Washington State

World's largest Sitka Spruce

From the 50 State Visitor Guide :

Rev. Code Wash. 2021 §4.24.550, §§9A.44.128 through 9A.44.145.

Registration Triggers and Deadlines:

Initial registration for permanent residents, students, and in-state workers is 3 business days from arrival; updates within 3 business days. §9A.44.130(4).

Visitors who intend to reside or be present in the state for 10 days or more must register with county sheriff within 3 business days of arrival. §9A.44.130(4)(a)(iv).

Transient registrants must re-register weekly, and report any movement to a new county for 24 hours or more within 3 business days. §9A.44.130(4).

Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:

Residence restriction: Certain L2 and L3 offenders on supervision may not reside within 880 ft. of a school.  §9.94A.030(6)

Duration & updates:

10 years to life.  Updates:  L2&3 – 90 days; L1 – Annually. §9A.44.140.

Wildflowers at Mount Rainier National Park

Most recent visit: August 2023

Washington is one of the states that say that visitors who intend to reside or be present for 10 days or more must register within three business days of arrival.  Most of the other states that have this “3 if 10” rule also have a 30 day limit per calendar year … but Washington does not.  So that’s one less thing for you to worry about on you cross-country trip.

Also note that Washington’s few residency restrictions only apply to “L2 and L3 offenders on supervision.”  If you’re able to travel cross country freely you obviously are no longer on supervision so this doesn’t apply to you.

However, this is a good place to point out that, as with so many other states, the wording says “10 days or more.”  In other words, the 10th day triggers your obligation to register, so what you really get is nine days, not ten, and as I have said many other times, you have to assume that partial days count.  Even if you leave the state early on your last day there, as I did, that’s still a partial day and you have to count it toward your total.

So including that last partial day, I was going to spend five days in Washington – well within the allowable limit.

When I entered the state on a Saturday morning on I-90 at Spokane, my only intention for Day 1 was to cross the emptiness of eastern Washington to reach my reserved campground in Wenatchee National Forest so I could spend as much of Day 2 as possible at Mount Rainer.  It so happened that this day-long drive with few distractions coincided with a Florida Action Committee Zoom Conference which I participated in by phone as I was zooming through this remote Outback.

Tahoma

Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier is, of course, a large and majestic volcano which is called Tahoma by the native people of the region (from which the city of Tacoma derives its name).  I was pleased to see that – unlike Glacier National Park – Tahoma still has glaciers near its peak.  

I traveled through this park from east to west, first viewing the volcano from the north at Sunrise Visitor Center, then following the main park road around the south to take in the view at Paradise Inn.  As with most national parks, there’s more to Tahoma than just the mountain.  I stopped to take a look at Box Canyon, Christine Falls and to walk the Trail of the Shadows.

All this took most of Day 2 but still left enough time to hurry over to the east side of the Olympic Peninsula to camp close to my next destination.

Hoh Rainforest

Olympic National Park

One thing to know about Olympic National Park is that there’s no E Z tourist drive through it.  You have to use U.S. 101 (Pacific Coast Highway) to circle around the park and use several access roads that extend like the spokes of a wheel into the park’s attractions like Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Hot Springs (and waterfall), Hoh Rainforest and Quinault Rainforest.

Wow the rainforests are spectacular!  You have to be willing to get out of your car and at least walk the nature trails to see them, but if you do you’ll never forget it.  Since I was traveling south along the Pacific seacoast, these rainforests became the first of about a week’s worth of majestic giant trees and forests.  

Altogether it took me 1 1/2 days to drive each of the spokes into Olympic and see it all.  The second day took me to my very first view of the Pacific Ocean at Ruby Beach (“Ocean in View – O the Joy!”).  Continuing south on the Coast Highway I tried to stop at as many ocean viewpoints as possible before the highway turned inland, skirting the Quinault Reservation on my way to Olympic’s last stop for me, Quinault Rainforest.

Ruby Beach

There are several Indian reservations on the Olympic peninsula but like many elsewhere they are located primarily off the main roads, the people there are not interested in being your tourist attraction and they generally turn a cold shoulder to the Pacific Coast Highway.

From Olympic I traveled south on U.S. 101 but skipped the Lewis & Clark NHP Interpretive Center to get to my last campground at Paradise Point State Park at a reasonable hour.  When I woke the next morning and headed for the Columbia River Gorge it was my fifth and last (partial) day in Washington State, well within my allowable nine days in this beautiful state.  Next stop – Oregon.