The Trip -- Ames, IA to Seattle, WA

[FernCreek]

Your trip sounds great. I'd recommend just a couple of changes to make it even more scenic.

From Missoula, head north up to Kalispell and then take a quick side trip (about 30 miles each way) up to Glacier National Park. From Kalispell, you can then take US-2 over to Spokane.

Then instead of taking the interstate from Spokane to Seattle, head over to Chelan and then take scenic WA-20 through the North Cascades.

[allforcats]

FernCreek's ideas are both wonderfully scenic and unforgettable. And together will add close to a day to your trip.


1. If you drive to Glacier National Park you must go into Glacier, or you'll miss the experience of a lifetime. Glacier is smack in the middle of the northern Rockies and is vast, wide, scenic beauty you will never forget. The Going To The Sun road through Glacier is a mountain pass, a narrow two-lane, very windy and very SLOW road with sheer drop-offs on one side. It's a brilliant engineering feat, and since it hugs tightly the sides of the mountains, the only land available, it can't be widened. There's no way to drive the Going To The Sun except very slowly, from 10 to 30 mph tops. It is an experience of a lifetime. And it will take you an hour to drive from the west side to the east side.

You can get back to Kal either by turning around at St. Mary at the east entrance to the park and retracing your drive, or by taking Rt.89 south from St. Mary to Browning, then hanging a right (west) onto Rt.2 which will take you on a gorgeous, faster but quiet road through foothills and forests back to Kalispell.

If you never stop to look at anything, or never take a picture, or never eat, from Kal and back to Kal again will take you at least 4 hours. And the trip is worth every single minute!!! Northwestern Montana is pretty green; northeastern Montana is a scrub desert. And in between you'll be in and on top of the Rockies!! WAHOOO!

St. Mary and Browning are on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation; if you get out of your car, be quiet and polite; if you stay in your car, be quiet and don't speed. Browning has The Museum Of The Plains Indians, where you can see amazing displays, including buffaloes just a few feet from you and their size will take your breath away!

Going To The Sun is closed to automobiles 8-1/2 to 9 months of the year due to the colossal volumes of snow. Plowing begins in late April. Going To The Sun is usually opened by late May or early June. You can check the progress here:
Glacier National Park - Operating Hours & Seasons (U.S. National Park Service)

This Montana Dept. of Transportation website will show you weather conditions in tons of places throughout the state:
Traveler Information - RWIS Information

Webcams in Glacier National Park:
Montana Web Cams : Directory of all Montana Webcams


2. Scenic Hwy.20, the North Cascades Highway, is also a beautiful ride. Hwy.20 is often a fairly slow two-lane highway, winding through the Cascade Range's mountains and ancient forests. The mountainous part is also closed during winter snows. WSDOT (Washington State Dept. of Transportation) began snow removal on Hwy.20 last week and hopes to have the road open by May 1, although the snows there last night and the night before might have changed that plan.

You can keep track of WSDOT's progress on ALL of Washington's mountain passes, including North Cascade HWY SR20, on this page which refreshes every half-hour; just scroll down for Hwy 20's report:
WSDOT - Mountain Pass Road Report

If you do choose to go through Glacier National Park, that is definitely a more spectacular visual experience than the North Cascades Highway.


3. If you do choose to travel I-90 from Spokane to Seattle, you will go through quite a variety of terrific scenery including varieties of desert, forest and mountains. You'll cross the Cascade Range via Snoqualmie Pass, which is exquisitely beautiful and will invite you to stop and take pictures and just drink in the grandeur of the scenery. The WSDOT site will show you the conditions on Snoqualmie Pass.
WSDOT - Mountain Pass Road Report

Have fun!!

[Ira500]

I'd suggest just a slight detour in Central Washington and go to Soap Lake, home of the medicinal, mineral laden healing waters. They have a couple of public beaches, and the water is silky soapy and dense, so you float..it's also surrounded by purplish coulees...it's also a funny little old western town.

[allforcats]

A "coulee" is: a dry canyon eroded by Pleistocene floods that cut into the lava beds of the Columbia Plateau in the western United States.

[seakid]

Amazing, people here rock, I've started to plan the trip, put quarters in my car, bought a car cellphone charger, etc.

I drive the 10th of May, so the Glacier pass may be closed, oh well.

Is there other stuff people do before going on long road trips (alone!)?

[5chevin5]

My mistake, I thought you had already done the trip...

Okay here is my pre big drive alone checklist...

Music
Munchies
Maintenance

Make sure you have music, the radio dont work in most remote places and if it does it plays most likely things you wont want to hear.

Have good snacks, not sugar poofs, you will be all jacked up with adreniline anyways...no need to amplify it with crud. drink lots of water.

Car maintenance, cant say enough about it. Prepare for the unexpected. Especially over mountains, passenger cars do funny things over mountains.

But my biggest advise, Enjoy....Take your time, be safe and get out of the car every 3 or so hours, take 10 have a stretch and a pee....Dont try and do the whole drive in one day.

Be safe, and remember "slow and easy", seat belts and play the license plate game out loud to yourself....

Good Luck
5

[MaikeerinWA]

It's possible that clouds were a problem, but when I looked this morning I couldn't see the Olympic Range on I-405 at I-90. Mercer Island definitely blocks the Olympic view beginning from where I jump on northbound I-405 (Exit 7, near the Seahawks' new training facility).

Originally Posted by scirocco22

I can't remember for sure, can somebody else confirm that you can see both mountain ranges from that location?