West Coast Trip - 1st time

My wife, 2 boys (13 %26amp; 15) and I have never been to the west coast and are planning a 12 to 14 day trip in late June 2009. The idea we came up with was to fly to san fran, drive up along the Oregon coast and spend a few days in seattle. I%26#39;m a little worried that we are biting off more than we can chew, but there%26#39;s so much we want to see. We love the beach and mountains, and want to throw in a few adventurous activities for the boys. A few hours of rigorous hiking high up on a snow covered mountain would make the trip worth it for me!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

West Coast Trip - 1st time

San Francisco to Seattle with many stops along the way would not be bad in 14 days, if you do not have to drive back!

If you do have to drive back, I%26#39;d base out of Portland and loop to the coast, the mountains and Seattle. There is plenty to do without the drive up from CA.

Bend is a great place to spend a chunk of time.

West Coast Trip - 1st time

First suggestion, LOL!

You do not have enough time to cover the areas that you have listed - unless you want to simply ';drive by';, and I don%26#39;t think you want to do that.

Maybe reconsider flying to SF and going only to Oregon? How much time do you want to spend in SF, as that will need to be deducted from your overall?

We%26#39;re planning to go 1-way (not drive back to san fran). We were thinking maybe 3-4 days in both san fran and seattle, and have about 4-5 days for driving up the coast.

Where along the way were you thinking about throwing in the adventurous activities and the hiking on a snow-covered mountain? Ideas for those that came first to my mind are a jetboat ride up the Rogue River, a dune buggy ride on the Oregon Dunes, and a hike up the South Sister, in central Oregon. But, it%26#39;d be tough to impossible fitting those into a 4-5 drive between San Francisco and Seattle, so I suggest cutting time in both cities. I might get flamed for this, but 2-3 days in San Francisco, and 1-2 in Seattle would be enough to see highlights. And that would allow more time for beaches and mountains, which I think are the best reasons to visit the Pacific Northwest.

Actually mistletoe, I think your suggestions are spot on.

The South Sister is one of my favorite hikes. There is usually patchy snow on the trails there into July. I have not hiked it in June, but have done it numerous times in July and August and love it.

South Sister is, indeed, a ';hike.'; I haven%26#39;t done it and don%26#39;t know if I ever will (the gray in my beard ain%26#39;t from snowflakes!). South Sister is a difficult 11-mile round-trip hike with 4,900 ft elevation gain. Definitely not a stroll in the park if you%26#39;re not in shape for it.

There are other peaks that will probably still have snow on them that are more accessible. We can better advise closer to the date when we can see what snowmelt has occurred.

Of course, Timberline will have ample snow to trek around in.

oregonpoppa--Yes, good description of the hike. But they could go to the plains or around Moraine Lake. Timberline area is a great suggestion too, but like you say we wouldn%26#39;t be able to comment as much until closer to the time due to snowpack. We have been on the Timberline Trail in August when big sections were covered in snow. But oh it felt good!!!

%26gt;%26gt; A few hours of rigorous hiking high up on a snow covered mountain would make the trip worth it for me!%26lt;%26lt;

But there are no snow covered mountains along the coast! Are you planning on going to central Oregon? It will take more time.

The Oregon coast is about 365 miles long, and your *average* driving speed will be about 50 MPH. San Francisco to the Oregon border is about 380 miles; that%26#39;s via Highway 101. Washington is a little trickier, as you may want to go inland to see Mt St Helens, then continue up I-5. The WA coast is not as impressive as either the northern CA or OR coasts.

So that will give you some idea of the distances involved.

With the ages of your boys, I would think it%26#39;s important to throw in as many activities as possible, but you have a lot of miles you want to cover in a fairly short time period.

Yeah, knowing it%26#39;s one of your faves, I should have left South Sister for you to recommend, Mtngrl. You say you%26#39;ve never hiked it in June? Hmmm..... we might need to rethink plans!

You might consider 2 full days in SF, take your time driving the spectacular OR coast as suggested above, and add more days in the Emerald City/Seattle area.

Consider, from Seattle, going to Olympic National Park, at least to see Hurricane Ridge, and walk/hike some of the ridge trails. And/or the Hoh Rain Forest, also in ONP.