This was our last morning in the Olympic National Park, we really enjoyed our travels through the peninsula and drove onwards towards Astoria. En-route we stopped off at Long Beach for some more foggy beach views. We had been given an Oregon coast guide by a friendly camper and through this found the Astoria Coffee House, we drank chai and wrote blog posts swell as editing the images from Canada. This place is very cool indeed, we felt like we’d stepped into a bit of a retirement spot and yet the coffee house was really funky and quirky. We also enjoyed a good lunch here, if you’re passing through it’s worth a stop.

We decided to head straight to Portland at this point, the weather wasn’t really up to much on the coast and we felt Portland would offer a nice contrast to the coastline we’d been travelling along. In total we were driving for around 6 hours but we weren’t speeding and had a few stops as well as encountered the Portland rush hour traffic. It was tricky to find a camping spot for Portland but managed to locate one around an hours drive heading east from Portland at Oxbow State Park. We arrived pretty late and were confused as to the location of the campground but after reassurance from the park ranger we drove down into the park and set up camp in the dark, ate and got an early night. We did enjoy the showers though – the best yet!

The following morning we were up early and after another shower we set off into Portland deciding to park at the Convention centre as it was considerably cheaper than parking centrally and we were on the right side of town for getting back to Oxbow. We paid $6 for a full day of parking and walked across the Steel Bridge making our way to downtown. The light was pretty dull to start with so we were holding out for better weather later on. We  had a few things on our list of Portland sights and the first was to find a Scrumptown Coffee House, thanks to the Lonely Planet for the insight. This place is very cool indeed, it has a great atmosphere and space, and some good photography on the walls. It’s labelled the best coffee in town and Helen seemed to agree or rather it was the best coffee she’d had for some time! Helen also thought she’d spotted Alan Rickman, she was determined that it was him (we later googled and realised it so wasn’t!).

After coffee we ventured out towards the Pearl Disctrict via downtown and picked up a Portland Art Map from the Art Museum which detailed all of the smaller art galleries in town, of which there are lots! On our way we found Powells Bookstore, which is famous for being the largest independent bookshop in the world, it is huge! After some excellent street cart food costing $5 each, we started our art explorations. The gallery that stood out for us the most was the Blue Sky Gallery host to exhibits by Dana Popa, Laura Poitros and local gary Grenall. All of which were really captivating in the form of photography and video installation. A few other galleries worth mentioning are Blackfish and Laura Russo, the latter gallery had a very helpful lady front of house who wrote down hikes in the Columbia River Gorge area.

On our way back to the car we crossed over the Steel Bridge, this time the light was great and so we snapped away. It took us about 45 minutes to walk back to the car and then it was a further 45 minutes to get back to the campsite. When we did we went for a run, cooked our dinner and settled into out little tent once again.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Up, breakfast, pack-up of the tent and we were off, our destination for today was away from the coastline at the Hoh Rainforest. As we had some fairly light-weight camping gear we wanted to do some hiking and over night wilderness camping. The Hoh Rainforest has a great hike that takes you through the forest on a clearly marked path which can go as far as the Glacier Meadows 18 miles from the car park / visitor centre. We decided on a 5 mile walk along the Hoh River to break us in gently to the 5 mile island wilderness camp site.

The hike with all our gear took us 2 hours and we arrived at our beautiful camping spot in the middle of nowhere. We set up and figured out how to use the bear wire; a pulley system to raise food bags etc up high out of the reach of furry paws. After a stroll for one more mile along the river we headed back to camp and cooked, well rehydrated, a Backpackers Pantry Kathmandu curry. It was surprisingly really good and we both enjoyed our travellers meal.

A few other campers arrived and before long it was dark and time to entertain ourselves with a game of poker in our two man tent. Betting with ear plugs, head torches, maps, money, mobile phone etc ensuring lots of laughs emanating from the tent! A quick visit to the privy, a clean of the teeth and time for a night in the wilderness. After a surprisingly comfy night we emerged at 6.30am, ate breakfast and then started the five miles back at 8am. After a brief encounter with an angry looking Elk Stag we made it back in 1hr50. A spot of lunch and a hot drink in the car park and we were ready to get back on the road. Cheekily we stopped at a campsite with paid showers and nipped inside, a shower can make the world of difference, especially after 4 days! Brand new!

