Colorado wheeler moving to western Washington

C

cnugent

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pacific Northwest
Greetings,

My wife and I have decided to move from northern Colorado to Washington in the summer of 2016. We're looking at areas along the I-5 corridor from Olympia down to Vancouver, WA. Olympia is first choice so far. My wife is a CPA, and I'm a free lance writer.

Anywho, obviously wheeling will factor into the move, so I'm looking for guidance on mainly a good online group for support with technical Jeep issues, trail info, and of course, just some good people to wheel with up there. I'm not very active on NAXJA, and maybe that should change. I've neglected it and do most of my online interaction on colorado4x4.org.

So, anybody wanna dish on wheeling advice in the PNW? I'm more into light to moderate expedition-style exploring as opposed to rough technical stuff. I'm familiar with the USFS MVUM's, but if you can recommend a good trail book for the area that'd be huge, as well.

Oh yeah, tell me about this whole Sasquatch thing. I ain't down for meeting no angry ape man on the trail.

Thanks!

Chris
 
cnugent said:
So, anybody wanna dish on wheeling advice in the PNW? I'm more into light to moderate expedition-style exploring as opposed to rough technical stuff. I'm familiar with the USFS MVUM's, but if you can recommend a good trail book for the area that'd be huge, as well.

Oh yeah, tell me about this whole Sasquatch thing. I ain't down for meeting no angry ape man on the trail.

Thanks!

Chris
Click to expand...
Welcome.

Check out our trip reports forum for a preview of what our trails are like out here. Olympia is pretty central to some good ORV areas. Evans Creek and Elbe Hills are about an hour away, and feature some true northwest "timber crawling" with a good range of difficulty.

If overnight / expedition is more your thing look into the "Washington Back Country Discovery Route" and "Oregon Back Country Discovery Routes". Both are off road (mostly gravel) routes through both states. A few members did the Washington route a few years ago.

Trip Report
 
Excellent. Thank you!

I forgot to post the most pertinent information--that is--pic of my rig. Which is here:

20773361298_092e1ef972_b.jpg
[/url]IMG_0895 by theirishavenger, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Well Chris.

Where you move is based on what you can afford and how far you or you wife wants to commute....

As much as I want to dump our house into foreclosure and move closer to work (Tacoma), it's not currently practical. We like the small town atmosphere and quietness.

I live 20-30 minutes from Olympia, 45-50 minutes to Tacoma. Any off-road trip with a group I am comfortable with seems to be over 2 hours worth of driving.

From what I have heard, the wheeling here is probably more technical than you are used to: mud, trees, rocks. I refer to rock rails as tree rails: have to have the extended variety.


Based on the type of wheeling you are interested in, NAXJA runs will make you nervous, but you can handle it. The personality of this chapter has changed a few times over the years. This summers larger gathering was really chilled (beyond that f...ing bike club).

Considering one of the States I want to move to is Colorado, I am curious? Why Washington?
 
Sorry, I'm just getting back to this....

Why Washington? God, I can't believe I didn't mention that. I had the chance to visit the Olympia area for three weeks last October. An extended family member gave the tour, so I got up to St. Helens, over around the Olympic Peninsula and the park there, and into Seattle for a day. It is so beautiful. There seem to be a lot of places to explore in a Jeep, and of course there is the ocean not far away. Also, I'm a big plane nut, and Olympia has a cool museum, as does Seattle. Boeing is there as well. So lots of aviation things to do, and I suspect--isn't there a naval event, like Fleet Week, that happens up there? I have no military background but find that stuff interesting. The Bigfoot issue is actually interesting to me as I'm writing a novel on that topic right now, and the ability to do some real-time research in that area would be cool.

Secondly, and more importantly, my wife has reached burnout stage at her job. She is a CPA for a local small accounting firm. This whole idea really started when she began to contact professional recruiters and discovered that she was much more marketable than she had thought. It seems there are many employment opportunities in the PNW in her field. For her, being able to do what she enjoys (and she does enjoy her career) in a place of supreme beauty is a no-brainer. She is 40 and I'm 43, and we are not averse to a major change quite yet.

Finally, my folks live in Olympia and are in marginal health. Several heart attacks, strokes and seizures between the two of them. I'd like to be closer so I can help them out when needed.

I hope this helps explain it. Although we are still looking, the small town of Gig Harbor, near Tacoma, is looking like a strong candidate right now. As we research the move, though, this could change, of course.

Chris
 
Gig Harbor is a really nice town. Only problem is the toll for the bridge you have to pay everytime you come back into Tacoma area. Other then that I like that area.
 
thesteveyo said:
I don't know if Seattle has a fleet week, but Portland has a pretty cool fleet week during the rose festival in May.
Click to expand...
I don't know about a fleet week, but there is Bremerton and I think there's something navy-ish in Everett, so I wouldn't be surprised. We also have seafair.

Trails: There are trails for your Jeep. Go slow and steady. I've found some of the stuff around Cle Elum to be pretty awesome. I'm from New Mexico, and I felt comfortable going out alone there. Here in Washington I wouldn't dream it, so find some Jeep friends with equal Jeeps and all will be well. I am in Bellevue, so I'm a bit north of where your talking about but going somewhere like Evans Creek wouldn't be a big deal.

I have found that my 4" ish lift is adequate. One of the clubs I'm in cruises with a couple TJ's that are mostly stock on 31's and they keep up.
 
I haven't made it out there yet but on the other side of the Kitsap peninsula is Tahuya. Also just north of Gig-harbor is port orchard and that place is on the news every other day for some crap, murder rape child abductions motels blowing up. My ex lived there for awhile it scared me to let my little girl go over there. But that's like atleast 15 miles away from gig-harbor.
 
Gig Harbor is convenient to Tahuya. Not so convenient for anyone commuting. If you work 9-5 type of hours, the commute can be hell over the bridge. On top of that, the toll bridge? Quickly talked me out of Gig Harbor.
 
What the heck is in Tahuya? That looks like barely a crossroads on the map.

The more I read about seismic issues such as earthquake and tsunami, the more I'm inclined to lean SE of Tacoma or E of Olympia. Eatonville caught my eye. Can anyone speak to the state of Washington building codes, as far as homes reinforced with these events in mind? If we build our own somewhere, I'll have the budget to take care of my own house, but I'm concerned about the school buildings my kids will be in, for one thing. I read somewhere that the odds are increasing in favor of a major seismic event in the next 50 years or something.
 
Most people here don't even think twice about earthquakes or tsunamis....

Unless they are in a beach community...

Larger concerns are volcanic, but even there, we don't stress it.
 
Thanks, XJC.

Timely that I checked in here today. We've been hearing back from wife's job prospects. Lookin' like it'll be Tacoma area for sure. Rent a condo or townhome for a year or so while we look for a nice property.

Chris
 
There are many rentals in the area, but for anything of good pricing, it can be tricky...

Gotta jump quick.
 
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