Dan, just so I'm clear- is this an overnight trip? If so, is the cooking for dinner the first night, or some other time in the trip? Also, I'll be leaving from Seattle; is the destination going to be close enough for me to get there leaving Saturday? Sorry if these questions were already answered somewhere else, I couldn't find it anywhere.

One thing that may not be readily obvious is that it's a big place- just circumnavigating it going from Bremerton to Seqim to Cape Flattery, down to Ocean City and then back to Bremerton would take close to ten hours just on blacktop. So, it can be wise to pick a section or two if you plan to go slow and investigate a lot of side roads. Hurricane Ridge is a must stop for a lot of folks, and with your rig you could add a side trip over to Obstruction Point with no trouble. I think Cape Flattery is well worth doing. Ruby Beach is awesome but can be crowded. There are other access areas like La Push to the beach along the shore, but they do typically require some drive time out and back. The Hoh rainforest is awesome, although being in a National Park is more hiking focused. Quinalt south of there is a nice drive up to the trailheads. If you get down south of the National Park beach areas towards places like Moclips you can drive right out on the beach and go up and down for miles, which is a cool experience. If you wind up down southeast near Shelton, check out the High Steel Bridge. If you're into Motorsports the Ridge Motorsports park is not too far from there has a cool go kart track (15 and up only). They have an Audi Club event this weekend so it would be free to drive in an look around. Further down that way toward Olympia is the abandoned Satsop Nuclear Power plant in Elma- you can't always get that close, but it's cool if you're into abandoned infrastructure. Also, if you do decide to do any more serious offroading check out Tahuya ORV park up closer to the south end of Hood Canal There are miles and miles of trails there; some tough and some easy, some four track and some single track. There are also lots of gravel roads in the National Park and National Forest- I've been down a bunch of them I can't event remember. Some go interesting places and some just peter out. Be sure to check for closure information for the Park: https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/index.htm . On food, some favorites for me have been Taylor Shelfish in Shelton, the restaurant at the Alderbrook Resort on Hood Canal, Mill 109 in Seabrook, the Europub in Poulsbo, The Ranch House BBQ closer to Olympia, and lots of little places in waterfront communities like Port Angeles, Port Townsend, and Ocean Shores. Have a great time!

Scott, thanks for a great trip- it was really well planned out and a lot of fun! Just a couple of thoughts from the experience below. I thought one of the big lessons from the trip was to always engage with the locals in the towns where you stop. Along route 250 we stopped at the Kelly Creek ranger station and the woman at the desk gave the kids airplanes and told us about the area. In Pierce we stopped and chatted with Bill in his Studebaker, and he wound up helping out when we had mechanical issues later. Similarly we stopped and talked to motorcyclers running the Magruder and they helped us check on lodging in Pierce later. The next day in Syringa we stopped for lunch and spent a long time chatting with the server about the area, and then it turned out Patty knew the cook from Stehekin of all places! Scott and the kids got a history lesson from the woman in the shop in Elk City that led us to exploring a local cemetery and helped us find a water hose at the fire station we could us to refill our supplies. At the Red River Hot Springs we ran into some folks running Magruder in a Jeep who called out some highlights for us, and pushed us to run Burnt Knob. And on the trail down from the pass we stopped and talked to a National Forest driver who was taking a truckload of mules up to the lookout, which was really neat. Towards the end of the Magruder we stopped at an old ranger station and learned about a wonderful youth wilderness program they run there every year. Near Darby we stopped to play frisbee and chatted with some fish and game staffers and learned about a great place to eat in town. All of these little interactions made the trip that much more engaging and special. National park truck hauling mules up Magruder Another lesson was having some variety of entertainment and making sure to come up with some special moments whatever the situation was. Scott did a great job of having stuff to do, from archery, to drones, to footballs and frisbees. And we found neat moments along the trip, some planned ahead and some not- fishing, hitting the hot springs, climbing a lookout tower, eating wild cherries on the roadside, performing fireside skits, firing up an old wood stove at warming station, or going swimming in the river. I would even put the few bits of tough technical driving we did in this category- the run up to Burnt Knob was a challenge that took a couple of hours to complete round trip, and really scratched that itch for me on this trip. I thought the pacing was set up well for this- we broke camp late and we made camp early, so we didn't usually feel rushed, which enabled these moments. Burnt Knob - the kids were clearly not interested in smiling for me. Lastly, I loved the food on this trip. The pace gave us time to cook some really good food on the trip. Scott made dutch oven bread and cooked potatoes overnight in the fire! I got a bit smarter this trip and made a bunch of components of food in advance, and was able to pull together chili, chicken and rice, and steaks, mostly over campfires. Campfire chili Thanks again Scott- we'll be back for Lolo! Moonrise on our last night.

Yeah, I'll have my trailer-hitched mounted winch. IIRC it's a Warn 12 ton winch, so it's pretty stout, just on the wrong end of the rig :)

I'm fine with just meeting in Coeur d'Alene at 9am as planned. I'll have 48,000 pounds of gear in my rig, so it's not like I want to drive 90 miles an hour. But I'm happy to do whatever folks want.

I already came back without it (I forgot to even consider grabbing it), but looking at this thread I think we should only need two- one for me and one for you; Scott should already have one. Unless I'm mis-reading I think it's only the three vehicles. But I'll bring the third just in case.

Sweet!

Just a quick update on radios- looks like I have three of the Baofengs in Bellevue I can bring. If we need more than that let me know and I can grab one more from Stehekin this weekend. Also, is anyone else bringing a chain saw? I have a small Stihl, but if someone else has something I’ll leave it and just bring the KatanaBoy.

