Wandering Holyokes

This is the first summer in quite some time that we have traveled west. We were invited by our friends Gary and Nonnie to meet them in Rocky Mountain National Park for a week in early August. That invitation sparked a discussion that led to us planning a 4 and 1/2 week spin around the west. This time, with no working involved.

We decided to make a little(?) loop through one past favorite park and three parks new to us. Glacier NP(old favorite), North Cascades NP, Mount Rainier NP, and finishing up with our friends in Rocky Mountain NP.

After packing up, planning the route, and setting things up with family to keep the home front running, we pulled out of the driveway on July 17.

This trip we finally got the chance to try out a membership we have had in a program called Harvest Hosts. Businesses and homeowners willing to let RV travelers spend the night for free can sign up. Then, RV travelers sign up. The kick is, that you are supposed to buy something from the establishment that you overnight at. Much cheaper, potentially, than a traditional campground and brings in business to a place that just has to have parking large enough for an rv.

The first place we stopped was a horse farm in New York. They didn’t sell anything, so we gifted them with a bottle of pure Maine maple syrup. Here was our site for the night on a little creek.

Next stop, a winery in Champaign, IL. We picked up a red and a white to add to the camper.

We also stayed at Mac’s Creek Winery and Brewery in Lexington, Nebraska, and Canyon Creek Brewing in Billings, Montana. Good food and drinks were enjoyed after travel days. Believe it or not, Glen was not the originator of the winery/brewery themed campsites. 🤷‍♀️

We did have a bit of car trouble on the way out. That irksome wrench symbol popped up on the dashboard. Some sort of defective inverter, but thanks to Bison Ford in Great Falls we got that all fixed up under warranty and don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the trip.

The first park stop on this excursion was Glacier NP. Our favorite park, and one we have visited many times. We think this was visit #7🧐😯

Because the park has had to deal with overcrowding, many new reservations systems have been implemented. We were lucky enough to snag a campsite inside the park, giving us tickets to travel the Going to the Sun Road for the days we were there. We also got some days reserved to enter the Many Glacier area, and some for the Two Medicine area. So we had options. Here is the view from our campsite.

We hiked part of the Swiftcurrent trail, hiked to Iceberg Lake, kayaked on the lake in Two Medicine, drove the Going to the Sun Road, and reminisced. We visited favorite restaurants as well, and as you can see from the next photo, Glen was really happy to have carrot cake at Johnson’s. They don’t always have this item on the menu, and since it’s the best carrot cake in the world, Glen figured that it was a great payoff for the 3000 miles spent traveling to the restaurant.

Now, we are embarking on three parks new to us. First up, North Cascades NP in Washington. This park has more glaciers than Glacier NP! It is pretty wild, remote, has part of the Pacific Crest hiking trail, and many people who think this is where you can find Bigfoot.

Because of the location, and the beautiful but challenging to drive highway, we opted to drop the RV in a little town called Brewster, load up the car with our tent and gear to spend the night in a bit more primitive fashion, and head for Colonial Creek South Campground in the park. Here are some camping photos.

We almost had a hungry night, but quick thinking saved the day. We had planned to make things “simple”. (I know, right?!)

We brought some premade backpacking dinner and breakfast that we only had to add boiling water to. Packed everything up along with a couple of apples, bananas, and pretzels. Put it all in the bearproof container. Pack up a few big jugs of water. Bring a simple stove and propane, some paper plates, bowls, utensils…all good, right? Anyone figure out what is missing?

Boiling water is pretty simple. But not if you don’t bring anything to boil it in. Oops. Luckily we realized our mistake and were able to find a small general store that had an old fashioned percolator coffee pot for sale. Problem solved. No hungry campers.

The scenery in the north part of the park is spectacular. We loved our drive in the car, and were sure happy not to have tried it with the rv. Here are a few more shots from that park.

After our night sleeping in a tent and roughing it, we headed back to grab the camper from Brewster and take it to Chelan for our southern foray into North Cascades. The campground in Chelan is beautiful, but there is no way to adequately describe the two mile stretch of road leading to it. You’ll just have to get Glen to describe it for you, but be ready for a description full of adjectives and probably a few interjections.

There is a small town called Stehekin at the far end of a 50+ mile long lake called Lake Chelan. We had reservations to take a ferry to Stehekin and spend the day there.

There is a bakery, a historic schoolhouse, an old orchard, a magnificent waterfall, and many hiking trails. We chose to rent bikes when we got there and spent our day exploring. And sampling baked goods. We can recommend the danish and the raspberry twist.

As I write this, we are preparing to pack up and move to another new park. We head to Mount Rainier NP tomorrow and are excited for more adventures.

It may be awhile before we have good wifi and time to update you on the next two parks….but we will do our best. Hopefully everyone at home is happy and healthy. See you in a couple of weeks!