We found it!

On the way to Yakima we decided to check out Hanford Reach National Monument. And we think we finally found it! The National Monument with the least services available to visitors. There isn’t even a traditional sign anywhere that gives you a clue when you are in the Monument. You just have to trust Google, and read cryptic references to the Monument on informational signage about history in the area.

The Monument is the dead zone that was created by leaked radioactivity from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a reactor that developed material for the atomic weapons programs running in 1943. Slick designated the Monument in 2000. Because decontamination efforts remain ongoing, most of the land mass in the Monument is not open to the public. We did enjoy learning about the area’s involvement in the Manhattan Project, however.

We thought we got snowed out way too much in Oregon. We learned we had it easy there. We headed for Chinook Pass outside Yakima in order to hike a little of the Pacific Crest Trail, which crosses Washington State Highway 410 at the Pass. When we made the turn off US Highway 12 there was a lighted sign saying “410 now open.” Ominous! Well we got there, and not only was there snow completely covering the PCT but there were still snowplow drifts that were very clearly 30 or 40 feet high! When will it end?

We are heading to a Forest Service campground at the base of Mount Rainer, and then another in Cascades National Park for the next couple weeks, so we may have limited or no access to internet. So if I don’t get anything posted in-between, I will reboot the blog on the other end.

Talk to you soon!