April 30th-May 7th 2021

After over a year of not leaving the midwest due to covid it was high time to go on a vacation. For the first week of May my boyfriend and I explored the Northwest Coast in parts of Washington and Oregon. Springtime in the Northwest is so beautiful! It was still pretty chilly most days, and there were some hikes in the mountains we couldn’t complete due to snow, but it was such an amazing and unique experience to travel this area in the off season. Over the course of seven days we were able to explore Olympic National Park, Portland, Mt. Rainier and Seattle. Below are the details of our trip for each day with links attached, and of course there are lots of pictures! I hope this post inspires you to get back out there and do some safe traveling!

-Please remember to still bring your face masks when traveling and be respectful of each communities guidelines.

Day 1

We ended up flying out of Minneapolis around 8:30am and landing in Seattle around 10:20am. Once we landed in Seattle, and picked up our rental car, we were starving! We ended up eating at Chontong Thai Cuisine which was conveniently right next to the car rental building. I was so excited to finally eat some delicious crab meat that was affordable. After eating some delicious food we headed out on our first leg of the journey to Olympic National Park!

Our goal for the day was to hike the trail from Hurricane Ridge to Mt. Angeles. Unfortunately the trail was still covered in a lot of snow. We wanted to hike to entire trail but after hiking about a mile the rest of the trail looked like an avalanche waiting to happen if we stepped in the wrong spot, so we turned back around. The part of the trail we were able to hike had some amazing views, and we were lucky that the weather was really nice and sunny.

The drive back down the mountain was foggy, creepy and beautiful.

We ended our first day by checking into our hotel room at Emerald Valley Inn and then headed back to Port Angeles and ate at the restaurant called, Next Door Gastropub. This place was super busy (actually, all the restaurants in the area were busy) so make sure to make reservations ahead of time.

Day 2

This was by far my favorite day of the trip! I spent the morning checking out the property at the Inn and saying hello to the animals that lived in the mini farm in the middle of the property. Meeting Donna the donkey was definitely the highlight of the morning. After saying hello to all the animals we headed out to hike Mt. Storm King and Marymere Falls by Lake Crescent.

Both of these trails start right by Lake Crescent and head into the rain forest. About a mile or less down the trail on the left hand side you’ll see the sign pointing up the mountain to get to the top of Mt. Storm King.

Oh my gosh… the Mt. Storm King hike was so much fun and soooooo beautiful! It can be a difficult hike since you basically hike up the mountain the whole time, but the view at the top is so worth the cardio workout and sweat.

There are a few spots at the very top of the hike where the trail gets so steep that there are ropes you can use to pull yourself up. I made the mistake of wearing shoes that had zero friction to them on the bottom so I was very glad the ropes were there, so If you have great hiking boots you may not need to use ropes.

After taking in the view at the top for a while we headed back down the mountain onto our next hike.

The hike to Marymere Falls is super easy and short, but still just as beautiful.

For the last bit of our day we got dinner back in Port Angeles at, Smuggler's Landing Restaurant, and then we bought some ice cream back at our Inn from Granny's Cafe.

Day 3

For our third day of the trip our original plan was to go hiking on the very northwest tip of the park at Cape Flattery, Shi Shi Beach and Point of Arches. Unfortunately these areas were still closed due to covid in order to keep the people that live on Makah Indian Reservation safe. It was kinda of a bummer not to be able to see these areas, but it was easy to come up with a new plan since there is so much to do in Olympic National Park! Also we all still have to due our part in being respectful of each communities guidelines in order to avoid another wave of covid in any area.

In the morning, once we got checked out of our hotel, we headed straight for the Spruce Railroad Trail on the West side of Lake Crescent. We started on the northwest end of the trail where the Pyramid Peak trailhead is. This was a very easy trail since it was all paved. There were so many great views of the lake and a really neat tunnel to walk through. We only hiked about two miles down and then turned back. This trail is a great biking trail for a relaxing ride, and there were quite a few people biking on this trail taking in the warm morning sunshine.

