Pacific Northwest and Victoria BC

pmdave said:

If the weather is nice and you ride over Stevens Pass to Everett, follow I-5 north to Mt. Vernon, hang a west on 20 to Anacortes, and catch the WA State ferry from Anacortes to Sidney. If you have time to visit any of the (San Juan) islands, it gets a little tricky, since the "international" sailings to Sidney BC are separate from the inter-island sailings. International service begins March 29. For info: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/schedules

Click to expand...

Pick up 20 in Eastern WA and head over through the North Cascades. 2 on the west side of the state is horrible. 2 from Gold Bar to Everett in stop and go junk. Ugh. Leavonworth, while fun, is pure tourist tripe in the summer. Big time TRAFFIC!

Follow 20 over if you come through Washington. (see my earlier post)

If you do come through the gorge head to the coast and pick up 101 and follow that to Port Angeles. Careful as there are two 101's on the Olympic Peninsula, as it loops around the mountains! Head to the coast! The Pacific Coast in June is jaw dropping. Head north and catch the ferry to Vic from there.

Digital camera? Pack plenty of cards! We wanna see pictures.

Washington Pass, Highway 20 between Winthrop and Burlington. This is the fabled "Alps of Washington", and there are two passes here, Washington at 5477 ft and Rainy at 4855 ft. There is a rest area just uphill from here, and an overlook on those exposed rocks. If you ride 20, be sure to gas up at Winthrop heading west, or Marblemount heading east. There are no services between Newhalem and Winthrop. It's a beautiful ride, but patrolled by LEOs on weekends.

Highway 20 eastbound looking back up at Washington Pass

View from the Washington Pass overlook, with Hwy 20 below Liberty Bell Mtn.

Spectacular scenery, folks! This is going to be a GREAT trip!!

Popular Stop...

...and a birds eye view. Note the hairpin...

Sounds like he needs the whole summer to tour the northwest! There are so many great places to ride here that it can make it difficult to choose one or even 3 or 4.

I will say that your first time on Hwy 20 while riding can be a challenge! So much of natures beauty to see! I want to go back there again when I can move just a little slower than 90 mph and take it all in.

Here is one looking into east at Crown Point up the Columbia River.


Dan