was able to get some nice pictures of El Capitan and the valley.  

Not into the crowds I head back to the campground and got a different view of the way I came into CA.  I knew I made some grades but YIKES!!!

Pulled out the Coleman Traveler and going to cook myself a Ribeye tonight and relax. 

So I'm here for 2 more nights and do some exploring tomorrow. 

 

Also looking for the best way to get from Mono Lake down to Kings Canyon NP and Sequoia NP.   After driving the Tioga Pass in my Jeep I have no desire driving it with my coach.  The Hwy 395/I5 runs N/S east of the mountains but don't see a good way to get across.   I could go N then west on 108, or south then across on 179. 

Anyone have any suggestions.   I intend to try and find a central spot that I can drive to both parks from.  I'd rather put miles on the Jeep then he coach. 

[georgecederholm]

57 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

Also looking for the best way to get from Mono Lake down to Kings Canyon NP and Sequoia NP.   After driving the Tioga Pass in my Jeep I have no desire driving it with my coach.  The Hwy 395/I5 runs N/S east of the mountains but don't see a good way to get across.   I could go N then west on 108, or south then across on 179. 

Anyone have any suggestions.   I intend to try and find a central spot that I can drive to both parks from.  I'd rather put miles on the Jeep then he coach. 

Jim,

You’ve identified the 3 basic routes, and none are anywhere near direct. Even Forest Service roads don’t tend to go north-south along the western side of the mountains. 

If you can make it to Three Rivers, east of Visalia, it’s relatively easy to visit both King’s Canyon and Sequoia from that base.

[jacwjames]

OK, figured I might as well as the campground owner at the desk for the best options.  

There is a length restriction of 60 max (which I am under) on 140 through the park, I'm not thrilled with the road anyway.

Both of the above are NO GO, steep winging roads and she said the 108 has some hair pin turns that would be difficult in my coach with jeep. 

The other cross over south of here is also pretty ugly.

Her recommendation is to go down 395 all the way to 58 then over to I5 and up to Visalia and trying to find a site near there to visit both NP's.  She said it would be an easy drive and quicker then doing anything else. 

[jacwjames]

2 hours ago, georgecederholm said:

Jim,

You’ve identified the 3 basic routes, and none are anywhere near direct. Even Forest Service roads don’t tend to go north-south along the western side of the mountains. 

If you can make it to Three Rivers, east of Visalia, it’s relatively easy to visit both King’s Canyon and Sequoia from that base.

Thanks George,

Just booked a site, looks like a good option between both parks. 

[96 EVO]

I have a couple of 20kph ( 12.42mph) speed limit hairpin turns I have to take every

time I leave town.

No big deal, and I'm 67' with toad!

Just need to watch for any traffic coming, then use a bit of the oncoming lane.

[jacwjames]

54 minutes ago, 96 EVO said:

I have a couple of 20kph ( 12.42mph) speed limit hairpin turns I have to take every

time I leave town.

No big deal, and I'm 67' with toad!

Just need to watch for any traffic coming, then use a bit of the oncoming lane.

I'm being extra cautious, have had too much bad luck on this trip already. 

I've been on some tight roads and am confident I could do it but not willing to take chances. 

Here are a couple of pictures of Yosemite, well worth the trip, it would have been better if it wasn't so crowded but it is what it is.  It is one of the better parks that I've visited.