Yosemite and Olympic - Summer 2014

[NDjason]

Had a chance to get out west this year with my wife for 12 days. Having visited Yellowstone and Glacier in 2013, we opted to try something new this year. So after a lot of thought and planning, we decided to mix three of our loves for a whirlwind trip: Baseball stadiums, US States, and National Parks. Since we got married in 2010, we've made a point of trying to visit all 30 MLB parks, all 50 states, and as many National Parks as possible. So far, we've knocked off 18 parks, 42 states, and about a dozen National Parks. This summer, it was the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A's, and Seattle Mariners, Yosemite, King's Canyon, and Olympic, and California, Washington, and Oregon.

We started in San Francisco and spent two days exploring the city. From the bridge, to the piers, to Chinatown and everywhere else, we hopped on and off the bus to see as much as we could. It really was a lot of fun. We caught the Giants for a night game in which the pitcher threw a perfect game up until a two out, full count single in the bottom of the ninth! One pitch away from a perfect game! After a few days in San Fran, we crossed the bay and went to see Oakland play. Not much to be impressed with there, but one more park out of the way. Early the next morning we headed out to Yosemite.

We were a little worried about our trip to Yosemite being cancelled due to the fire (we visited in early September), but it turned out most of the smoke was north of the park and we only had smoke in the valley for 2 of the days we were there. Unfortunately, Tuolomne was closed so we had to adjust our plans slightly, but visiting after Labor Day, with the fires, in the middle of the week, the park was nearly empty. We were also lucky to be visiting the valley on a night that Ranger Shelton Johnson was doing a presentation on Yosemite's Buffalo Soldiers. It was Gail's first time in the park - the valley was a little disappointing due to the smoke and low visibility, but Gail and I were both fascinated with the Marisopa Grove and the giant sequoias.

After our time in Yosemite/King's Canyon was finished, we flew up to Seattle to do some more city exploring. Seattle was a great city to visit - we were both first time visitors so we did the tourist things: the Space Needle, Pike's Place Market, REI (omg), and went to see the Mariners play a night game. I have to admit, after 18 parks, Seattle is definitely one of my favorites. The people there were great. After Seattle, we took the ferry across to the Olympic peninsula and headed into Olympic National Park. I would love to go back someday and do some backpacking. Its amazing to think you can be in the high country, drive through a rain forest, and end up on the beach in a span of just a few hours. We were planning on spending a few days in the park, but ended up only staying a single night in Mora down by the beach. The haystacks were pretty incredible and we loved visiting the Hoh Rain Forest (we were planning on staying there), but decided we'd rather just drive down 101 and see where it went. We ended up driving down the coast for a few days and getting down to Oregon where we visited Cape Disappointment for a night and then decided to give Portland a try. Portland was also a fun place. I'd go back just for VooDoo Doughnuts.

It was a great trip and we got to see a few parks we'd never been to. Would love to spend more time in all of them one day!

A few pictures:

[Selkie]

Thank you!
Are the little haystacks in the water part of the San Juan Islands?
On my list for Someday, right after I learn ocean kayaking.

[NDjason]

Thank you!
Are the little haystacks in the water part of the San Juan Islands?
On my list for Someday, right after I learn ocean kayaking.

The first set of haystacks (with all of the fog) are in Olympic National Park. I think the pictures are taken at "Second Beach," near La Push, Wa. We didn't get as far north as the San Juan Islands. The second set it from the Oregon coast, taken from the shoulder of Hgw 101. I think it may be Cannon Beach?

[elscout198]

SF is my favorite city to visit in the US in traveling for over 20 years, great pictures.
You are right on Oakland Stadium, it needs an upgrade, we took BART to a game which was interesting.

Some other comments on Olympic ? We r thinking of going there this summer from Glacier.

[NDjason]

SF is my favorite city to visit in the US in traveling for over 20 years, great pictures.
You are right on Oakland Stadium, it needs an upgrade, we took BART to a game which was interesting.

Some other comments on Olympic ? We r thinking of going there this summer from Glacier.

SF was great. I'd never spent much time there and we happened to be in town for the opening of the America's Cup, the 49ers were in town playing the Packers, both the Giants and the A's were home, and the weather was unusually warm (90+!), so it was a great time to be there.

As for Olympic, with Gail being pregnant we didn't do any hiking. But in talking to the rangers at the park (and the NPS ranger stationed at the Seattle REI!!!) there seemed to be a ton of great options. We drove up to Hurricane Ridge and saw some of the high country - it wasn't Glacier, but it was still beautiful. I would definitely recommend taking 101 all the way around the park and visiting the mountains, the rain forest, and the beaches. That was the most amazing part for me - seeing such a huge variety of ecosystems in a single park. We camped near the beach in Mora. It was a nice campground, but not close enough to the beach to really be worth camping there. There did seem to be a lot of people camping there that brought bicycles. If you do much cycling, I could see it being a nice place. I think on second visit, I would try to camp at least one night in the mountains and another in the rain forest.

I really liked exploring the beaches too. There were a few people camping down on the beach. Apparently you can just fill out a backcountry permit at the trailhead and deposit it in a drop box. I did some reading and there are apparently some good backpacks you can do along the beaches, camping along the way. I think this would be awesome. I liked poking around in the tidal pools looking for starfish and anemones.

One interesting story - we happened to be there the weekend of "Stephanie Meyer Days," which Gail and I discovered is a celebration of the author of the Twilight books. We didn't know this, but apparently the books are based in Fork, Washington and many of the locations referenced in an around the park. So there was a lot of strange tourist stuff going on with 'Twilight' fans in town for the event.