4th of July Run

[yohavos]

The and I decided to camp on the Columbia for the 4th of July, and after perusing some maps and imagery, we narrowed our destination down to either the Crescent Bar or the West Bar. Either way would take us through some vaguely familiar area, with the end state being some waterfront camping.

Loaded the wagon up and decked her out in with old glory for the trip... here's proof I wouldn't make it on ExPo, she's still dirty from my Southern Oregon trip last weekend:

 

[yohavos]

Given our late departure time (5 pm, Saturday afternoon) my real goal was to make Ellensburg, then catch Colockum Road north to find a decent place to camp and do dinner. It was a little over 2 hrs to Ellensburg, then we did 24 miles from the 711 gas station up into the hills.


We ended up taking Colockum Rd -> Caribou Rd -> Brushy Rd and finding a spot around a little ways up Brushy Rd, elevation ~4400 ft. It was a matter of getting into camp at a reasonable hour, so around 9pm we stopped and set up real quick. Dinner went from burgers to just grabbing snacks, and the hit the sack as soon as the tent was up. I stayed up to drink enough beers to make room in the fridge for the extra ground beef we had bought for burgers that night, then hit the sack myself. It was a quick camp, but one that provided a decent view the next morning.

 

[yohavos]

After a brisk night (Ele. 4400 ft, night lows ~ 42*) we woke to some pretty strong sun and a free range bull mooing and stomping around in front of the wagon. I wasn't too interested in a confrontation, but as it turned out he was just making sure everyone knew who was boss, so after a few minutes he decided he had made his point and our Toyota wasn't interested in challenging him, so he went on his merry way.


We did a quick breakfast of yogurt and fruit and hit the road early, as this was our primary day of "back road travel" with the promise of a waterside campsite helping us cope with the increasing temperatures and dusty conditions that the Quilomene is known for.


No travel pics, but I can tell you we headed back down Brushy and caught Caribou Rd -> Perkins Rd -> Brushy Rd. (a section of Brushy is closed, so we had to go around, which is why we started up Brushy to begin with, no big deal) all the way out to the West Bar. It was about 22 miles worth of travel that took us a little over 2 hours. The drove most of the way (I don't think she expected the trip to take as long as it did once we left Colockum, so I tried to distract her with some wheel time

) and I finished out the last third of the trip as it got a little bumpy (lots of fresh drainage cuts) and she wasn't a huge fan of having to slow down and pick a line.


Around lunch time we pulled into the West Bar and set up camp. As I said, not too many pictures, but here are a few quickies:

 

[yohavos]

There was a group of folks who had come over from Trinidad (town across the river from our campsite) on their ski boats to camp out that we shared the peninsula portion of the West Bar with. Trinidad (pictured below) had a great fireworks display over the water that night and the view from the roof of the wagon couldn't have been better.


Our dog did find a rattlesnake but we were able to defuse the situation quickly, without injury to the dog or the use of my sidearm. Overall, it was a peaceful encounter, though one that left me thankful to be sleeping 7 feet off the ground.


The trip itself is a great way to see the Quilomene, and I highly recommend the area. If you're planning on traveling this area, I'd recommend good tires at a minimum for these roads, as the rocks can get sharp and chunky. Suspension upgrades are definitely nice to have, particularly for the later sections of Perkins and Brushy Rd's, as erosion and crude drainage ditches are prevalent. Brushy Road is aptly named, and there's really no way getting around rubbing your rig a bit here and there on some nice desert brush. I don't think any of our scratches are permanent, but I probably won't know until after it rains. Overall everything was pretty dry, so going was easy, just bumpy. It's obvious that some weather can drastically change things in this area.


One way distance off pavement for this route was 30 miles. I did it coming back in a little under 2 hours, but I'd plan on closer to 3, as I'm a bit harder on my rig than most. I'd like to replicate this trip in one form or another at least once this summer, and will post up to see if anyone is interested in joining us!

-Mike

 

[OlympiaFJ60]

Nothing beats the rooftop tent for making a "quick camp". West Bar has been on my list of camping spots. would join if my schedule allows. I'm working Wed-Sat right now, doesn't work with most peoples schedules.

Great pictures