NorthWest RIGS out there?!?!

[Sansocali]

I'm looking for the rigs here in the NW (WA area). I am not familiar with the "good" locations for camping, I would also like to take some pictures of my rig with a nice back drop....

I've been here in WA for going on 6 years BUT never had the desire to go camping till I got my runner!

If somebody has any input, i'm listening!!!!


THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

 

[Redwolf]

I have been here 8 months and have been asking that same question. Been so busy with work that I haven't really had a chance to explore. But, I have driven my ride out here on the beach and also through the Parks. We are in Washington, and it is beautiful everywhere.... well outside of the constant rain :rain: you will catch some of the beauty in the summer.

I want to arrange a decent meetup for NW 4runners in the future, but I am inexperienced in arranging such an activity since I don't know the area that much.

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

There was a good contigent of 3rd gens that get together every once in a while up here in the Seattle area. [MENTION=92733]Sansocali[/MENTION] if you are looking for good spots to take pictures check out Mowich Lake and Evans Creek ORV Park it's out by you (take 410 out by Puyallup I believe) it should open in the next month or so. A lot of the wilderness camping is covered in snow in the winter. We like to go up to the mountain loop parkway, plenty of forest service roads that offer some moderate off roading. Couple of books we picked up for hiking are Dayhiking: Snoqualmie Region and Dayhiking: North Cascades since those are our favorite areas. [MENTION=80313]Redwolf[/MENTION] they also make one for the South Cascades that could be of interest since it covers a lot of what's down your way.

Check out some of the state parks along the beaches, too. There's one in Ocean Shores that has beach access and if you drive into town you can drive on the beach. Another one we like is Deception Pass State park on the north end of Whidbey Island with lots of old growth forest and good views of the sound. Tent sites at most state parks are pretty reasonable. Be sure to pick up a Discover Pass, they are $30 a year which will quickly pay for itself since they charge a $10 day use fee each time you go. If you venture out to the national forest or national parks be sure to stop at the ranger station and pick up your annual national park pass, it's free for military ($70 normally).

My fiance and I hope to hit a few before our wedding in July, after that I PCS to a cutter in Alameda, CA and will be dividing my time between CA and WA.

Redwolf are you at NMLBS or somewhere else down there? Just curious, you can PM me if you want to talk about it less publicly.

Cheers. :beer:

 

[smilycook]

Technically I am in the Northwest, but I live in Boise. My wife grew up in North Bend and we travel through the area about once a year. Some of my favorite camping near Seattle metro has been on the Olympic peninsula around the national park and in the surrounding national forest. The drive up the middle fork of the Snoqualmie out of north bend is also one of my favorites. Are you looking for camping with bathrooms or something more primitive?

Don't forget to also check out dry side of the cascades there are lots of long 100+ mile dirt road drives in eastern oregon and idaho that are fun adventures with a 4 runner. You might want to get rid of those mall runner tires first before venturing too far out there.

 

[NorthWest 4R]

:hello: I am on the dry, I mean desert side of WA . Tons of places to go and see in the beautiful pacific northwest. I know there is quite a few of us on here around the NW, Canada included.

 

[darkie3495]

There are a handful of 4th Gen and FJ guys that normally get together to run some trails from time to time. Now that my schedule is clearing up, I'd be down to do a NW 4Runner trip.

 

[flying fuzz]

I lived in Redmond, issaquah, kirkland and woodinville from 1986-2011 (beside when deployed) then I moved to Tucson. You need to check out the Olympic natl forest out near the pennisula (Sequim, Forks area) also check out Mt. Baker and Darrington area. I worked in Darrington for about a year and you could get lost up there and it's almost perfect. The eastside of the Cascades in my opinion is ok but I enjoy the green and rain forrest atmosphere. PM if you want more info and GPS coordinates

 

[Sansocali]

I have been here 8 months and have been asking that same question. Been so busy with work that I haven't really had a chance to explore. But, I have driven my ride out here on the beach and also through the Parks. We are in Washington, and it is beautiful everywhere.... well outside of the constant rain :rain: you will catch some of the beauty in the summer.

I want to arrange a decent meetup for NW 4runners in the future, but I am inexperienced in arranging such an activity since I don't know the area that much.

Long Beach?!! That place is awesome during 4th of July. Fun as hell but the amount of sand i ended up takin home in my Jeep was crazy. The wind is out of control. Two years ago I went to Ocean Shores for the 4th and gotta say Long Beach was way way better. I'll be returning to North Shore this year too.