@Scott Sattler Yeah, I've got four of those little Baofeng's so if anyone needs one I'll bring them along. We can just station announce on them from time to time to stay compliant.

Yeah, I was figuring I would get out there Friday as well and stay in a hotel. 9am Saturday is great for me.

Hey Scott, what time on the 13th are you thinking of meeting up in Cd'A?

Hey Scott, really looking forward to this one. I just wanted to give you a heads up that Patty and I will be traveling in one rig; she is registered separately but we will only be in one vehicle.

A bit of a late update, but at the end of the 2018 season I did make it through on Liberty Beehive road from Ellensburg to Wenatchee. The washout by Mission Peak was repaired, although it was by no means a cakewalk. It still has three pretty tricky spots where the road is pretty narrow and very steep or off camber. The loose rocks had my rig lurching towards the edge a couple of times, which was certainly concerning. I would do it again, but be prepared for a slow pace and careful spotting through that section. Of course, after the winter it will no doubt need to be scouted again.

Jesse, when I scouted down there last week from the Liberty side the washout was just short of the trail up Mission Peak. So, if you just want to get close enough to hike it you’re probably fine. If you’re on a motorcycle you’ll be able to get past the washout though.

Thanks for an awesome trip everyone! I published a trip report with my photos here: https://www.northwestoverland.com/join-the-discussion/trip-reports/ellensburg-to-highway-20-on-wabdr Please feel free to add your own photos or links to photos. Nicholas- it was great going to Ardenvoir, just a bit of pinstriping up 7415, as expected.

I went up this weekend and did a bit of scouting out ahead of the trip. I wound up hooking up with with some other folks on the trail so I was able to get a more scouting in than I was expecting to do solo. Here are some of things I learned. First off, I saw no snow on any of the roads I was on- hopefully that's the case for the whole route. Second, Section 3 is definitely still washed out at Mission Peak. There are actually a few different washouts, some of which are passable with effort, but one of which is really only suitable for single track (as Scott indicated). That means where FS35 hits FS9712 we'll take a left instead of a right and head over to Blewett Pass on FS9716. From there we can either just take 97 down to Cashmere to start Section 4, or we can go across 97 to FS7324 (Scotty Creek Road) and then join back up with 97 later. I went a little ways down this road and it looked fine, although the Forest Service still claims it is snow covered. It's just a bit of a bypass to avoid a section of 97, so it's not a major impact if we get down it and have to turn around and come back to 97, so I'd like to give it a shot. Third, FS7415, which is the beginning of Section 4 at the head of Nehahum Canyon is pretty rutted and pretty overgrown. Ruts looked to be 8-10 inches in spots, although I was able to stay out of the ruts nearly everywhere, and in most places the road was dry and firm around the ruts. There was a bit of mud, but assuming it doesn't rain much between now and next week it will be passable. Everyone should be prepared for the possibility of getting muddy if we have to do an extraction. In sections the underbrush is really overgrown, so expect moderate pinstriping. I didn't find this section of road enjoyable; I would love to find another certain way to get up to FS7400, but the Forest Service claims that Derby Canyon Road is gated at FS7400, which would have been my other choice. So, we'll just try and suffer through this little bit of trouble to get up to the good stuff. Fourth, it's still pretty cold in the mountains. I camped out near Mission Peak and saw 29 degrees over night. By mid afternoon temps up around 6000 feet were closer to 50, but it's still a good idea to come prepared to cold weather. Fifth, there is a good chance we'll see trees in the road. I had to backtrack from the washout on FS9712 and after with high wends overnight I quickly found my way blocked by a small tree that wasn't there the day before (see photo). Luckily it was nothing hard to shift, but a good reminder we may need to do some cutting and winching of timber. Given that we're going to do 97 down to Cashmere I am optimistic that means we'll be able to get up to FS7400 on Section 4 before we sleep for the first night. Then we'll have the choice Sunday of either setting a slow pace and setting up camp early after Ardenvoir, or pushing harder and then getting to Chelan Sunday, giving options on either continuing to Section 5 or calling it quits, depending on how folks are feeling. Sadly our moto contingent has dwindled to a single rider, who will be meeting us towards the end of Day 1. Looking forward to chatting with folks tomorrow on the prep call!

I've set up a conference call for 6:30PM on Monday, June 11th to discuss final planning. If anyone can't make that call we can either add another one or you can call or email me directly. Call information: 1. Click to join the meeting: https://chime.aws/3650607868 Meeting ID: 3650 60 7868 2. You can use your computer’s microphone and speakers, however, a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your phone: United States Toll-Free: +1 855-552-4463 Meeting PIN: 3650 60 7868 One-click Mobile Dial-in (United States (1)): +1 206-462-5569,,3650607868# United States (1): +1 206-462-5569 International: https://chime.aws/dialinnumbers/

Awesome, thanks Guy. It would be good to know if things are freeing up soon. I am going to be going over Blewett Pass this weekend and am hoping to see things looking less snowy.

John- sounds fine to me if you bring your dog. Nicholas- I think it'll be fine if you join- would love to have you. All- we'll do a quick conference call a week or two before the trip so we can coordinate on planning and make sure everyone is ready and has what they need. I'll put information here in a couple of weeks for the call.

Scott, I've got the alternative track now, thanks. It does give the option of more time on 97 over to Cashmere if we want to cut out the loop over towards Leavenworth, which is nice as an alternative. However, it looks like the Forest Service made repairs right after your trip: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD543593 Does that sound like the section you saw closed, or is that a different section?