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This years summer vacation brought us to the American Northwest. First of all, it was a surprise in multiple ways for our kid - it did not know where we are going until we arrived at the gate for the final flight in Frankfurt. It did not know that we are going to visit it's favorite mountain. And it did not know that there will be a concert of a band it likes.

We did plan this vacation around three basic parameters:

• The kid wants to see Mount St. Helens
• There is a The Piano Guys concert in Seattle
• We want to go on a #PGBackPacking trip

Everything else we've seen, visited, and experienced is a nice add-on.

The third day of our #PGBackPacking trip was the day we hiked back to the cars, and returned to our home or hotel in Bellingham.

At some point last year, Joshua and I discussed a backpacking trip. The idea of #PGBackPacking was born!

After considering our options, the available days and the physical fitness of our team members, we settled with an old ghost town about 60 km east of Everett: Monte Cristo.

Originally we had plans to go to Vancouver BC from Seattle, but we cancelled this part in the last moment. Instead we opted for a countryside tour to Bellingham, and staying an additional day in the hotel and at the pool. From Redmong we followed the WA-9 and left it near Everett, where we followed the Marine Dr along the coast. In Conway we switched over to the Fir Island Rd heading west, and from there on the Best Rd heading north. Eventually this got us on the scenic WA State Route 11, which leads directly into Bellingham.