Fresh off our trip from the Midwest we had one mission: Get the boat to the boat yard for some maintenance.
We had originally budgeted 3 days of the boat being on the hard and out of the water. We were getting the boat's bottom painted, replacing a drain valve, and were going to have the mechanics inspect out propeller shaft seal (thing that goes around the hole that the prop shaft goes through.
While the prop shaft seal looked to be in good condition, the recommended lifespan of one is 6 years. Ours was put on before the previous owner had bought the boat, which leads us to believe it was over 10 years old. Time to replace! With an increase in scope of work, and the boatyard being very busy, the boat was stuck on land for an additional 10 days- We were not expecting that!
Going with the flow we extended our planned roadtrip!
Made it to the maintenance dock!
On the hard
Maya out of the water
Over the years we have been gathering things on our Washington Bucket List and now and with the extended bout of homelessness in the forecast, we hit the road to check those items off the list!
Roadtrip overview
Our main objective was to see Olympic National Park. It's a huge park with tons to offer (cell phone reception not being one of them). We started out on the north side and slowly and comfortably made our way around the different areas of the park.
While living out of the car isn't new to us, not having a schedule or plan for each day is COMPLETELY new to us. While we were working we always had "a plan" for the week or for vacations. Not this time. Everyday could be filled up with whatever we wanted to do!
Each day was spent not really knowing where we were going to camp for the night or what we were doing the next day. We would typically look for a hike or area we wanted to explore and then base our campground for the night on that. It was super fun experiencing the various campgrounds- each offering something different.
Some campgrounds were in the heart of the rainforest (Falls Creek Campground- Link here, where on an average year they get 12 feet of rain!), another was right on the beach (Kalaloch- amazing huge sandy beaches on the coast of Pacific Ocean).
Camplife was good- shopping for campsites, cooking over an open fire, drinking a healthy (or maybe not so healthy) dose of wine, and sleeping in a tent, all made for a great trip.
Here's a bunch of pictures from our time in Olympic National Park
Mora Campground in Olympic National Park
Home for a few weeks
Mora Campground- it was WET
Rialto Beach
Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach
World biggest Sitka Spruce
Massive Cedar Tree!
Third Beach
Ruby Beach
Beach at Kalaloch
Ruby Beach
Massive Cedar Tree
Hanging tree near Kalaloch Campground
Disco having fun at the beach
Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach
Ruby Beach
Someone made a cairne- thought it was cool
Ruby Beach
Camping at Kalaloch
Banana Slug!
Hiking Colonel Bob Trail- one tough SOB!
Quinalt Lodge on Lake Qinualt. We camped about a 5 minute walk away from this.
Taking in the sunset from Quinalt Lodge
Sunset over Lake Quinalt
Camping at Falls Creek
I think it was about day 6 when the Jeep started to act up. We were in Aberdeen and the jeep started chugging when we accerated and the check engine light was flashing and beeping.... not good.
We hit a couple of Oreilly's Autoparts store and after a few conversations with clerks, we determined it was a faulty spark plug. We limped to Seattle where Luke and Rachel graciously hosted us while we worked on the Jeep. Thankfully, one a couple of hours and one trip to the hardware store, and the faulty spark plug (and ignition coil) were replaced and the Jeep was humming again. Many thanks to Luke and Rachel for hosting!
With the Olympic National Park in the books, and the Jeep running well(ish) again, we set our sights on North Cascades National Park. Years ago, we stumbled upon Ross Lake (Link here) in North Cascades and were totally blown away by our experience, so we had to return!
Ross Lake is a reservoir on the Skagit River, which makes a 20 something mile long lake that sits below mountains covered in glaciers. Totally frickin' cool. Another thing that makes Ross Lake so cool is the fact that it's hard to get to.
To get there you need to:
1. Drive to the Diablo Lake (just below Ross Lake)
2. Hop on a ferry
3. Hop onto a truck after the ferry
4. Hop on another ferry to get you to the floating resort
5. Rent a boat and drive up lake to your campsite.
Gorge Lake Campground- Night before Ross Lake
Campsite was right on the water
And the camping was FREE!!!
Diablo Lake Overlook on Highway 20
Jenny is in this pic if you look close
Diablo Lake Overlook
Geared up for Ross Lake
Chess game waiting for the Ferry to the base of the dam that forms Ross Lake
Loading up
Once off the ferry you hop on a truck that takes you 600' up to Ross Lake
Ferry passengers- everyone is on vacation
Made it to Ross Lake Resort! We rent a small boat here to get to our campsite.
Totally worth the price of admission because we got to stay at Cat Island, which we both agreed was our favorite campsite of the entire trip.
We were not at Ross Lake to relax however. We had a mission to hike Desolation Peak which was a 10 mile 4000 feet elevation gain trail. And what a hike!
Top 10 hike for both of us- stunning views of surrounding mtns and the lake below. Some additional motivatation was provided by the fact that Jack Keroauc (author) stayed in the fire lookout for a summer and wrote about those experiences. So neat being at the place that inspired him.
Ross Lake was such a great way to end our time "on the road". 10 days and countless miles had flown by. So much fun getting back to living on the road and getting to see and experience everything that The Road had to offer.
Here's pics from our time on Ross Lake!
Leaving Ross Lake Resort
On our way to Cat Island
Quick stop to explore Devils Creek
In Devil's Creek
lol
Happy Hour chess game during the rainstorm
Rainy happy hour views at Cat Island- Primo camping!
Sunset at Cat Island
Looking up Devil's Creek
Waterfall across the lake from Cat Island
Our campsite at Cat Island
Sunset over Cat Island
View from camp at Cat Island- our neighbors kayaked in
So begins our hike on Desolation Peak
Fire lookout post at the peak
Cat Island- our home for 2 nights!
Initially, we the boatyard told us the boat wouldn't be fixed for an extra 7 days, we were a little shocked, but looking back it provided us a chance to mark off those Washington bucket list items and get back to living simple. Such a great trip that we will remember for a long time.
And now the boat is fixed and another adventure is abound! Stay tuned for our first time being liveaboard cruisers as we learn the ropes of this new lifestyle.
Thanks for reading- cheers.
Also a bit more for anyone interested on our boat repairs:
The valve we had replaced was on the galley sink discharge line. Our sink drains into the sea by a hose that goes through a hole in our boat below the waterline. On that hose there's a ball valve that allows us open/close it. While living aboard we have it open so we can use the sink and let water drain out. The problem was that ball valve was stuck open, which means the only thing that was keeping our boat from sinking was the line little hose and hose clamps. We survived the winter having that valve open, but couldn't allow it to remain that way any more.
Here's a pic of what old ball valve looks like.
