One of the problems with any sort of camping is the weather. Hammock camping, while easy to do compared to tenting, is still a pain when it’s raining. It started raining in Birch Bay sometime before dawn and it didn’t let up until well after we struck camp and left at 7:30am. We wanted to just get on the road rather than trying to make breakfast in the rain. We ended up eating in Ferndale at this quaint little place called The Cedars. The food was good and the coffee was welcome.

Back on the road, our goal was to get to the National Forest Service office in Enumclaw to pick up our America the Beautiful Interagency decal for one of the bikes. It’s for camping on a variety of Federal lands such as National Forests, BLM lands, and other Federal agency properties. It gives on loads of camping options across the US. 

Our journey to Enumclaw took away from the Interstate and inland a bit before turning mostly south. It was a fantastic ride with back roads winding and twisting along small rivers and through lovely little towns.

We eventually got to Enumclaw at about 3:30pm and started to wonder if we were going to make White Salmon at a reasonable hour. We’re troopers so we pushed on towards Rainier park along Chinook Drive which took us on the east side of Mt. Rainier.

Took the wrong fork up near the summit of Chinook pass and didn’t realize until too late that we were heading to Yakima.

Stopped for dinner in Naches and met a nice couple, Rick and Donna, who gave us advice on a nice place to hang and a route to the Columbia River. Thanks you two. That camping spot is good, legit, and free for a max of 72 hours

Interesting hang in a nice location. By a river and a fishing pond. Bed.