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Off the beaten path in La Push, WA
National Parks, Renter Guest Posts, Trip Ideas & Guides, Women on the Road
By Allison Fitts & Lillian Robinson
As the saying goes, “opposites attract.” In most cases, we do not find this to be a true statement. However, the concept could not be truer of our travel styles. Allison is the Type A, spreadsheet-making planner of the two of us, and Lillian, the laidback, Type B, go-with-the-flow one. Against all odds, it works.
A few months back, we set out on a 10-day Pacific Northwest road trip – our first with a trusty Escape Campervan! Per Allison’s planning, our trip would see us pick up the van in Seattle, head north to Vancouver, BC, back down to Olympic National Park, down to Cannon Beach, OR, over to Portland, up to Mt. Rainier National Park and finally wrap up with a weekend in Seattle. It was a packed schedule and everything “had to go according to plan” if we were to hit all of our set stops.
Starting Out
Things went according to plan for the first few days of our trip. In Vancouver, we were able to do and see everything we had wanted. Our main recommendation is biking around Stanley Park’s seawall – so beautiful! It was our fourth day of the trip when we started to hit some unexpected roadblocks…
Our road trip continued on without issue and we arrived at the Sol Duc Falls area of Olympic National Park area around 2 pm on Tuesday. While beautiful and unique in its landscape, we quickly realized that this portion of the park did not offer everything we were hoping to find. The hikes in the area were good (specifically the area’s namesake trail), but were not plentiful enough for the two full days and nights we had been planning to spend there.
Changing Plans
We had a decision to make – stick to the plan Allison made just because that was “the plan” or head out find somewhere new to spend our next two days? Allison was super reluctant to break away from where she had seen this trip going, but again, she let laidback Lil convince her that being spontaneous had more potential upsides than downsides.
Luckily, the upside of spontaneity is what we found that afternoon. We drove about an hour west of Sol Duc Falls and happened upon tiny little La Push, Washington. It is a town of 371 and home to the Quileute people. If you venture to the coast, you are rewarded with the most fantastic, picturesque beaches. We hiked around, and then set up our Escape Campervan facing the ocean and the accompanying sunset to cook. Pure. Bliss.
Moral of the story: Make a plan, but don’t be afraid to break a plan. You never know what undiscovered treasures and people are right around the corner.
Getting There: La Push, WA, is 3 hours and 45 minutes from Escape Camper Vans’ Seattle rental site and 6 hours from the Vancouver, BC depot.
