Every year my daughters and I take a week long trip to spend some quality time together. This is something we look forward to and we plan together. This year we decided to take on part of the Northwest Passage Trail (NWP). This summer we also invited a friend of mine and his daughter who is friends with our family. Day 1: Ice Cream & Ghost Towns! We left Bellingham, Wa on a Saturday to kick off our adventure and headed over the mountains on Hwy. 20 and what would be a long day of travel. We stopped near the top for a little leg stretch and a quick photo. After legs were stretched and the kids shared some stories, we continued on. A quick stop in Winthrop is always a must for some ice cream and a bathroom break. From here we had a long stretch of road until we stopped in Oroville for fuel before leaving civilization. The next area is one of my favorite in Washington. Molson! Open pastures, forests, lakes, streams, and gives me a "I could live here" vibe. There are great views on the way to Molson and when you arrive there is the Old Town portion that you can check out. The buildings are open and there is a lot of old equipment to walk around and look at. After leaving Molson, the next destination was our first nights campsite, Lost Lake Campground. Very nice and quiet campground. Staff lives onsite and is very friendly. They even have free wood for you to use for your campfire. Day 2: Lakes, Ghost Towns, & History! We left camp late morning and being from this area I knew of a couple of small lakes to check out and a ghost town to get us started. We first went to Beaver & Beth Lake before making our way to the old town of Bodie. Bodie is not preserved like Molson and I am sure it will disappear at some point. It sits along side the road and the forest has begun to reclaim parts of it. From Bodie we made our way north to the US/Canadian Border. Along the way we stopped at a little unknown spot for some history. The gravesite of Ranald MacDonald. He also has a monument in Astoria, Oregon to indicate his birthplace and another in Nagasaki, Japan. We also came across this hill top that does not have a name on a map, but asking some family of mine that have lived in the area for generations, that is natural and not man made. We spent most of the day in the mountains. Lots of views, not another soul on the route. We spent the night at Boundary Dam Campground. This is a PSE site and is free to camp. There was boat launch, group areas, camper hookups, and bathrooms. Very clean campground right on the lake. Day 3: Dams, Historical Military Base, and more Lake Camping. (we left the standard NWP route) We started the day out and decided to stop at this little dam called Box Canyon Dam. Some neat info was available at the overlook about the history of it and of the area. Our next stop was this abandon military listening site. This was one of the kids' favorite spots on the trip. They like the graffiti art and also thought it was cool that this location was a stationed military site long ago. We spent a lot of time here and didnt cover much ground on this day. We had to detour from our planned route due to COVID and ended up just outside Republic, Wa at Swan Lake. Huckleberries were ripe and the smores were delicious. Day 4: Play Day (needed a day to relax and get some play time in) Lake Roosevelt. This was our hangout and campsite. Got a lot of swimming in and some sun burns to go with it. I was surprised at how high the lake was. There were very few boats on the lake and we had the beach area to ourselves. Now this spot was also down a very long washboard road, so that may have contributed to the solitude. Last Day: Energy! We visited Grand Coulee Dam and the windfarms outside of Ellensburg. All in all, it was a great trip with lots of memories made. We learned a little history along the way and I was able to share some of my childhood spots that my dad took me to when I was their age. Third year of doing this and looking forward to next year. ***note*** Our route was approximately 1000 miles (2/3 pavement and 1/3 dirt). Previous years have been more dirt than pavement and even though it was pavement, it was a nice change of pace. We covered a lot of territory and were able to see a lot of different parts of the state. Please check out www.pnwadvscout.com for additional trips and photos.

Spent the weekend in Central Wa this past weekend in the Douglas Creek area. Great area to check out if you have never been. Trails are tame (watch out for the sage brush) with lots of wide open areas to explore and water crossings. The main canyon seems to be where the crowds are at so if you want prime camp sites, it may be best to get there before the weekend starts (not sure that would guarantee a main canyon water location). Arrived late on Saturday after taking Hwy 20 from Whatcom County and spent a couple hours in Winthrop. It was mostly open with food and ice cream to be had (public restrooms were open as well). We entered on the south end and found that all of the prime spots seemed to be taken, however we were headed out to a different area anyway. After following our trail for a couple of hours and it was getting close to dark, we arrived at a canyon to find that we might make it down to the bottom to probably not be able to make it out. So we set up camp in the open with a view overlooking the fields. There was a mild breeze so we decided a camp fire probably was not the best idea. This spot ended up being great with views of the terrain and absolutely nobody around. We had miles to ourselves. Waking up on Sunday, we skipped breakfast to get a jump on the trail and try to find ourselves a canyon spot with water. The next spot we had scoped out ended up being way to overgrown with brush to get into and we did not bring our brush clearing gear (oh well, maybe next time). After turning around and getting some lunch we headed back into the main canyon and as we were headed out we found one of those prime looking water spots open. Snagged the location and enjoyed the hours of relaxation and hanging out with good company. We headed home on Monday over Hwy 2 through Leavenworth and stopped for some sausage and beer. The town is open and are doing their best to accommodate the social distancing. Orders were to go and beer was served in Mason jars. The main street was blocked off to traffic and was set up with tables for people. The trip was a much needed getaway. This is an area I will for sure spend some more time in again in the future! Please check out www.pnwadvscout.com for additional trips and photos.

Well the time had come to part ways with my Mitsubishi Evo and Toyota FJ. I was ready to move on from both vehicles but wanted to replace them with something from both worlds....... This is what I ended up with. A Gen 2 Ford Raptor. I will slowly be adding equipment to make this a self sustaining weekend warrior (that's typically all the free time I get). You can see more build info, trips, and photos at www.pnwadvscout.com.

A buddy and I have been wanting to get up this trail and decided to make the drive from Bellingham to check it out. We had a great time. The lower trail before it crosses the road was completely open but we got to impassible snow around 4600 feet. We will be back later this year to complete this trip. For more trip info and photos check out www.pnwadvscout.com.

Just picked up a rig to get me deeper into the woods and get me to some trail heads that I have not been able to get to before. I spend a fair amount of my summer in the backcountry doing some backpacking and exploring. Looking forward to maybe getting in a trail ride a year as well. Picture of the FJ I just picked up and have a bunch of new stuff on the way to complete it the way I would like it. Follow my adventures and builds at www.pnwadvscout.com.