Memorial Day Weekend 2014 Part 1

With the sun out, the temperatures up, and a three day weekend we decided it was the perfect time to stay home and work on the yard jump in the Green Monster and go exploring! With only a basic starting point in mind, but no real destination, it was one of the most relaxing weekends in a long time.

Make the jump to see pics and read about the first day of the long weekend.



We decided to head east from our home towards Ellensburg, WA to check out the condition of the WABDR (Washington Backcountry Discovery Route) in hopes that we could drive part of it. So once we got to Ellensburg, we headed north up into the hills.

One thing that is very prevelent during this time of year is wildflowers. Every chance Emma has to get out of the Jeep, she goes out exploring. It's not hard to capture pictures of her taking a break surrounded by color.

Looking South from where Emma found her flowers this is what we saw! Color everywhere. Sheets of yellow, purple, and red.

As we gained elevation the terrain became more rugged. It was not uncommon to see canyons and cliffs along the way.

A few years ago the forest in the Table Mountain was devastated by wild fire. Thousands of acres of trees burned. Driving through here is a bit strange as it is not the normal green you would expect in a forest. Instead there are thousands of burned match sticks sticking out of the ground. Green is slowly coming back to this area, but it will be many decades before it fully recovers.

It wasn't long before we had gone as far as we could go. In addition to the closure signs ahead, the snow was melting. It was really 18 inches of slush that had softened the road below making another foot of mud underneath. Even if we had tires and lift good enough to drive through it, we would have done damage to the environment.

Emma didn't mind though. As soon as she was told it was OK, she was off and running through the fields... 

And running through the snow...

And running through the mud... One happy puppy!

It took some arm twisting, but Emma eventually convinced us that we needed to take a hike. We headed up towards Table Mountain. In all we hiked about two miles further, but as we went on it became so wet and muddy it became hard to walk. So we headed back the other direction.

We headed down a different route than we came up. We found a spot to have some lunch. This is the type of gear we carry with us weather we are camping or not. Even on a day trip we are prepared. While Jesse cooked up a can of chili, Debbie took more pictures, then we kicked back and enjoyed the view.

Not a bad view during lunch. Kicking back in the camp chairs enjoying chili and chips then having a cup of coffee before heading down the hill.

Still having plenty of daylight left we decided to head towards Yakima, WA where we got on Highway 410 for the trip home over Chinook Pass.

Chinook Pass is only open about 8 months out of the year. It is snowed in the rest of the time. It closes during winter because of avalanches and becomes to dangerous to travel. But with that danger comes some of the most spectacular scenery Washington has to offer.

Snow here never really goes away. We have driven through here in September and still find snow. The difference is that the snow is only three feet deep in summer instead of fifteen.

The pass had just opened a week before. There wasn't much of an announcement and WSDOT was still doing road repair.

As a result, we were one of the few people out there willing to brave the trip. It has to be said this road is much more fun when you are alone on it. It lets you get away with things like having a snowball fight in the middle of a highway.

Tipsoo Lake isn't so much a lake as it is an empty field of snow. Unless you knew there was a lake here, you wouldn't be able to tell otherwise. After enjoying the view and the solitude for a bit, we headed down the west side of the pass towards home for the day.

Mt Rainier is known as "The Mountain" to those of us from Seattle. When it is a sunny day around here they don't say "The sun is out." they say "The Mountain is out." This view is one of our favorites found along highway 410. Every time we drive this way, we stop at this point to take a picture.

This brings us to a close on Part 1.
Please visit our onedrive folder for the rest of the pics of the day.