We left the National Park via Longmine and Krauz Creek and continued following the Nisqually River via road 706. The scenery is so beautiful along the road that it’s hard to describe. Via Elbe, Yelm and Rainier we drove through are 4th capital of the world: this time it’s Aberdeen, the lumbar capital of the world😊. A world capital without any soul, but it was the entrance to a magnificent National Park, the Olympic National Park or the rainforest of the Northwest Pacific! The park is like a real fairytale, we were expecting all the time for the trolls and elves to come out. For us it was also a special moment as we crossed the entire continent from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast after a journey of 23000km. We camped in the park, at the border of the ocean enjoying a campfire and the beauty of the coastline.
The entire night it rained (why do we otherwise call it rainforest?) until we left, but we didn’t care as it’s part of the deal. We drove to the Hoh Rain Forest and did a hike of the ‘moss trail’. Via Forks and Lake Pleasant, we drove via a primitive road to the Hurricane Ridge. After the park entrance, we had a vision of 2 meters thanks to the low clouds, especially the tunnels were a strange experience. The higher we went, the better the visibility, but unfortunately not good enough to have an overview on the surrounding snowy mountains. We decided to drive direction sun and ended up in the Dungeness County Park, again at the Pacific Ocean, where we had a beautiful sunset with a view on the Victoria Islands. On Thursday, we still drove along the Olympic National Park, but turned to the North direction Port Townsend, where we took the ferry to the Whidbey Islands. We had the impression being in another country. The nature and houses were different than we were used to in Washington. We drove via the Deception Pass, which was very busy, and started the North Cascade Loop. We were a bit disappointed of the loop, but people told us it would become better up North. After a night in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, we continued the Cascade Loop via the Stevens Pass. It’s amazing to see that we were only at 4104ft and were up in the cold and the snow 😊. Leaving the pass, we realized we had forgotten our ‘lederhosen’ as we suddenly entered a perfect copy of a Bavarian village, Leavensworth. Even Mc Donalds was in the Bavarian style, but the restaurant menus remained typical America, meaning without ‘sauerkraut & wienerschnitzel’. After this surprise, we entered the sunny and fertile part of Washington again with miles and miles of fruit orchards which were almost present until Twisp. After a short visit to again a somewhat strange artificial visit, Winthrop, we decided to stay at the KOA campsite as the sky was covered with dark rainclouds. Luckily we remained dry and were even fortunate to receive a nice plate of appetizers from a group of Canadian friends. On Saturday we did the last part of the North Cascade loop via Washington Pass and entered the North Cascade National Park. As we were told, this was indeed worth doing. We had a fantastic view on the lakes and surrounding mountains. Finding a campspot on a Saturday late afternoon was hard until we arrive at the Beachwood private campsite where the manager Kelly, also a GS rider, showed again an example of the American hospitality and offered to stay for free at his site for one night. While we were waiting, David noticed some grease on the rear rim. Kelly sent us in the direction of the nearest BMW motorrad dealer, only 20 minutes from the campground. We didn’t hesitate and went immediately. The mechanic of BMW motorcycles Ferndale took a quick look and confirmed our suspicion that the cause of the leak is the wheel bearing. They ordered all parts needed for the repair and reparation is planned for the middle of next week. We were lucky with the team service! Returning to the campsite, we met again Kelly, explained him the outcome and he immediately offered us to stay as long as needed at the Beachwood campsite. We really appreciate his hospitality and feel lucky! In the late evening, he surprised us with a visit with his friend Steven and a nice bottle of red wine and a long nice chat. It was just a great evening! Today we took a lazy day, called some friends and family, updated the blog and we will go for a walk to the beach.
