PNW Overland Expedition
Summer of 2023, we invited out some of our wheeling family to join us on a 3 day overland adventure through the back country of Washington State… our home turf. This is how it went…
Trail Coins PNW Overland Expedition
Friday, bright and early, we all met at a donut shop in Tacoma Washington. Our group consisted of 11 Jeeps and one FJ55; some old friends, but mostly new people we were excited to meet for the first time. Byron Gee and Steve Neighbors drove up from California to join us in the epic journey ahead. No one, except the leader and the tail-gunner knew the route…. We were told to prepare for 2 over nights with gas station stops intermixed. Other than that, no trailering was allowed and we all needed to be self sufficient. O V E R L A N D E R S
This proved to be a bit of a challenge for some rigs that were more equipped as rock crawlers… but that is what an adventure is made of… right? Uncertainty.
It is quite possible that we suck at overlanding… because our first stop was Dru Brewery at the Snoqualmie Summit. After the arduous one-hour long journey, we were all in need of a beverage and it was a great time to sit down and get to know the people we were going to spend the next few days with out on the trail.
Olyjk navigating the Funny Rocks formation.
Conveniently, the trailhead was just down the road. This section of trail had not been fully explored so we went on a mission to the unknown… which led us to a locked gate and private property beyond. We turned around and doubled back to the freeway. Not a complete bust, the views were breathtaking and the trail served as a nice warm up. Our Overland adventure found us at our second brewery of the day… Whipsaw in Ellensburg where we met up with one more Jeep and then headed out to our camping spot below Manastash Ridge. We arrived right before sunset, had a camp fire and settled in for the night.
FJ55 in it’s natural habitat.
In the dark of night, there was a Big Foot encounter. IYKYK…. can not elaborate further.
Ronda Rhino O V E R L A N D E R
The next morning we woke up bright and early, some of us a little frazzled from the night’s shenanigans, and packed up ready to hit the trails by 9am sharp! We hit Tri-Pod Flats and eventually found ourselves at Funny Rocks for lunch. Funny Rocks, aptly named, is a group of oddly shaped rock outcroppings formed by volcanic activity long ago and eroded into perfectly spaced waterfalls and crevices. Rock crawling on these formations has been a Washington wheeling staple for generations. Moon Rocks is a similar outcropping which sits a few miles away down the trail.
Moon Rocks outside of Cliffdale, WA.
The eventful day ended with a some-what easy trip up to Ravens Roost. A lookout above Mount Rainier which is host to a communications tower and facility that is unmanned. It feels other-worldly but is a beautiful place for a sunset. Kaner Flats Campground at the bottom of the trail was our home base for the evening. Thankfully we lost Big Foot in the mountains somewhere and were able to pack up the next morning and make the way home back over the mountains.
The journey was an absolute success; tons of seat time and memories made on the trails. At the end of the day, that’s what it is all about: developing your skills and making most of you time… doing what you love with people who make the adventure even more enjoyable.
Phoenix making it up a buggy line at Funny Rocks with a little help.
