10 days in the Pacific Northwest (travel guide + photo diary)

THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST IS UNREAL.

10 Days in the Pacific Northwest

Quick background on the trip before I dive in – Brendan, Artur and I flew from Michigan out to Seattle. Brendan’s brother drove over from Reno, NV, and we have friends from college who live in Seattle. Annie, my trainer/friend/boss also lives in the state of Washington. This trip kind of came together in the perfect storm.We’d been meaning to visit friends in Seattle, Artur already had days off, Lewis just finished his Master’s and Annie and I have NEVER met in real life.

We booked our flights about 18 days before we were set to leave. Then about 4 days after that decided that a 6 day adventure wasn’t enough to cover the ground we wanted to, took advantage of airlines waving change fees, and extended our trip. (Which ended up saving us money!)

Even though it was last minute, we all did some research, got recommendations from friends there, then took to Airbnb to figure out where the heck we were staying. (No camping / the most roughing it we did was a treehouse without electricity or running water…but we’ll get there). We also purchased a National Parks Pass at REI in advance and brought it with us to make park entrances easier!

Travel dates were Monday, June 29 (travel day) through Friday, July 10 (travel day), so technically our trip was 12 days long, but only 10 days of adventure.

Original itinerary looked like this: 

June 29, fly into Seattle (arrive 7:00pm) then drive to Olympia to sleep.
June 30, drive from Olympia to Olympic Peninsula + Olympic National Park
July 1, Olympic National Park
July 2, drive from Sequin, WA to Vancouver, WA to see Annie + Nate and hike at Columbia Gorge, drive to Portland to sleep.
July 3, explore Portland, then back to Seattle for night.
July 4 + July 5, stay with friends, explore Seattle, enjoy our time hanging out
July 6, hike at North Cascades National Park, sleep in treehouse (stay tuned)
July 7, drive to Leavenworth and hike Colchuck Lake
July 8, drive to Mt. Rainier + explore, sleep outside the park
July 9, more Mt. Rainier, explore then drive back to Seattle.
July 10, fly home at 8:05am. ouch.

The goal was for the route to make somewhat logistical sense and to not have us in the car for more than 3-4 hours at a time!

And actual adventure looked like this: 

June 29, fly into Seattle (arrive 7:00pm) then drive to Olympia to sleep.
June 30, drive from Olympia to Olympic Peninsula + Olympic National Park – visited Ruby Beach + Hoh Rain Forest
July 1, Olympic National Park – Hurricane Ridge hiking + Lake Cresecent
July 2, drive from Sequin, WA to Vancouver, WA to see Annie + Nate – sadly all the hikes at the Gorge were CLOSED so we had a picnic on the Hood River then drove to Portland to sleep. (slight delay/issues with AirBnB here but it all worked out).
July 3, explore Portland, then back to Seattle for night.
July 4 + July 5, stay with friends, explore Seattle, enjoy our time hanging out
July 6, hike at North Cascades National Park, sleep in treehouse (stay tuned)
July 7, drive to Leavenworth and walk around/eat/explore – we hiked 9 miles the day prior and weren’t ready for another 10-12
July 8, slower morning, white water raft in Leavenworth and have dinner before driving to Packwood, for our AirBnb outside the park.
July 9, explore Mt. Rainier – it was a bit of a bust due to weather but we did get to see a few cool spots, then drove back to Seattle.
July 10, fly home at 8:05am. 5:30 wake up always hurts.

I’m going to go through each day and share the hikes/trails we did, what attractions we visited in each park, the restaurants we supported, share the links of our AirBnBs, as well as any other activities we did or things to note!

Day 1: Olympia, WA & Olympic National Park (on the Olympic Peninsula)

Artur’s flight got in earlier than ours on Monday so he got the rental car and picked us up. (the best). Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Olympia (thanks to Artur’s hotel points). Great news about this hotel? There was barely anyone there AND there’s a Trader Joe’s less than 10 min away to stock up on road trip snacks. 

First visited the capitol building because it was right by us and I LOVE capitol buildings.

After our Trader Joe’s trip we left Olympia – heading west on the 101. Below is a map of our route throughout the peninsula. Our first day included Ruby Beach and the Hoh Rain Forest. We slept in Sequim, so we did backtrack to Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent on day two. But, we slept in Sequim both nights and the driving really wasn’t bad. If you followed along on Instagram, then you got to see the tour of our luxury AirBnb with it’s jungle room and indoor hot tub. I sent the link to probably 6 people after those stories, but here it is!

We thought about stopping at Lake Quinault en route to Ruby Beach, but it was super foggy so we didn’t bother. Luckily, Brendan discovered Ruby Beach about 15 minutes before we drove by and we are all so glad. It was one of my favorite places on our trip.