Lake Quinault was the destination for today which was nice enough although the weather was grey. We stopped at a beach along the way which was very foggy, but provided some interesting photos. A corner shop at Lake Quinault provided some beers, bread and hot chocolate. $20 for the pitch with a nice spot by the lake and a fire pit to keep us warm. For something to do we went to the local attraction which was… The worlds largest Sitka Spruce tree. Back to camp after all the excitement, a delivery of firewood and a spot of photo editing before eating dinner. Bedtime arrived quite quickly after our long day. Portland is our next destination.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We woke up to sunshine and photographed the sun rising across the lake, pretty idyllic so far! Packing up was easy as the tent is very small and quick to take up and down, so this helped us speed up somewhat before making our way to the north-westerly point of the peninsula. The weather got greyer and greyer as we made our way in the direction of Neah Bay.

As we were pretty early we made our first point of call the Native American Cape Flattery Museum as it had been mentioned in the Lonely Planet and sounded pretty interesting. Opening at 10am the museum is located just before Neah Bay and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed it! The place is dated (as are a lot of things in the area) but it does the history of the tribal region justice, housing totem poles, whale catching boats, and all original artifacts found from Native American villages buried under mudslides. It’s worth a visit if you’re in the area.

As is Cape Flattery, the most north-western point of the lower 48 states! Fact! ha! The weather was still foggy and misty but the hike through the forest and out to the viewing places was really cool, very eerie indeed! Good misty and atmospheric views out to rocks and the wild sea, on a clear day you can see Vancouver Island, on this day we struggled to see the small island only 150 meters away!

Moving further down the peninsula we drove to another lake to camp for the night at Lake Ozette. There were only 17 sites here so we managed to pick one that was perhaps one of the largest and we were most definitely the smallest tent! Naughty! But we all pay the same! So we had some lunch and got a few maps and ideas for a hike going from the ranger station to the coast, we chose to do a 6 mile round trip hike going along the lower boardwalk. We were pretty speedy there and spent some time at the wild coast taking in the   washed up logs and rocky terrain. Its a pretty wild coast! Fortunately for us it wasn’t too wild but all the evidence displays what this place is like in the winter.

Back at the campsite we managed to do a little bit of work and cooked up yet another camp meal, to this point we were of course still excited about what our next meal would be! The Ozette campground was our favourite in the region, really beautiful and only cost $12. No shower though but the location and scenery make up for that!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We left Kirsten and Danny’s after a productive morning; packing, sorting, skyping home and making sure we had everything we would need, for at least 5 days! We were aiming for the 11.25am ferry across from Seattle to Bainbridge but when we got to the terminal we paid and drove straight onto the 10.25 ferry! Result! When we parked up and got out of our upgraded car we felt suddenly very grown up, this was our first drive-on ferry ride without our parents! He he! The ferry over took around 40 minutes and was very pleasant indeed, well worth the $21 we paid! The views back to Seattle were really rewarding as was looking out across the Olympic Peninsula, or as far as the eye can go.

After the delight of our first ferry journey we continued away from Bainbridge, making our way north east of the Peninsula towards Port Townsend and a little further to Fort Worden State Park where we’d read that An Officer and A Gentleman was filmed. It’s a gorgeous base with naval barrack buildings and a lovely little bay. We wandered along the bay past an old lighthouse and then back into the barracks area to take a look at an HI hostel we were interested in viewing, it was very twee indeed.

Continuing on our first USA road trip we ventured to the Olympic National Park Ranger Station. They are so informative over here, even after closing hours there is still a ranger on duty. We discovered that backcountry backpacking is very popular over here, most people were dropping off bear cans and collecting permits to hike. We just wanted a park permit, some info on camping and a map! Then we set off in direction of Hurricane Ridge. If you’re ever in this area this ridge is a must-see, the road is windy and around 30 miles going up but at the top the views are so rewarding! We could see across the park to Mount Olympia and for the golden hour we hiked around the top of the ridge and just took it all in.

We made tracks and took the further one hour drive to the campsite. We aimed to get to Crescent Lake campsite at the south end of the lake, and when we got there we were confused with the set up; there was no-one around to register with but we could see people setting up their tents. So we asked them, how does this work? We learned our first lesson in camping, you do an honesty payment, fill out a form, display the ticket in your car and enclose payment (on this occasion $12) in an envelope along with car details and post this into a box! Easy!! So we found a nice little spot just in time for dusk, set up our little tent for the first time, and made our first camping meal!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Today we would start our Intrepid tour of the Canadian Rockies, although the first night of this was to be spent in a hostel in Seattle. We got our bags together and left a few items with Kirsten and Danny, a huge thanks to them for letting us do this! We took the number 7 bus into the International District and checked into Hostelling International at The American Hotel. We weren’t expecting to be going into separate sex dorms for the night as this wasn’t set out in our Intrepid itinerary, they lost points before we even began! So separate dorms it was and after a while we met a few others who were joining us on the trip.

