Safely from Washington…
We departed from Seattle-Tacoma Airport, where I had just landed after a long flight. Sean and John picked me up in John’s grandfather’s red van. Luckily, the front seat had three seats that fit the three of us perfectly. This would be our mode of transportation for the next two and a half weeks – John and Sean taking turns driving and me sitting in the middle.
We decided to stay in Seattle for one night, but because Seattle accommodation was too expensive, we stayed overnight in Renton, about a 20-minute drive from downtown Seattle. Walking around Seattle at night, I discovered that Seattle was like a… dead city. Most of the shops and restaurants closed after 8 p.m. Everyone had gone home. The only people walking around the streets were us and the homeless. I hated the smell of the city, the tall buildings, the empty streets. Luckily, we only stayed for one night. I imagined Christopher McCandless, the main character in the book “Into the Wild,” would panic and try to run away from Seattle as soon as possible.
From Seattle, we took the ferry to Olympic National Park, located in the northwest of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. According to Google Maps, the trip should only take 2 hours and 35 minutes, but it took us all day to get across the lake. It was already dark when we arrived, and since everyone was camping during the summer, the campsite was full. We had to set up camp without permission, and we told ourselves we would wake up early the next day so we wouldn’t be discovered. We ended up sleeping until noon, and no park rangers came to chase us away.
Olympic National Park is huge and is best known for Hurricane Ridge Scenic Drive, Lake Crescent, Hoh Rainforest, Ruby Beach and Sol Duc Falls. Although Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park is more famous, we chose to hike in the Hoh Rainforest and drive along Ruby Beach – and we didn’t regret it at all. A heritage site and one of the largest temperate rainforests in the United States, the Hoh Rainforest is incredibly wet and green. It receives an estimated 1,400 inches of rain each year.
After the hike, we continued on to Astoria. Once we left Ruby Beach, the Washington border became quite dry. There were no more pine forests to follow us. We drove like this for about two hours until we came across the Columbia River, which separates Washington from Oregon. John kept driving, I turned up the music as loud as I could, and Sean sang along.
…To the wild Oregon
We pitched our tent at Ainsworth State Park and headed to Cannon Beach early the next morning. Cannon Beach is a short drive from Astoria, only about 50 minutes. Unlike the beaches in Miami or Los Angeles, the beaches in Oregon are cold, not for swimming, just for viewing. Since there are few tourists, I found the view of Cannon Beach to be the best.
Later in the afternoon we headed to Portland and decided to stay the night as we all needed a shower and a rest after a few days of camping. It wasn’t too bad to walk around at night in Portland. Of course there are a lot of homeless people in Portland but many restaurants in Portland were still open.
Early the next morning, we headed to Hillsboro to find the airplane house in the woods. The owner, Bruce Campbell, has lived here since 1999. He is only here for six months of the year and is in the process of converting an old airplane into a Japanese-style home. He showed us around the house and explained where he gets his water and electricity.
Saying goodbye to Hillsboro, we camped at Columbia River Gorge for one night. The next day, we decided to conquer Oneonta Falls. We called it hiking, but really we “trekked” and crawled into small holes in the trees that blocked the path to the waterfall. Although it was summer, the stream water was very cold. It took us about two hours to wade to the waterfall and find our way out.
About a 10-minute drive from Oneonta Falls is Portland’s most famous waterfall, Multnomah Falls. At 620 feet, Multnomah Falls is also the tallest waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge. There are a lot of tourists here, so luckily there was still enough room for us to climb to the top.
Around late afternoon, we left and headed to Burnt Ranch Campground. Burnt Ranch Campsite and Painted Hills are located in the Oregon desert, and we knew it would be hot in the desert so we brought plenty of water.
Halfway through, our phones lost signal. It was pitch dark. We didn’t have a paper map to help us find our way. There were no signs around. After driving for a while, we couldn’t find Burnt Ranch Campground, so we stopped and set up camp for the night, even though we were all scared. John and Sean both slept with knives in their pockets. We weren’t afraid of bad guys, but we all heard the howling of hyenas. Around midnight, I heard noises outside the tent, coming and going, then fading away. I was terrified, but since Sean and John were both fast asleep, I didn’t dare wake them. They had had a long day. The next morning, Sean told John and me that he heard growling outside the tent last night. John didn’t know anything, and I joked that it must have been a hyena trying to get close, but because our meat wasn’t tasty, it left.
We drove to Painted Hills and only stayed there for about 15 minutes. Although Painted Hills is magical and beautiful, I really hate the sun and the heat of summer. John and Sean do too so we drove away after 15 minutes of walking around. On the other hand, the film photos at Painted Hills come out beautifully.
After Painted Hills, we headed to my favorite place on Earth – Eugene, Oregon. I had attended a summer college in Eugene the year before and it was probably one of the best decisions of my life. There were students from all over the country, so the town, although small, had international cuisine. There were also countless trails in Eugene for hiking and climbing on the weekends. When we arrived, the town center was having a Gay Pride festival. Seeing people respect each other, not prejudice, freely expressing themselves, and being able to go backpacking with my two best friends, being here right now made me really happy.
“Into the Wild”
I have been away from home alone since I was a child. Except for a few trips with my brother, I always traveled alone. Traveling alone is really good. You don’t have to go with other people, you don’t have to think about where to go and what to do. You learn more things if you travel alone.
When I was a child, when I read “Into the Wild”, I really did not understand the ultimate meaning of the story. Christopher McCandless lived as he wanted, shunned the materialistic society and reached Alaska. But in the end, he died. Later, when I grew up a little, I understood that when Christopher realized that happiness is only real when shared with others, it was also when he realized that we - humans - cannot live without each other. My teacher once said, “It is worth exploring like Christopher McCandless, as he himself said: The important thing in this life is not necessarily to become strong, but to feel strong…”.
Feeling strong does not mean not accepting help from others. Traveling with Sean and John has taught me that happiness is only real when shared.