 

[Sansocali]

There was a good contigent of 3rd gens that get together every once in a while up here in the Seattle area. [MENTION=92733]Sansocali[/MENTION] if you are looking for good spots to take pictures check out Mowich Lake and Evans Creek ORV Park it's out by you (take 410 out by Puyallup I believe) it should open in the next month or so. A lot of the wilderness camping is covered in snow in the winter. We like to go up to the mountain loop parkway, plenty of forest service roads that offer some moderate off roading. Couple of books we picked up for hiking are Dayhiking: Snoqualmie Region and Dayhiking: North Cascades since those are our favorite areas. [MENTION=80313]Redwolf[/MENTION] they also make one for the South Cascades that could be of interest since it covers a lot of what's down your way.

Check out some of the state parks along the beaches, too. There's one in Ocean Shores that has beach access and if you drive into town you can drive on the beach. Another one we like is Deception Pass State park on the north end of Whidbey Island with lots of old growth forest and good views of the sound. Tent sites at most state parks are pretty reasonable. Be sure to pick up a Discover Pass, they are $30 a year which will quickly pay for itself since they charge a $10 day use fee each time you go. If you venture out to the national forest or national parks be sure to stop at the ranger station and pick up your annual national park pass, it's free for military ($70 normally).

My fiance and I hope to hit a few before our wedding in July, after that I PCS to a cutter in Alameda, CA and will be dividing my time between CA and WA.

Redwolf are you at NMLBS or somewhere else down there? Just curious, you can PM me if you want to talk about it less publicly.

Cheers. :beer:

Thanks. You just gave a whole two or three weekends of things to do.

I wonder if it would be smart to stop by the Adventure Center to see about those passes.

 

[Sansocali]

Technically I am in the Northwest, but I live in Boise. My wife grew up in North Bend and we travel through the area about once a year. Some of my favorite camping near Seattle metro has been on the Olympic peninsula around the national park and in the surrounding national forest. The drive up the middle fork of the Snoqualmie out of north bend is also one of my favorites. Are you looking for camping with bathrooms or something more primitive?

Don't forget to also check out dry side of the cascades there are lots of long 100+ mile dirt road drives in eastern oregon and idaho that are fun adventures with a 4 runner. You might want to get rid of those mall runner tires first before venturing too far out there.

Hey, don't be talking negative about my "mall runners" I def paid for them so I will ride em till I get my money worth. Lol

Actually I made an agreement with someone that I'd go camping with them if i got my runner. I HATE camping but my camping experience comes from the good ol' Army. I'm sure that could ruin anyone's idea of camping. So with that being said I would personally like the idea of a real bathroom and a shower. I've done the bathroom in the sand (Iraq) and gone days with using just baby wipes lol. I'm over it!

I have been over to the "dry" side for training but I didn't see much of pictures opportunities out there. Possibly in the wrong area?

 

[Sansocali]

:hello: I am on the dry, I mean desert side of WA . Tons of places to go and see in the beautiful pacific northwest. I know there is quite a few of us on here around the NW, Canada included.

I'm liking your rig. Really nice actually!

I've been to YTC and I personally didn't see much beauty over there. I work on the Blackhawks so I've been up in the air and still didn't see much. Maybe I'm looking in all the places?

 

[Sansocali]

There are a handful of 4th Gen and FJ guys that normally get together to run some trails from time to time. Now that my schedule is clearing up, I'd be down to do a NW 4Runner trip.

You and I are decently close too. I'm up for a runner gathering.

 

[Sansocali]

I lived in Redmond, issaquah, kirkland and woodinville from 1986-2011 (beside when deployed) then I moved to Tucson. You need to check out the Olympic natl forest out near the pennisula (Sequim, Forks area) also check out Mt. Baker and Darrington area. I worked in Darrington for about a year and you could get lost up there and it's almost perfect. The eastside of the Cascades in my opinion is ok but I enjoy the green and rain forrest atmosphere. PM if you want more info and GPS coordinates

You my friend have been all over WA it seems! The furthest south I lived was Lacey and the furthest north I've lived was Tacoma area. I know not crazy far and horrible areas but got tot stay close to work.

How far is MT Baker from JBLM? Would I need chains to get up there? I know there is a place called Paradise Point or something like that. I have heard nothing but positive things about this place. I tried to head up there but ended up needing chains so had to turn around

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

You're looking at about 2.5 hours for Mt. Baker. You won't need chains to go up there. Paradise is on the south side of Mt. Rainier. There's a good restaurant in the Paradise Inn that has awesome dungeness crab mac and cheese. It's also a good drive in the summer time if you go on a clear day. Mountain Loop Parkway is another good spot to check out it's about an hour and half from you (pending traffic in Seattle) but if you leave decently early, around 7, you can get through no problem. That area has a lot of my favorite hikes as well as a few good forest service roads that you don't need any mods to drive on but are still fun.

 

[flying fuzz]

You my friend have been all over WA it seems! The furthest south I lived was Lacey and the furthest north I've lived was Tacoma area. I know not crazy far and horrible areas but got tot stay close to work.

