A little road trip

So I am bored, I have decided to take a bit of a break from the daily work routine of a contractor and head around the country, all the way around for around 2-3 months.


Our background:


I’m a 30 year old white enough guy and an avid camper/backpacker. Been out in the woods for quite a while all over the west coast so I’m a little prepared for anything in a way.


I’ll be traveling with my girlfriends brother who is an ex military 29 year old. He’s also into camping and fishing as well as hunting.


We have a dog with us who is a blue healer cattle dog mix. Great dog.


The plan:


I am currently in the SF Bay Area and plan to head north. I have been through most of California and Oregon and parts of Washington but the coast is amazing out there so I’m taking my time up that way. I have no plan of route exactly other than just a day by day for the moment just fishing and relaxing. After that we are headed to the border and straight east.


The truck:


I’ll be driving my ‘basic bitch Tacoma’ as my girlfriend calls it(2wd with shell, slight lift, and k-bro2s). I’ll be pulling my 13’ Scamp fiberglass camping trailer(1200# wet).


Questions/suggestions:



At the moment I have a few things to get ready so if anyone has suggestions I am all ears. Things I have to get ready:


Spare battery: going inside the camping trailer so I was thinking a group 27 agm battery just in case I need to swap it to the truck. Trailer is wired to be charged while in tow.


Would I need a charge controller? Solar panel a good idea? I have all LED lights in the trailer and no fridge so I figured the trailer battery will be ok for that.



Tow controller: I’ll take advice on this. The trailer has brakes that are brand new, like not even hooked up new. Will be testing everything out as soon as wiring is completed.


Route to go: We are hoping to stay near National forests or rivers along the majority of the trip because ...free....so if anyone has suggestions we are very open to them.


I will be posting the adventure here as we go but most likely a day or two later because of laziness and lack of internet.

 

Hey bro, this sounds like the trips me and my old lady take. Just basic tools, check all tires and have them balanced and rotated and double check your spare if you don't keep it rotation. I look forward to following your progress.
Cheers Bro.

 

Thanks man. Yes trying to stay as basic as possible but enjoy it. I am not necessarily budget driven on this, I just want to try and enjoy the more natural state of the country( lakes and rivers) instead of the rural parts like Disney land and junk.

 

Solar is a nice perk but it doesn’t sound like you have much electrical demand. But, I’d seriously consider a 12v fridge. You can find them nowadays for ~$350 or so on Amazon.

Tire plug kit, including vice grips for pulling nails/screws etc., and even a cheap compressor.

Check out the Palouse region in Idaho. It should be incredible this time of year.

 

Finally got to camp site with service to post this.


Day/Night 1.


The day before my travel buddy had a last minute family emergency so he had to bail. He said I should just go ahead without him and he will meet up with me later. This lead me to bail on bringing the trailer and to just take the truck.


Started the journey with a 6 hour drive yesterday. I drove up the 101 for the majority of the trip. There are some really amazing things to see all up and down the roads here but I have been through here a million times so I didn’t bother stoping for this trip.


I made it up to the Klamath river about an hour or so shy of the Oregon border. I stopped here because I wanted to try salmon fishing while I was still in CA and had a valid fishing license. Alas I had no luck with the fish on this river. I hooked a steelhead off the dock but it fell off right before I was able to get it up onto the dock. A boat is needed for this place, I brought along an inflatable kayak but it was very cumbersome with a bigger fishing pole and paddle on that thing.

$26 per night at this place seemed a bit steep since I was just tent camping.


Chicken tenders for lunch from Safeway and sandwich for dinner.



Day/night 2.


Started off towards the border to try and find a decent spot to fish along the smith river for one more chance at some fishing before the next state. No luck on this one due to the river being blocked off by so much private property. I drove around quite a way to try and get close to the mouth of the river but it was a no go.


Decided to say F-it and head north. Drive into crescent city to get some gas and a few pointers on a good camp site. I stopped at the farmers market in town to grab some veggies for dinner and a bit of food for the road.


The guy at the gas station had no clue about camping but the guy at the register behind me said to head towards big flat. As I started going that way I saw the river getting smaller and smaller but I didn’t care. I just needed a nice spot for the night. Stopped at the big flat camp ground. Really nice spot. Just up the hill from the creek if you get the closer spots. Only me and one other couple on the campsite. $8 per night wasn’t bad.


Bbq chicken from famers market for lunch and a burger for dinner.



Day/night 3


Started my day with a quick dip in the creek to wake up. Very refreshing at 6 am. Continued driving back towards the 101 towards gold beach. Made a few stops along the way to just stare at the ocean and let the dog out for a run.


As I drove into gold beach I went straight to a food truck that had Thai food. These things are some of the best things in Oregon. This one was a bit sweet but had a good amount of spice to it. Get very very spicy. Don’t be scared.


Drove to the bait shop down the street for a fishing license and some pointers. The guy inside said the fish haven’t started coming in yet. Drove across the bridge to a jetty to watch the guys fish as I finished up lunch. Didn’t see anyone catch anything in the 30 minutes I sat there. So many boats. No fish.