Ruby Beach was AMAZING. More driftwood than I’ve ever seen, rocks both in and out of the water to climb, tide pools + more. We conveniently caught it at low tide and spent almost 2 hours exploring. [I will note – this was quite accessible – we saw plenty of people of all ages + children taking the dirt path down to the beach and walking around. There were also bathrooms and a designated parking lot.]

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From Ruby Beach we continued our drive to the Hoh Rain Forest. The Hall of Mosses was one of the trails we took and it was unlike anything I’d ever seen. SO MUCH MOSS (obviously) but overall a very different climate and environment than places I’d previously explored. Again, very accessible. There were trails ranging from a less than a mile flat walk to a 38 mile overnight hike, so truly something for everyone.

As we continued on to our AirBnb in Sequim, we stopped in Port Angeles for dinner. Not much was open past 8pm so we ended up at Fiesta Jalisco, a local Mexican restaurant. We were starving and the food was delicious. This was one of the few places we had to eat in on our trip. (We tried to stick with local takeout or cooking for as many meals as possible). Luckily there was only one other table in the entire restaurant.

Day 2: Olympic National Park (on the Olympic Peninsula)

Wednesday morning we cooked a big breakfast in the AirBnb before heading out for the day. Our two spots were Hurricane Ridge and Lake Crescent, both still in Olympic National Park. We started at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and hiked about 5 miles, taking in the views, watching the fog + clouds move, and “sledding” on the snow we found. Again, this area was very accessible. We choose to hike but there were plenty of drive up viewpoints and shorter, easier walks.

After that I was dying to visit Lake Crescent, so we spent some time there before heading back toward the AirBnB for the night. It was one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever been to. I can’t even explain my love for the water, so just know I was my happiest self when we were near it. We walked out to this massive tree in the lake for a better view (can see it in the bottom pic) and then said forget it and decided to swim. It was FREEZING. Maybe 65 degrees outside and 60 in the water? Oh well, worth it.

We drove back through Port Angeles again and ended up eating outdoors at Next Door Pub before heading to the AirBnb. (A lot less options in Sequim.) Food + beer were good!

Day 3: Vancouver, WA + Portland, OR

Thursday morning we got up early and made the journey from Sequim, WA to Vancouver, WA (about 3.5 hours heading south), where we met up with Annie + her husband Nate. The plan was originally to hike Beacon Rock and see Multnomah Falls, but sadly the Gorge was closed on both sides (Oregon + Washington). Instead we met up with her sister and her husband as well and had a picnic on the Hood River.

After spending some time with them we got back in the car to make the quick drive to Portland, Oregon, the location of our next AirBnb. We took some time to chill then headed out to stroll through Portland and simply see the city. Brendan and Artur had been before but it was the first time there for Lewis and I.

Our AirBnb was in the Buckman neighborhood, which is on the east side of the Willamette River. Very easy walking access to the city! (We did have a slight delay and few issues with checkin but overall I thought the AirBnB was good.) I will say, the city was dirtier than I had expected it to be. Now, some of that could be exacerbated due to COVID, but I’m not sure?

It was a beautiful night to simply walk around, especially after being in the car a lot that day. We were way too indecisive about food + who was hungry when so we ended up eating cookie dough and takeout mexican. Walked to The Cookie Dough Cafe + then ordered from Aztec Willie’s Taqueria.

Day 4: Portland, WA + Drive to Seattle

Friday we woke up ready to see more of Portland before heading to our friend’s house in Seattle for the weekend. We had heard that Blue Star Donuts were better than Voodoo, so we started there and explored the area around Blue Star (Divison St location) before heading to our 1:00pm reservation at the Portland Japanese Gardens.
The gardens were really cool – for COVID they were doing entry times every 30 min (it’s mainly outside) so we pre-purchased tickets online that morning. ($18 per adult). The gardens are inside Washington Park, which is free to enter and quite beautiful. The International Rose Test Garden is free and right across the street.

We ended up at Whole Foods for a late lunch and for more snacks then made our way back up to Seattle. Our evening was low key, we caught up with friends + enjoyed local pizza from Pagliacci!

Days 5 + 6: Exploring Seattle, WA

Between COVID and a holiday (4th of July) there wasn’t a ton open in Seattle, but it really wasn’t a huge deal. We wanted to see the city and stay safe, so after cooking a big breakfast at Dan + Katie’s house Saturday morning we headed downtown. Started at Pike Place Market (of course). It was quiet, we wore our masks, strolled through, snapped some pics at the gum wall in Post Alley and grabbed food from Piroshky Piroshky to eat in the park. From there we drove over to South Lake Union, walked around, saw the Space Needle, enjoyed the perfect weather (75 and sunny). Lastly, we went over to Capitol Hill to walk around. I was super bummed they had dismantled CHAZ a few days before we arrived.

