The Washington Wilderness Adventure
July 23 - August 15, 2007 | $3,900
The Washington Wilderness Adventure combines all the best that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. Huge snow capped peaks, island-dotted waters full of seals, giant, purple starfish, and killer whales, excellent rock climbing and raging glacier-fed rivers. This is the adventure of a lifetime.
Orientation & Backpacking
The trip begins on July 17th in Seattle where the participants will be met by Todd and his co-leader. From there, we will drive to a lake at the gateway to the Olympic Mountains. After spending a day getting to know each other and packing our gear for hiking we will embark on an 7-day traverse through the heart of Olympic National Park. Situated on the edge of the continent, the Olympic Mountains are their own mini-continent of granite peaks, the highest of which, Mount Olympus rises almost 8,000 feet. As we hike we’ll be traveling through immense fir trees along glacier carved river valleys until we reach the high passes, at over 4,000 feet above sea level. There we will spend a day exploring the snow covered ridges and peaks of the central Olympics – many of which are over 6,000 feet in elevation. Then we will continue northward along ridges and down into river valleys – perhaps visiting natural hot springs as we wind our way out of the Park.
Seakayaking
After hiking, we will travel by ferry to the amazing San Juan Islands. At the northern end of Puget Sound, this is an emerald-island sea with incredible scenery and wild currents. Here it is not uncommon to spot whales, eagles, seals, sea lions and a wide variety of shorebirds. For four days we will be exploring the islands by kayak, with our nights spent falling asleep to the sound of waves breaking on rocky beaches.
Rock Climbing
Since we will have spent the last few days traveling horizontally, its time to go vertical! So next we’re off to do some rock climbing on granite Mt. Erie. From the top of the climbs we’ll be able to look back on the islands we have explored by boat.
Canoe & Raft
After that, it’s up to the North Cascades to canoe awe-inspiring Ross Lake. We will spend 5 days traveling this 25 mile waterway up to Canada, exploring mountains and islands along the way. But there is still one more challenge left. Washington rivers really rock, and we could not explore this state without experiencing that! Our final stop is an icy glacier-fed river for a bracing day of rafting through waves, down drops and around gnarly holes.
Wrap-up
On August 8th, with the white water still in our blood, the rock dust under our finger nails, and our new muscles under our skins, we will have unfortunately come to the end of our trip. With pictures to remind us, and new life-long friends, you’ll never forget your Washington Wilderness Adventure.