Updated Trip Plan

[jakeWI]

May 29 2009:

Woke up around around 5 am PST. Sat and watched the river from our campsite. Then headed out for the 225 mile journey to Olympic National Park, WA. The drives are starting to feel shorter!

We finally reached the Kaladosh(?spelling haha) Campground at Olympic National Park around 10am. Set up camp and visited the general store and ranger station.

This place is unbelievable. It is so beautiful and diverse. Our campsite overlooks the Pacific Ocean. It is moist and full of lush greens. Im afraid for whoever reads this that the pictures wont do it justice. We took a hike on the beach for a few mile round trip. It was the beach trail. We found some cliff caves, crabs, sand dollars, other ocean life hanging onto the rocks, including star fish and a dead stingray. There are a ton of huge trees that drifted onto the beach. We got back and ate dinner, relaxed by the fire and went to sleep. Tomorrow we are heading up to the Hoh area to check out the rain forest!








I dont know what this was



May 30 2009:

Today I woke up cold! I rolled off of the sleeping pad. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was out and no clouds. We headed out for the Hoh Rain Forest. On the way we stopped at the famous Ruby Beach. Very beautiful.




We reached Hoh's visitor center around 8 am PST. Geared up and headed in. We hiked the Trail of Mosses which was 1 mile. Then we hiked the Spruce Nature Trail which was 1.25 miles. We went back to the car for some lunch then headed back out for the Hoh River trail which we ended up hiking about 5-6 miles of that. We were real worn about by the end of it all.

The forest was very beautiful. Very hard to describe with words of pictures. While there, we encountered a huge banana slug and found cougar and elk prints all over the place. Olympic National Park is supposed to have the largest remaining herd of Roosevelt Elk in the country.

After we got back we ate diner and walked the beach. While on the beach a bald eagle landed on the beach 50 yards from us. It was huge. Definitely a cool site to see.

Now we are going to sit by the fire to relax before the huge trek to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

[jakeWI]

May 31 2009:

Today we left Olympic National Park around 8 am. We were heading to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Driving was slow in Washington and Oregon. And again we hit unexpected desert in central Oregon. I hate the desert.

Once we got to Idaho the speed limits were much better. Passed through Mountain Home, Carl! Looks like a nice area.

I drove for way to long, about 14 hours and finally called it quits in Twin Falls, ID. It was to late to pinch a tent so we said screw it and paid for a $50 Super 8 room. Finally a shower though. It was the first shower in like a week! Haha, especially after all the hiking.


June 1 2009:

Took another shower! It was great. Got some continental breakfast and headed out. We were taking it slow today because there weren't many miles to go. Made a few random stops, including an Army Surplus near Idaho Falls where we picked up a sweet desert cooler for cheap! Can't wait to try it.

It started to slowly rain on and off. Jackson Hole, Wyoming looked beautiful as we passed through. Drove up through Grand Teton National Park. We didn't camp because the prices were very high, so we figured we would camp at Yellowstone and drive back down to hike. Grand Teton National Park is very beautiful. We finally arrived at Bridge Bay campground at the Eastern side of Yellowstone.

We tried making a good fire but it was damp. Then went to bed. We did get to see a grizzly bear about 5 ft. from the car which was cool. She has a picture somewhere. I'll have to find it.






June 2 2009:

Well our tent decided to leak like a P.O.S from the rain we got last night! That was a nice thing to wake up to.

With the rain on and off we decided to do the lower loop of Yellowstone and make the best of it. We didn't let any rain ruin our fun. Saw all the little attractions of the loop including Old Faithful. Still a lot of snow haha! It is beautiful though.

We also bought another tarp to cover the tent so hopefully that will help at least a little. We will see. We did see some buffalo and elk today including a nice bull.

[jakeWI]

June 3 2009:

It is still on and off rain. The tarp did help a little but that rain is coming in through the seems. We are going to do the upper loop today including Mammoth Hot Springs and Artist Point.

We headed to Artist Point first. It is an amazing falls. She was having a blast because she loves waterfalls. Then we headed over to the Mammoth Hot Springs area. Did all the hiking around there. Saw the hotel and the ranger barracks up there. On the way back we saw a black bear and some mountain goats. We decided to venture back down to Old Faithful because the sun was out and in hopes to get better photos. We also visited the Old Faithful Inn and learned some history of the park, including that it used to be an old army base back in to 1800's.

We are thinking of packing up and heading to Deadwood, SD early because it has been raining the whole time and it is supposed to rain for the rest of our planned stay including snow for friday.















June 4 2009:

We packed up early and headed out. On our way out the East Entrance we saw our first moose. It was awesome. Then about 20-30 miles we saw our first big horn sheep which was great! We made it to Deadwood and checked into the Super 8. We are going to take it easy and relax. We showered and headed out for diner and the town. Saw an old western gun fight and enjoyed our time. I love the Black Hills area. I also won $45 on the slots.

P.S I hate slots but its their main thing there.

June 5 2009:

We decided we were going to head over to Mount Rushmore today. So instead of 120 mile round trip we just got another hotel room up that was in Keystone, SD. Keystone was another cool area. Rushmore was cool to see again. Then we played mini golf and I let here drag me around to all the shops haha. Went back to the hotel room and relaxed. Then went back to Mt. Rushmore to see it at night.



June 6 2009:

Today is the long 890 mile drive home. I was letting her make stops because the drives are starting to kill her. We stopped at a Scheels which is a cool sportsmen/ camp store place, then we made it over to Wall Drug. Neither of us have been there so we stopped in. That is a crazy little place with a ton in it. We continued on our way and hit some more rain. We arrived home late that night. But finally home.




All in all, the trip was well deserved and needed. It was a great experience for the both of us. We saw a ton of wildlife. I took her to the ocean for the first time. It was shorter then we planned but not much we can do because of the weather so we did make the best of it. We are already starting to brain storm next years trip which might be back out this way for some back country hikes and primitive camping. Who knows.

I will try and get some of her pics and post them later as well.

[REWSTER]

Those trees are huge



very nice pics looks like a good time, the drive was proably getting to you cause you were cramped up in a little cavalier, i could only imagine it was packed with all the camping stuff and food for that long of a trip

[jakeWI]

yeah. we ended up doing about 5300 miles in about two weeks

[89eliminator]

sweet. looks like you guys had some fun. i love the beach logs sign haha

[sethjeepwj]

Nice.... Someday

[jakeWI]

yeah it was a good time. i have the other parks on the previous page as well.

[jakeWI]

here are some pics of the wildlife my girlfriend took:

[Carl]

Wished you could have stopped in to little Mtn. Home, but I understand. Thats a TON of driving in a little period of time.

Loving the pictures BTW, I need to get up to Yellowstone sometime. Looks like it was a great trip.

[OverlandXJ]

Love the pics, great write up Jake. This is a trip you'll always remember. So whats the next one?!!

Most people dont take the time to check out the backside of Mt Rushmore... sad.

[jakeWI]

haha nice picture overland. thanks guys.
we are thinking of two different trips for next time. either a southwest trip for Colorado, Utah and AZ. Or we might do a northeast trip for some camping and maybe to check out Niagara falls. But who knows.