I will definitely be back to Seattle when more is open (really want to visit the Chihuly Glass and Garden Museum) in addition to bars, restaurants and shops. We had dinner at home that night & made our own bonfire.

Dan and Katie live in the Columbia City area of Seattle, which is super walkable (love that!). Sunday morning Brendan and I walked down to Olympia Coffee, then we placed a big to-go order for brunch from Geraldine’s Counter, one of their favorites. I was happy to support local restaurants but still stay safe + eat at their house.

After brunch we went over to Alki Beach in West Seattle, walked around, and had a beer outside at West Seattle Brewing before stopping for some amazing views of the city (see below). That night we got takeout from Blu Water Bistro + took it home to hangout and enjoy our food.

Day 7: North Cascades National Park (Diablo Lake)

Monday morning we got up, packed up the car and headed back into the “wild.” First stop – North Cascades National Park. Dan and Katie joined us on our hike of the Diablo Lake Trail – which ended up being about 8.5 miles round trip. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. Don’t mind my photo overload. After hiking we were all starving so we ventured to the Rockport Bar + Grill (aka the only restaurant that was open and anywhere near us). My only comment on the food is that no one got food poisoning, so I’m not going to link it. Our AirBnb for the night was a treehouse (see below), which was conveniently less than a mile from the bar + grill.

Day 8: Leavenworth, WA

Tuesday we woke up and started our drive to Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a small Bavarian themed town in Washington. They revamped the town in the mid 1960’s to make it a tourist destination after the industries (railroads + lumber) had left. Originally I had wanted to do the Colchuck Lake hike, but since we had hiked 8+ miles the day prior AND slept on a cot in a treehouse without running water, we ended up laying low. We arrived at our AirBnb (which absolutely exceeded our expectations), took showers and headed to the downtown. Dan and Katie had recommended Andreas Keller, so we got takeout dinner + beer and ate it in the park (see below). They gave you to-go beers in mason jars!

After dinner we walked around and explored (the town isn’t very big), got ice cream from Whistlepunk, and crossed a small bridge to Blackbird Island – a small island in Leavenworth.

Day 9: White Water Rafting + Leavenworth, WA

We were deciding between doing the Colchuck Lake hike Wednesday or white water rafting and ultimately the rafting won since none of us had done it before. (I will say, I’m still sad about missing Colchuck Lake. Unfortunately you have to hike to it – there’s not a drive up viewpoint or anything.)

We booked through River Riders and were on the Wenatchee River, which is a class 3 river. Our entire experience was about 3 hours (from instruction to returning back to our car) and it was a lot of fun. I’d like more rapids (there were 10 on our trip) next time but that’s just me – it was a great place to start.

After rafting we headed back into Leavenworth one final time (for food of course), got takeout beers from Stein and takeout dinner from South (both delicious) to eat in the park before beginning our 3ish hour journey to our final AirBnB in Packwood, outside Mt. Rainier National Park.

Day 10: Mt. Rainier National Park

Thursday morning marked our last full day on the Pacific Northwest adventure. Our AirBnb in Packwood was good – we spent about 12 hours in it and I slept for 7 of those – so no big news + no complaints. Grabbed some breakfast from a local place in Packwood (that also happens to be the local pizza place #smalltown) and it was fine.

I will say we didn’t get to experience all that Mt. Rainier had to offer – it was our 11th day of travel and cold/foggy/rainy, so we left the park earlier than originally planned. BUT, we did do the Grove of the Patriarch’s (again, very accessible + family friendly), Silver Falls and Tipsoo Lake. My favorite was the waterfall (surprise), but it was absolutely STUNNING.

We made it back to Seattle around 6:30p and grabbed more local food from Columbia City. Some of us had Delish Ethiopian and some had Sam Choy’s Poke and laid low for the evening, hanging with Dan + Katie, packing, cleaning our rental car, etc.

What we missed due to COVID or time/what I want to do on the next trip:

Sol Duc Falls + Hot Springs in Olympic National Park – due to COVID only resort guests could go

Multnomah Falls, Beacon Rock and other hiking in the Columbia River Gorge – trails closed due to COVID

All the fun + unique shops and restaurants in Portland + Seattle

More exploring of North Cascades National Park

Mount St. Helens

Hike Colchuck Lake (outside Leavenworth)

More time at Mt. Rainier National Park – ideally without fog for the views, the Paradise side + more. 

Anyway, this post got REALLY LONG (almost 3000 words), but I wanted to be as comprehensive and informative as possible if you are trying to visit the PNW. Next week I plan to share what I packed and then what I did and did NOT need on our trip. Definitely some trial and error there.
I am beyond happy to answer any questions you may have so feel free to comment here or shoot me a DM over on Instagram. Thanks so much for stopping by + feel free to share this post!

Traveling to the Pacific Northwest? Or have it on your bucket list? Pin this post for later 🙂

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