Decided to drive up to the camp site for the night which was the lobster creek campground. I figured this would be a nice spot since there were lots of people out fishing along the shores. As I joined them and talked to people I soon learned that no one was catching sh...fish...I tried anyway but nothing. $15 for a campsite with a locked bathroom and no shower seemed a bit crappy honestly.


Thai food for lunch and super spicy ramen for dinner.


Day/night 4.


Tried to fish in the morning again near camp but nothing so headed back towards gold beach to try my luck there. Ran into two guys leaving for the morning(it was 9am) who said that they didn’t have any luck. I tried until around 1 pm when I got hungry and went to a different food truck to get a pastrami sandwich. Went back again to the San spot to fish but nothing again. This trip is all bad fishing news so far. F@&K!!!


Decided to go look for a new camp site for the night. Drove into the rogue river National Forest a bit and found a really nice spot to camp for the night. No signs that it was private or anything. Maybe a locals spot. A bit dirty so who ever was here left garbage everywhere. I picked up some of the bigger stuff and set up my tent anyway. I tried fishing a bit even though the river was very fast in the spot that I could reach but nothing once again. Maybe the fish don’t like me.


Pastrami sandwich for lunch and Mac and cheese for dinner like a grown up. There was a fire restriction so even camping stoves weren’t allowed. So I magically made food without my stove. Free.99 camp site. Really really nice spot.


Day/night 5


Started the day with a tour through gold beach for some food. Talked to a few fisherman that weren’t having luck with the fish. Not much on on the boats or from the shore by the sounds of it. Decided to head north towards the campground early. Stopped at a few beaches along the way to let the dog out to run around free.


Tried to go camp at Rock creek campground but it was closed for some reason. So the next place was back at Washburne state park. The camp site was really really nice. I paid for my site and walked over to it and all of a sudden there was about 6 other people looking for sites.


The campsite was all booked for the nigh t right away. The beach across the park was super nice. Once again took the dog out for a bit of a walk. Starts to rain and we head back to camp. Rained all night. So many mushrooms. I don’t have the confidence to say yes to mushrooms even though I was confident I found come chanterelles but didn’t want to chance it.


$18 for the night. sandwich for lunch and bbq burgers for dinner


Day/night 6


Started off early because the rain woke me up. Drove north further along the 101. Amazingly nice scenery. Not enough time to stop for everything. Stopped at beaches and overlooks to take breaks. Decided to go take a look at Hebo lake for camping. Looked ok for a small lake. Very very small. Maybe 20 minutes to walk around the whole thing. No disbursed camping allowed according to camp host so had to pay for a site.


$18 for a night. The vault toilet made it seem a bit like a rip off for the site.

Found a Taco Bell along the way for lunch and made tacos for dinner in the back of the truck. Yay rain!! All night rain is awesome! Not.


Day/night 7.


More driving. Just north once again. Stopped in Tillamook for the amazing smell of cow poo. I thought Bakersfield was bad with that smell. Holy crap. It is a really nice town but the smell killed me. Bought some beer at the brewery and some groceries and food for lunch.


Drove up to Astoria to take a look around, nothing crazy or too memorable. Drove to camp site at Gnat creek. Decided to drive up the road a ways to find a site instead of paying $20 for the night.


Walked around Gnat creek in the rain. No fish in the creek from the look of it.

 

Tomorrow is finally the day to drive into Washington. Hopefully better chance of catching a fish in this state.

 

How far are you going up into Washington? Lots of good free camping in this state with lakes nearby to fish

 

I figured I’d stay close to the ocean as far north as I can then head east. At the moment I’m thinking up to Seattle then taking the 2 over to Coeur D’alene. Unless someone has bettter suggestions

 

Just a few pictures of the trip so far. Takes too long to upload from iPhone onto this site

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/announcing-tw-live.39402/

Do this. It allows you to text your pictures right to your profile that way you don’t have to wait for them to upload, instead you can just click the little camera icon in the reply box and any pictures you text will be right there all ready to go.

I hated waiting for iPhone to upload. When you get it all set up just text the picture and write “fat” (for another thread) and you’re good to go

 

This is awesome. Nice man! Good luck on your adventures

 

Is there a picture of this Pupper?

 

Awesome. So much easier. Thanks

Thank you! It’s been a blast so far!

 

Day/night 8

Drove into Astoria early morning to drive through the town and check out the place. Mice coastal town but nothing crazy stood out. Drove across the bridge into even more amazing Washington. This place is awesome!! Trees everywhere!! Drove across and took the right to go onto the 401 to the 4. I thought I’d change things up a bit and head inland. There’s wasn’t too much free space along the rivers to stop and relax surprisingly. So much river space, mostly private property. I even tried to go down a few dirt roads to try and find some dead end fishing spots but all private.

