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Connor Passe

Travel By Road

Pacific Northwest

7–16 August 2026 · Seattle to Mount Rainier, the Pacific and the Olympic Peninsula, and back

Ten days in an RV round western Washington with friends, in August 2026. We flew into Seattle from Dulles, spent the first night in a group house in Kent, and that evening walked round the RV we had rented in Auburn, a 2016 Coachmen Freelander, a Class C motorhome. The next day we took it out through Enumclaw on SR 410 into Mount Rainier National Park, up to Chinook Pass on its eastern edge and round to Paradise, then spent two nights at Crystal Mountain, just outside the park, and climbed Norse Peak from there, with Rainier across the valley. From there we went down to the Pacific at Ocean Shores, then up the coast to the Hoh Rain Forest and on to two nights at Crescent Beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and hiked up Mount Storm King for the view down the length of Lake Crescent. On the way back we went up Hurricane Hill above Hurricane Ridge, took a ferry to Whidbey Island, most likely from Port Townsend, crossed the bridge at Deception Pass, and stayed at a farm outside Carnation, found that same evening. The next morning we hiked to Snow Lake from Snoqualmie Pass, came down by way of Seattle to give the RV back in Auburn a day early, spent the last night in Seattle, and flew home through Los Angeles on the red-eye.

RV · By Road

A Class C motorhome round western Washington, with friends

  • 10 days
  • ~1,430 km in the RV
  • 6 nights in the RV
  • 2 national parks

The chart

A chart of the route. Each stop on it is a button that reads out its day, time and note, and the same stops and rides are listed day by day after it.

Day by day

    • Seattle–Tacoma International Airport 15:55 Landed from Dulles.
    • Sea-Tac Airport → Kent By Uber, all of us and the bags.
    • The RV, in Auburn 19:28 approx. A 2016 Coachmen Freelander, a Class C motorhome. Eighteen photos of a walk round it that evening, probably the handover.
    • A group house in Kent approx. Big enough for all of us, for the first night.
    • Kent → Chinook Pass Out through Enumclaw on SR 410, past Crystal Mountain into the park, and up by Cayuse Pass to Chinook Pass.
    • Chinook Pass 12:42 approx. The pass at the park’s east edge, in videos from the road.
    • Chinook Pass → Paradise Back over Cayuse Pass, down SR 123 and up the Stevens Canyon road.
    • Paradise 16:41 approx. Up above Paradise, on the mountain’s south side.
    • Paradise → Crystal Mountain The way we came, and up Crystal Mountain Boulevard.
    • Crystal Mountain RV Parking Two nights in the lot below the ski resort, just outside the park.
    • Up Norse Peak From the RV up the Norse Peak trail to the summit, and back down.
    • Norse Peak 13:19–13:56 The summit, about 2,090 m, in the Norse Peak Wilderness, with Rainier across the valley.
    • Crystal Mountain → Ocean Shores approx. The way we went isn’t recorded; drawn along the likeliest roads.
    • A campsite in Ocean Shores approx. On the Pacific coast, with a fire ban on.
    • Ocean Shores → Hoh Rain Forest approx. Up the coast on US 101, and in along the Hoh River to the visitor center.
    • Hoh Rain Forest 14:10–16:48 The Hall of Mosses, and a walk up the Hoh River Trail.
    • Up the Hoh River Trail Into the rain forest a few kilometres, and back by the Hall of Mosses.
    • Hoh Rain Forest → Crescent Beach approx. Out to US 101 and through Forks; the way on to the Strait isn’t recorded, and is drawn along the likeliest roads.
    • Crescent Beach & RV Park 19:03–21:28 On the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and an evening on the beach.
    • Crescent Beach → Lake Crescent To the Storm King trailhead, by the lodge.
    • Up Mount Storm King Up from the ranger station to the viewpoint, and back down.
    • Mount Storm King 12:18–13:10 The viewpoint near the top, looking down the length of Lake Crescent.
    • Lake Crescent Lodge / Marymere Falls trailhead 15:40 approx. A friend’s photo puts us by the lodge in the afternoon.
    • Lake Crescent → Crescent Beach
    • Crescent Beach → Hurricane Ridge Along the Strait to Port Angeles, and up Hurricane Ridge Road to its end.
    • Up Hurricane Hill From the end of the road to the top, and back.
    • Hurricane Hill 10:38 The top of the Hurricane Hill trail, at the end of Hurricane Ridge Road.
    • Hurricane Ridge → Port Townsend approx. Down to Port Angeles, through Sequim, and up to Port Townsend for the ferry.
    • Port Townsend → Coupeville approx. Which crossing isn’t recorded. Three photos on the bridge at Deception Pass at 4:35, heading north, put us on Whidbey Island before it, and from Hurricane Ridge the way there is the ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville, the RV aboard, which is drawn.
    • Coupeville → Deception Pass approx. Up Whidbey Island to the bridge.
    • Deception Pass 16:35 The bridge over the pass, between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands.
    • Deception Pass → Carnation approx. Over to I-5 and down it, and through Monroe and Duvall up the Snoqualmie Valley; the way isn’t recorded, and is drawn along the likeliest roads.
    • A farm stay outside Carnation approx. Found and booked that evening, in place of a farm up in the Skagit valley.
    • Carnation → Alpental approx. Up the valley and I-90 to Snoqualmie Pass, and the Snow Lake trailhead at Alpental.
    • Up to Snow Lake Up the Snow Lake trail to the lake, and back down.
    • Snow Lake 10:37–11:06 The lake, in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
    • Alpental → Auburn approx. Back down I-90 and into Seattle, where a photo puts us at 3:42, then down to the RV’s owners a day early; the way isn’t recorded, and is drawn along the likeliest roads.
    • The RV, back in Auburn 17:38 approx. Returned a day early.
    • Auburn → Seattle By Lyft.
    • A hotel in Seattle approx. The last night.
    • Denny Triangle 14:28 approx. A last walk downtown.
    • Seattle → Sea-Tac Airport By Uber.
    • Seattle–Tacoma International Airport 16:34 The 4:34 PM flight to Los Angeles, and the red-eye home to Dulles.

Key to the chart

  • In the RV
  • Uber and Lyft
  • Ferry, the RV aboard
  • On foot
  • Airport
  • Where I slept
  • Campsite
  • Farm stay
  • The RV, picked up or returned
  • Mountain
  • Trail
  • Bridge
  • City
  • Approximate position
  • A mountain nearby, and its height

Each day comes from the bookings and receipts in my email, and where we were, and when, from the geotagged photos, ours and the shared album’s: Chinook Pass at 12:42, the top of Norse Peak at 1:19, the Hoh at 2:10, the viewpoint near the top of Mount Storm King at 12:18, Hurricane Hill at 10:38, Deception Pass at 4:35, Snow Lake at 10:37, Seattle at 3:42 that afternoon. Each drive and hike follows the roads and trails OpenStreetMap maps through a few points on its way. Where the way we went isn’t recorded (down to the coast, from Forks to the Strait, from Deception Pass to Carnation, and from Snoqualmie Pass by way of Seattle to Auburn), the chart takes the likeliest roads and says approx.; so does the ferry, drawn as Port Townsend to Coupeville: which crossing we took isn’t recorded, but three photos on the bridge at Deception Pass that afternoon, heading north, put us on Whidbey Island before it. The beds, the campsite in Ocean Shores and the RV’s owners are placed only by their town.

Relief from Mapzen’s terrain tiles: 3DEP, SRTM and GMTED2010 data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; ETOPO1 from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information; contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (the licence).