After we finished hiking it was time for lunch! We headed over to the town of Forks and ate at the, In Place, they don’t have a website but you can find them on google maps. Then we went to go hike the Hoh Rain Forest trail. Keep in mind that from Forks it takes about 45min to get to the Hoh Rainforest Visitor center.

There are quite a few different trails you can choose from when you get to the parking lot at the visitor center. We hiked the Hall of Mosses trail and the Spruce Nature Trail. Each of these are super short and can be easily hiked in under an hour. Each trail is incredible and there are so many neat things to see inside this rainforest. When we were hiking the rainforest I couldn’t get my camera to take focused pictures so all of these photos were off my phone.

After enjoying the rainforest we headed back to forks and had dinner at Blakeslees Bar and Grill before heading to our super cute Airbnb. This was my favorite place that we stayed at on the whole trip and I wish we could have spent more nights here. It was so cute inside, super clean and had everything you could need to be comfortable.

After checking into the Airbnb we spent the evening at Rialto Beach near the city of La Push. This beach was stunning and I could have easily spent a whole week here taking in the views and collecting drift woods for my arts and crafts.

I wish we could have gone further down the beach and explored the cliffs, but the sun was going down pretty quickly so it was time to call it a day.

Day 4

Luckily our fourth day of the trip was the only rainy day we had which worked out well because we were mainly on the road the whole time. On our drive from Forks to Portland we made only a few stops on the way.

Our first stop was to see the Tree of Life which was worth the quick stop.

Then we stopped for food at Brunch 101 in the city of Hoquiam. This place was awesome! The food and drinks were so good and I would recommend that you stop here if you’re driving on Hwy 101.

We also stopped at Ecola State Park but it was to rainy to take any pictures. There were also quite a few moose blocking the trail so we couldn’t go hiking.

Finally after hours on the road we got to our Airbnb in Portland. This place was an adorable tiny cottage in the owners back yard. To end our evening we ordered takeout from SHO | Japanese Restaurant.

Day 5

Our fifth day was focused on exploring the city of Portland. The whole day the weather was beautiful and we were able to see so many different places! We also found out that Tuesdays is the day of the week that a lot of things in Portland are closed, so make sure to plan ahead.

We first stopped at the International Rose Test Garden and even though none of the roses were blooming there were still tons of other gorgeous flowers to look at.

Then we went to the outlook spot at Pittock Mansion. Driving up there was totally worth the view to see all of downtown Portland. Since it was cloudy we couldn’t see Mt. Hood from anywhere up here, but it was still cool to see different parts of the city.

When we headed back down into the city our next stop was a place that I have been waiting to go to for years! Powell’s City of Books was my favorite stop in the city by far. This place was massive! I could have easily moved in forever. I only had room in my luggage to buy one book, which for me is extremely hard to do, so I just took pictures of all the other books I plan to buy soon.

After the bookstore we ate some lunch at Piattino for some pizza, and then we hit the road to go see Multnomah Falls. These falls are a must see destination when you are near Portland, but be prepared for crowds since it is a super popular spot.

When we got back to Portland we made a quick pit stop at Voodoo Donuts. I ended up buying the Homer donut, the mango tango, the lemon sunshine and the maple blazer blunt donut. My favorite was probably the Homer donut that had a strawberry icing and sprinkles.

Once we tasted each donut we hit the road driving North to our Airbnb near Mt. Rainier. This Airbnb was super close to the southern entrance of the park which was really nice, and it was more affordable than a lot of the other places to stay around Mt. Rainier.

Day 6

I had no idea how much there is to see at Mt. Rainier! We only explored the South end since we were staying in Ashland, and also the North part of the mountain was closed due to snow.

Our first hike was on the Skyline Loop Trail. It took quite a while to figure out where to go since everything was covered in small mountains of snow and there weren’t any signs anywhere. Eventually we found the trail and ended up hiking a small portion if it. Seeing all the glaciers on the top of the mountain was such an amazing experience. I would love to come back to Mt. Rainier again maybe around September or October before the snow hits.

