2018 4WDrive Overland SE - June

heading down to a local pub for a welldeserved
dinner and beer. Making friends
with the locals, we shut the pub down late
after closing time.
The luxury of a hot shower, good food
in my belly and a queen size bed all to
myself was milked for all it was worth. I
don’t think we hit the road before 10:00
am. The entry to our first leg of the day
was only a few kilometres down the road
from the motel. As usual, we came upon
a challenge first thing in the morning,
although this was only a herd of sheep
blocking the road.
The leg was yet another scenic climb
through an arid canyon up onto a high
plateau. The morning heat and talcum
powder road surface produced massive
plums of dust. Behind the bike, I had to
slow to a crawl just to see. By 11:00 am, it
was 33-degrees Celsius as we came down
onto the White Pass for a road section into
Packwood.
Despite climbing to the passes high
point, the temperature continued to
climb along with the thickness of smoke
filling the air. Cresting the top, we were
welcomed with an eerie sight. The thick
smoke obscured the view of the monster
in the distance. Mount Rainier in all its
majesty is a daunting sight; even more
mystic when it seems as though it does not
want to be seen.
We rolled into the small town of
Packwood where the temperature
continued its upward movement, reaching
38-degrees. We stopped at the local market
to grab some fruit, veggies and beer, only
to be blasted by the heat reflecting off the
asphalt of the parking lot. The market
was air-conditioned and we realized we
walking in circles just to prolong our
exposure to air conditioning.
Back at the Jeep, I took time to bang
out the air filter, leaving an impressive pile
of Washington State’s finest dust on the
ground at the Chevron before we pushed
back into the hills on our final leg of the
Washington Backcountry Discovery route
(WABDR). Our last night in Washington
would be Wallup Lake. After a rather busy
run up several dusty winding roads, we
arrived at the lake earlier than planned.
I was relieved to learn it was $18 for the
night and there was lots of room. A cold
dip in the mountain lake was our reward
for a long hot day in the dust.
Leaving camp on day number five,
we were inspired on the first leg by great
vistas of Mount Adams and the backside
of Mount St. Helens. An amazing number
of campsites litter this region; people here
really like to get out into the wilderness.
We left the roller coaster mountain
runs behind, following a wide forest
covered valley south towards the Oregon
border. These roads were driving me
nuts, potholes becoming the bane of my
existence. Blake’s bike was soaking up
every little bump, but I would have to
almost come to a stop for every series of
holes.
After some playful driving through
several large mud pits and water crossings,
we arrived in Stevenson, the end of the
WABDR. What had been a hot, dusty,
exhausting, fire plagued route, ended
in a mud bath as we reached the routes
ceremonial end at the Bridge of the Gods.
But where now?
Finding some Wi-Fi in town, we
contemplated the rest of the trip. To our
horror, we found that fire was blocking the
Oregon route as badly as the Washington
route, and California was even worse.
We had to abandon our off-road quest. I
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