Grabbed some grilled catfish for lunch from a roadside spot. Nothing crazy delicious. A bit bland. Needs to be about 20 times more spicy. Just saying. Found the last covered bridge in Washington. Pretty cool and free apples from a nearby tree if you don’t see the owners haha

Drove north onto the 5 to the Cowlitz River to look for a campsite. Met some cool people hanging out at the river and hung out and drank with them. They were camping at the rv park. I decided to hang with them and take a tent site at the rv park. Right next to the river. I’ll try fishing tomorrow morning.

 

Day/night 9/10


Drove what feels like most of the day. Started off on the 5 north towards Tacoma! WOOO!! Was disappointed to see that there was not a huge ‘Tacoma’ sign overlooking the city with a nice parking spot for people to set up their RTTs. Get on that mayor of Tacoma!


The city is just another city, I am not impressed with concrete. Drove north once again on the 5 through Seattle and onto the 2. The 2 is super nice. Very nice windy roads with great scenery, drove into the Glacier View Campground on Lake Wenatchee. At first I wasn’t impressed with the view and couldn’t find the Glacier since it was a bit overcast but then it cleared up towards early evening. Really nice lake. Took the kayak out for a little stroll around but the wind forced me to stop for the night.


I fished a bit and caught my first pike minnow. I thought it was a regular trout at first but then looked closer and noticed it wasn’t. I wanted to be sure not to take anything that wasn’t allowed out of the lake. Cooked that and had a nice little dinner.


The next morning I met some girls that were camping at the site next to me as they were headed up the hill to the ‘hidden lake.’ I tagged along since I was looking for a place to hike anyway and didn’t mind the company. Got back from the hike and found out I had another fish on my line that I left out.


Cooked that for lunch and decided to go paddle out before it got windy. Decided to stay at the site for another night to relax a bit from the driving. Didn’t fish any more and just hung out with the neighbor campers drinking. Cooked some steak for dinner early since it looked like it would rain soon.


This site was $20 per night and had running water and the smelliest vault toilet I have ever been in. Worth it for the lake and view of the glacier.


Day/night 11


Packed it up early and hit the road. I was looking for a nice spot to fish while I was still in Washington but nothing too crazy appealing. I got onto highway 2 expecting tons of trees and that did not disappoint. So nice and wooded most places. I drove through a town called Leavenworth, so cool. If you’re ever up here go through the town. Definitely worth a stop. It’s amazing in that place. Feels like the real thing. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone so that’s all I’ll say.


As soon as I left that town I drove past a few fruit stands. Definitely worth the stop if you’re around. Most worked on an honors system so you pay into a box/slot since there is no one running them. I always like to leave a tip for these kinds of places that have faith in others.


Kept driving towards Spokane and drove through a more desert like section of the highway. Really nice to just stop in a random clearing and just look around. It fulfilled my hippy quota for the day.


Drove further through Spokane and just stopped to get gas and food from Costco. If you’re planning any kind of trip like this, get a Costco card. It’s sooooo worth it. If nothing else the gas is much cheaper.


Drove into Idaho! Nothing fancy. Was hoping for a bigger sign like the one on the southern border but this one was not even easy to stop so I kept driving towards the Coeur D’alene National Forest. Felt lazy so just picked the closest camp site that looked nice. Settled on the Mokins Bay Campground. Very nice place campground. Not real nice water access even though it’s close to the lake. Unfortunately across the street from water. Water is also covered in algae and lily pads in the section next to the campsite.


21$ for the night seems high. No great amenities other than portable water and vault toilet. Costco pizza for lunch and steak tacos, corn, sweet potatoes for dinner.


What to do tomorrow? So close to Montana, but too close to Montana. I want to spend a day or two in this state without going too far south. Maybe drive north towards Canada a bit to the Kaniksu or Kootenai National Forest.


Day/night 12


Decided to stay one more night in Idaho. I saw that there was a nice secluded looking lake called Porcupine Lake that wasn’t too far off the highway so I headed that way. As I got off the 209 and onto the Lightning Creek road it quickly turned to dirt. No big deal. Even better! I got to the split to go towards the lake and realized that my truck wouldn’t fit.


The sign stating that no vehicles wider than 48” made me think twice about going further. I didn’t really want to pinstripe the truck at this point.


Decided to keep driving along the dirt road, maybe a little too far. I saw that there was a spot called the Lunch Peak Lookout. Since it was early I headed up there for lunch. The road went from a nice 30 mph dirt road to 4/5 mph rocky road for the last mile or two. Seemed like it took forever to get up there but the truck made it! I for sure thought I’d have a blown shock but got lucky I suppose.


Drove the roads around quite a bit more and found a nice spot along the river to camp. No one else around so creek to myself. Great spot. Looked like there were a few hunters there before me by all the spent shells and a few arrows that hit the trees.

I found this weird creature with two legs in my picture as well.

 

Leavenworth is awesome. Nothing quite like it in the winter months when they decorate with Christmas lights. It’s a beautiful town

 

Are you SURE you are white enough??

Seriously though, have a good time! Sounds like a great trip!