Once my feet were throughly soaked by the snow we turned back. After this hike we decided to drive down the mountain and just hit as many trails as we could. We first stopped at Narada Falls which was gorgeous! Basically everything we saw on this mountain was gorgeous.

There was a massive bridge that you cross while driving and you can stop at either end to walk out onto the bridge. I recommend going out there for some amazing views of the Nisqually River and the peak of Mt. Rainer. Just make sure to be careful of traffic when walking out to the bridge, and when you’re on the bridge.

Then we hiked some of the Comet Falls trail which had a super cool wooden bridge part way up the trail.

You will definitely do not want to miss stopping at the Longmire Resort on Paradise Rd. There are quite a few trailheads here to hike on, along with exploring a museum, eating at the National Park Inn Dining Room or shop for some essentials or gifts at the general store. The Trail of Shadows hike starts here and is a fun, short hike that teaches you a lot of history on the natural mineral spring and the Longmire family that built the first resort on Mt. Rainier.

After checking of the Trail of Shadow you can follow the Longmire Rd, which runs back behind the resort, and this will take you over to the river. You can go down and sit on the rocks and enjoy the water rolling by. We also hiked part of the Eagle Point trail that starts right by the river. This trail reminded me a lot of the trails over in Olympic National Parks with all the green mossy trees.

The last stop we made on the mountain was a tiny little trail right next to Tahoma Creek. This walkway was only about 100ft long, but it had a good view of the peak of Mt. Rainier from the base of the mountain.

After a long day of mountain hiking we headed out of the park and ate the Wild Berry restaurant. It was such a nice evening and we were able to eat outside and enjoy the last little bit of our day before crashing back at our Airbnb.

Day 7

Since all the trails on the North end of Mt. Rainier were closed we decided to spend our last day exploring Seattle.

For me, my most important and must do spot was going to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. I wish so badly that there was one of these in the Twin Cities! I’m a major Starbucks lover, and I loved it here! They had so many cute things to buy and so many drink and food options. When we first got there it was super busy, and you can only get their fancy cocktail drink if you have a table so we decided to hit some other spots in Seattle and then come back later in the day.

We realized we weren’t that far from Pike Place Market so we began the walk down the road. It only took about 15 minutes or less to get to the market, and oh my gosh… this place was so cool! I would for sure be shopping here every day if I lived in Seattle. We walked around for a while taking and then ate at the Athenian Seafood Restaurant and Bar. This place had some really great views of the harbor and great food.

Once we finished eating we booked it back up the road to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery hoping to get a table. Thankfully we did! I ended up ordering the drink called, Final Say, which had matcha, El Tesoro Blanco Tequila, Liquore Strega, Verino Mastiha Antica, Royal Combier, Lime, Coffee-Infused Amarena Cherry. It was sooooooo good! I wanted to try more drinks but they were kinda expensive. So I’m hoping one opens up around here eventually so I can try them all!

Next we hit the iconic Kerry Park for some great views of the city.

Then we drove over to the Seattle Arboretum. This park was so pretty and peaceful. It was a great way to calm down from the trip and take in a bit more scenery of the nature of the northwest coast. We stopped and explored the Japanese garden and the hiked a few more trails on the south end of the park.

For the very last part of our trip we checked into our Airbnb, which had the coolest Star Trek and Star Wars themed decor. Then had our last dinner and drinks at Meet the Moon which was right on lake Washington.

I was so happy that our last Airbnb had such an amazing view. It was a great way to end the evening and end our vacation.

I am so happy we were able to go on this trip! We saw so many amazing places and ate great food in only the span of seven days. There are still a lot of places on my travel bucket list that I want to go see in the Northwest Coast, so I am looking forward to going back again (hopefully) soon!

Written by,

Shanna Frasier