How far is MT Baker from JBLM? Would I need chains to get up there? I know there is a place called Paradise Point or something like that. I have heard nothing but positive things about this place. I tried to head up there but ended up needing chains so had to turn around

Like what G8RB8_12SR5 said, paradise is on Mt. Rainer which is not a far drive from JBLM. I went to college in Puyallup and Mt. Rainer filled the horizon which is farely close to Tacoma/Lacey.

There's a place called Panaorama point in Mt. Baker area. Chains aren't a must but good snow tires are a plus, its very rural in darrington, marble mount, Mt. Baker area and they don't maintain the roads very well. I used to drive from Woodinville to Darrington every day for over a year and had to sleep in Darrington a few times because of snow and I had blizzaks on my 08' tacoma TRD 4x4...

From Tac town to Mt. Baker is about 2.5 hours due to the fact when you get to Marysville it turns into one lane road and Darrington is a logging town so you might get stuck behind a logging rig, some good corners if you have a motorcycle though.

If you keep going past Mt. Baker you get into Methow valley which is a nice drive and some great scenery, I fought a few wildfires out there and the views are amazing, Winthrop/Twisp have some great camping/exploration spots. Heading back towards Mt. Baker is Ross lake pretty big and a lot of exploration spots around there as well. I have traveled pretty much all of WA,OR,N.ID,MT on forest fires and some other interesting gigs so hit me up if you need other ideas

 

[A.Wilson013]

I am a fellow JBLM'r. Chinook Pass (HWY 410) is a beautiful drive. If you have a weekend this summer (and like wine) cruise 410 out to Yakima and hit the local wineries... Great time.

YTC is not the good part of the "dry side" of the state, by the way. =) More north, or south, and you'll be in much more photo worthy terrain.

A trip I made last year (made a week out of it) was from JBLM South on I5 to HWY 12.

Take HWY 12 up and over White Pass (beautiful) and down into Yakima. There are multiple little camp sites right off the highway before you hit the HWY 410/ HWY 12 intersection. I stayed in that area for about 3 days hiking, mountain biking, and shooting.

From there it's about 30 minutes in to Yakima where you can clean up a bit, and hit some wineries for a good evening...

When you're ready to head back take 410 up and over Chinook Pass, and back into the Tacoma area. If you can't find any photo ops out there, you're crazy and/or blind.

 

[Bill Z]

Hi Tara, what kind of camping and activities are you looking to do? If you narrow it down a bit I can make more specific suggestions.

Here's my top outdoor places to visit in the Pacific Northwest. All of them are within a 5 hour drive of JBLM and have places to camp. Since this is a 4Runner forum, all my suggestions (except for the islands) have places where you can take your stock truck for a bit of off road adventure.

Mt. Rainier National Park

Olympic National Park/Huricane Ridge

San Juan Island or Orcas Island

Mountain Loop Highway

The Oregon Coast

Winthrop and the Methow Valley

Lake Chelan

Levanworth

Neah Bay

 

[Bill Z]

Actually I made an agreement with someone that I'd go camping with them if i got my runner. I HATE camping but my camping experience comes from the good ol' Army. I'm sure that could ruin anyone's idea of camping. So with that being said I would personally like the idea of a real bathroom and a shower. I've done the bathroom in the sand (Iraq) and gone days with using just baby wipes lol. I'm over it!

Too funny - When I got out of the Marines I told myself that I would NEVER sleep on the ground again. Over the last few years I've softened my stance a bit but still would rather sleep in the back of my 4Runner than pitch a tent.

 

[darkie3495]

You and I are decently close too. I'm up for a runner gathering.

There are alot of good suggestions here. I can help coordinate a meet up once we nail down where everyone wants to go.

 

[smilycook]

Hey, don't be talking negative about my "mall runners" I def paid for them so I will ride em till I get my money worth. Lol

Actually I made an agreement with someone that I'd go camping with them if i got my runner. I HATE camping but my camping experience comes from the good ol' Army. I'm sure that could ruin anyone's idea of camping. So with that being said I would personally like the idea of a real bathroom and a shower. I've done the bathroom in the sand (Iraq) and gone days with using just baby wipes lol. I'm over it!

I have been over to the "dry" side for training but I didn't see much of pictures opportunities out there. Possibly in the wrong area?

I have not camped at any places in Washington with a real bathroom and shower so I don't really have any suggestions. WA state parks has showers at the Cape Disappointment State Park and I think this is the only one west of the Cascades with showers unless you can find a KOA. Maybe rent a tent trailer with a shower and a real bed. There are a couple of places in the Seattle area that rent tent trailers.

Lots of great places on the dry side you just need to drive across the flat lands in between.