Marie was first to join Helen in her 4 dorm and so the 3 of us went out to a local Chinese night market right outside the hostel. There was quite a bit going on for a small market place with live art performances, gifts, crafts and food along with a Capoeira group who did a really fun and vibrant performance, they really got the crowd going! We followed our Seattle cultural experience by eating at a very authentic Chinese restaurant just around the corner from where the night market took place. This really took us back to China, the place was full of Chinese people and the atmosphere and food really felt authentic.

When we got back Helen’s dorm was full and we met her fellow room mates Rhiannon and Marian who along with Marie would be joining us for our trip to Canada.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We had a late start to the day with the idea that we wanted to set the tent up to give it a clean, do some writing and clothes washing. So by 1pm we were ready to set off and we walked to a local Dim Sum restaurant called Dim Sum King! It pretty much lived up to its expectations but we always forget that they don’t tend to have a big vegetarian or fish selection in these places! Even the sticky rice had minced pork inside!

After some research into car hire and a trip to REI‘s flagship store we managed to pick up a few essentials for our camping trips ahead. We continued our urban hike through the hilly streets to the funk that is Capitol Hill. It’s very different from the main parts of the city and offers more of an eclectic atmosphere with lots of bars, cafe’s, vintage shops and restaurants. We stopped for some food at Oddfellows, perhaps not so great for the budget conscious but we shared a salad, a veggie lasagne and some fries, which was more than enough for us both and the food was very good! This place has kept it’s charm with original features, signs and a mish-mash of wooden furniture.

With our stomachs full we continued to wander the streets of Capitol Hill and a few doors down from Oddfellows is the Elliot Bay Book Company where we picked up some Joe Nesbo novels (one of which we dug deep for in the bargain books area) and a couple of notebooks for us to draw in, write and so on. The bookstore is amazing, it’s got a lovely charm to the place within its layout and it has a huge listing of books available, really something that we could do more of in the UK! We finished our evening by walking back through the streets from Capitol Hill to our neighborhood! We probably clocked up around 10 miles or so – if you’re doing Seattle by foot, wear trainers!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

If you were to read ‘things to do in Seattle in one day’ we would probably have ticked nearly all of the boxes! Today was our first day of proper sightseeing fitting in with the tourists so to speak. After spending some time photographing our quirky and retro-stylish new home for the next few days with Kirsten and Danny we set off by foot, saving a few pennies and keeping us fit up and down all those hills. So with trainers on and a backpack (we really did fit in with the sightseers!) we set off toward the International District. It’s not too far from our neighborhood and before long we reached Pioneer Square via the train station. It’s a lovely square with coffee shops, bars and small galleries, naming Davidson Galleries as a nice little space to start.

As it was still fairly early we thought we’d try to Seattle Underground Tour. They are located on 608 First Avenue and will more than likely have a large queue of people making their way inside. The tour starts with an introduction with a fairly humorous guide (called Dave) who gave us some history into how Seattle became as it is. When the tour started the big group was broken down into 3 and we went off with comic Dave for ours. We were guided through the basements of Seattle’s underground, which were once the pavements of New York one story down from street level. This was made possible after a large fire in the early 20th Century, which was a blessing in disguise as the city had originally been built at sea level and wasn’t very favourable for sewage disposal. The tour was made to be fairly amusing and allowed for a story-telling method, the underground itself kind of looks like the basement of buildings though. It was pretty good in all honesty and our wrist band meant we would be able to get a few discounts after wards for food and a trip up the Smith Tower.

Following on from touristy thing number 1 we went to The Seattle Art Museum, this we would recommend. It’s a good space with lots of contemporary and classical art, enough to occupy a whole day if you had the time. It was good to see some of the American contemporary painters such as David Salle and Jasper Johns on display. Along with some interesting installations. So from the art museum to the Pike Place Market, via the sea front. This market is worth seeing, yes it’s touristy but it has a good vibe and atmosphere to the area along with Starbuck’s first coffee shop, street performers, fresh flowers and produce. It is a little like stepping back in time with original signage, cobbled streets and various restaurants and ice-cream parlors.

From Pike Market we walked back along the streets to the Smith Tower, it was now nearly 4pm. Completed in 1914 it was at the time the 4th tallest building in the world and houses an observation deck at the top. We spent around half an hour at the top and the views out to sea, to the Olympic Peninsula and over to Mount Rainer were pretty impressive. We do like a good observational tower!

After perhaps our 7th mile of waking back to our abode we decided to chill out, ate leftovers from the previous night’s Vietnamese food and caught up on the blog.

Seattle Art Museum – Suggested entry fee $15 ($2 off each with a voucher)
Underground Tour – $16 each
Smith Tower – $6.50 (with a dollar off)

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)