Our travels from Port Angeles to Concrete Washington included taking a ferry ride from the peninsula. This was a cool experience and cheaper than I thought. Some locals on the ferry said that they have seen whales from time to time, but we did not have luck. We used the Port Townsend to Coupeville route. It was suggested to reserve your spot, which was a $10 fee online and then it was $21 when we got there. Pretty reasonable I thought. 

Ovenell’s Heritage Inn​-This was a really nice cabin in Concrete, Washington. It was very secluded. It had nice walking paths to the river and a view of Mt. Baker in the background. The cabin itself didn’t have a lot of amenities, but it worked just fine for what we where there to do. Fresh towels and replenished soaps and coffee were brought to us daily. The only downfall is the distance from the national park. In the picture above you can see one of the cabins, how remote it is, and Mt. Baker in the background. 

Thunder Knob
This was a really cool hike if you like hiking. If you are just going for a great view of Diablo Lake, skip it and just go to the overlook. Much better view at the overlook then at the top of Thunder Knob. We enjoyed the trail with the winding trail through the woods, a neat little stream crossing, and definitely a steady incline to the top.

Diablo Lake Overlook​-The Diablo Lake overlook is a must stop. This was the best view and you don’t have to work for it!

Trail of the Cedars and Gorge Powerhouse-Short little trails with cool suspension bridges in Newhalem. 

Maple Pass was so beautiful, even though we didn't get to do the entire loop due to too much snow on the top. We went as far as we could before it got really steep. I would love to do this hike after the snow melt to see all the wild flowers. Lake Ann is breathtaking with the mountains in the backdrop.

Rainy Lake-very easy, flat 2 mile hike that is paved. This trail veered off of the Maple Pass trail so we just combined it. It brings you to this beautiful lake with waterfalls all around it. This lake reminded us all of Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park. 

Ross Lake Dam-This hike was straight down for the first half and then straight back up, about 3 miles total. You could get to the dam and walk all the way across the top. Ross Lake resort is across the lake also. It would be amazing to stay there, you definitely need to reserve earlier than we looked. You have to hike to this resort and take a boat ferry across, would be a fun experience. 

Cascadia Rafting-This was a great experience. We had a blast rafting down the Skagit River. Pretty views and some fun rapids made for a memorable experience. This was mostly class 1 and 2 rapids and a really fun class 3 section. Definitely a great starter rafting trip or if you just want to see the North Cascades from a different vantage point. Nick was our guide and he was really knowledgable about the area and keeping us safe on the raft. He allowed for us to jump into the cold river if you wanted. Not a ton of pictures, I only took my camera out when we were in the "lazy river" section. 

Our next stop was this cool lake house right on Lake Sutherland. The water was very cold, but that didn't stop us from jumping in! Gorgeous sunsets and a great location for the next leg of our trip.

Mount Storm King-This hike definitely made our top 10 list of coolest hikes. This hike was over 2000 feet elevation gain and a steep incline the entire way. It finished with a scramble to the top and a rope to help get yourself up to the summit. Only 2 of the 4 of us did the final leg of the hike. Thankfully the boys took lots of pictures. My fear of heights would not have allowed me to complete this last leg of the hike. 

Marymere Falls-A short hike with a bit of stairs at the end, leads to this beutiful waterfall. We added this on our Mount Storm King hike since it is on the same trailhead.

Hurricane Ridge-This hike was a paved path and steady incline all the way. It was pretty cloudy for us on top, but a clear day would be spectacular. We saw a black bear in the valley on our hike and then we saw another black bear much closer when leaving the parking lot. The wild flowers were just starting to pop too!

Sol Duc Falls-Short easy hike, about 2 miles. This hike was our wettest of all. It was raining pretty hard so the trail was muddy. 

Salmon Cascades-Short stop to a view point of the salmon cascades. No salmon today, but I'm sure it would be cool to see in the fall when the salmon swim upstream!

Devil's Punchbowl-Easy 3 mile hike to this perfect spot to jump in! We did not partake today, due to not being able to check into or next rental spot for a few more hours so we were not prepared to take the cold plunge. We did get to see some people jumping in off the bridge into Devils Punchbowl, it looked really cold. I bet this is a popular spot when the temperatures start rising. Travis is also pointing to the top of Mount Storm King, which we hiked the day before. At least this is where he thinks it was! The tunnel was fun to walk through as well. This path is part of a bicycle trail that goes around Lake La Crescent. Nice trail to check out if you have your bicycles. 

Forks is a small little town known for vampires, Bigfoot, and rain. It is one of the rainiest towns in the US. The vampire popularity is because the fictional Twilight book/movie series was based in the town of Forks. For the big Twilight fans there is even a museum with movie props in town, we skipped that so no reviews here, haha! Although vampires are not up our alley, Mia did enjoy the Bigfoot swag in town. Apparently this area has a lot of claimed sightings. 

Olympic National Park is our next stop on our Washington tour. This park is huge so we split it up into two locations. First stop is Forks, WA. We stayed in a rental very close to the elk conservancy, great location and amenities. At this stop we were able to see some ginormous trees, mossy rainforest, and explored multiple beaches at low tide and a cool sunset!

Worlds Largest Spruce Tree-right on Lake Quinault is this quick stop. 

Hoh Rainforest-There was a little wait (maybe 15 minutes) to get into this entrance because the parking lot is so small. Definitely worth the wait to walk the the Spruce Nature Trail and the Hall of Mosses Trail. Very cool to walk among the giant mossy trees. 

Ruby Beach-We had great luck tide pooling here, low tide is a must. Sea stars were everywhere around the rocks by the big island. Got lucky that low tide just happened to be around 1 pm this day, which was the time we were driving through the area.

La Push-great spot for sunset

Rialto Beach Hole-in-the-Wall-This is about a 3 mile hike on the rocky/sandy beach. Definitely a must to go at low tide. We arranged our day around low tide to make this hike. This was one of the busiest spots on our trip due to the fact that everyone has to go at low tide. 

Our family trip this summer was a little different than in the past. We usually travel via truck and 5th wheel camper, however, the Pacific Northwest was a little past our range in the time frame we had to travel. 

Our first stop along our PNW tour, is Mount Rainier! Wow was she showing off for us. We were a little nervous with weather, not knowing how much snow was still left on the mountain. I decided to make room for our microspikes, just in case. It paid off! 

The Paradise entrance was the only entrance open June 11-13 while we were there. The road to the Sunrise entrance was not open yet due to snow. You also need a timed entry for this park and make sure to purchase the correct entrance. The drive up to the Paradise Visitor Center was beautiful and you could see gorgeous views of Mount Rainier and surrounding mountains the whole way. Like I said, we really lucked out with the weather and views.

This is the view point at Reflection Lake. As you can see the lake is still partially iced over. Still got a little reflection today! 

Perfect day to get some great shots of Rainier on our way up to the visitor center.

This was definitely one of our top 10 hikes! We wore micro spikes which helped a ton. This was not easy, with 1,115 feet of elevation gain. The mileage was only 3 miles total, but that elevation gain in snow was no joke. 

We did not get to finish this hike all the way due to melting snow. Rangers were stopping people at Glacier Vista because of the dangerous conditions up to panorama point. Although, we didn't get to complete the entire hike...it was still in our top 10 for difficulty and gorgeous views.

Narada Falls-quick stop and short walk

Trail of the Shadows and the Longmire Museum-easy little walk to see some really big trees

We stayed in a mountain view cabin in Packwood. It was a great location and very cozy. We had elk right out our window in the morning.