I visit "Bavaria," in my Bavarian Motor Works.

[Veritable]

...well, as close as I can possibly get, anyways. Leavenworth, Washington, is one of the most famous Bavarian-themed village in all of North America. That in of itself is reason enough to visit, in a BMW. Total bonus that it's nestled right in one of the greatest drives of the Pacific Northwest: the Cascades Loop.

The car club used to do an annual trip there. They haven't done it since I joined, because orchestrating an international border crossing with 20-30 cars isn't easy. Still, old-timers in the club talked fondly about it, so I decided to give it a try last weekend.

Click here for the route as laid out by Google Maps.

Here's some pictures alongside US-2 on the descent from the 4000ft Stevens Pass (photography equipment is a Canon 50D, with Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, with B+W Circular Polarizer):







Here's Leavenworth. I wasn't able to include my car in any of the shots here, because I couldn't find any parking in the downtown core :-( So, that Crimson Red E90 328i sedan will have to do :-P













Here's Pateros, WA, on my way to WA-20 Eastbound to Omak, my overnight stop:





Twisp, WA on Day 2, getting ready for the North Cascades Highway (WA-20):




Finally, here's the spectacular ascent over Washington Pass, where I climbed over 3000ft in the span of 40min:






You may have noticed that my GoPro was mounted in various positions in the pictures. I have footages for most of the drive, but it will take me some time to sort through them. Here's a quicky upload showing you the aforementioned climb into Washington Pass, on WA-20 Westbound:

More videos will be posted in this thread as I cut them and upload them.


Here's a clip of my car climbing the Stevens Pass, and NOT keeping up to a Chrysler 200 Convertible. My car was no match for the Imported From Detroit Chrysler muscle....

(Actually, I was maintaining the 60-65mph speed limit throughout; not sure why he sped up so much past me, then slowed down so much, then almost ran into my lane as I passed him, then sped up so much again... with predictable result)


Here's US-2 Eastbound, past Stevens Pass and alongside Wenatchee River, ending with a slow drive-through of the Bavarian-themed town Leavenworth:

Here's the final 2 videos, both taken on Day 1. Check out the crazy weather on the 1st video... blue sky, sunshine, Harleys enjoying a nice countryside ride and... pouring rain at the same time?

The longer video showing you more of Washington State Route 20, through the Okanogan National Forest, one of the best roads I've ever been on.

[Gkap]

nice!

[Matterhorn]

Great pics and the MR color looks stunning.

[Glop]

Love the cascade loop! Great pics!

I should do that trip again...

[piloto]

Beautiful pics. Mind showing/sharing details of how the GoPro was mounted? Seems like a great spot for mounting it. Thanks in advance.

[Olagüe]

Beautiful yes!

[bavarian19]

nice!

[jonasaurus]

Nice one!

[GOLFFRR]

awesome pics! looks like a great trip

[IND-Distribution]

Wow those photos are amazing! I've got to visit some time.

[immiketoo]

Reminds me of my recent ED trip. I miss Bavaria

[mdosu]

fantastic!

Can you give me more info on your video-camera and mount? How do you control the camera remotely?

[richard313]

Great pictures!

I always see your car parked at Landsdown, Hard to forget that license plate

[ADV.1 Matt]

Absolutely stunning scenery! Thanks for sharing!

[FVM3]

I like your plate

[Veritable]

Originally Posted by piloto

Mind showing/sharing details of how the GoPro was mounted? Seems like a great spot for mounting it. Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by mdosu

Can you give me more info on your video-camera and mount? How do you control the camera remotely?

Here's a couple of close-up pictures of 2 of the GoPro mounts I did. It's just the Suction Cup Mount (that you can buy as an official GoPro accessory) and then some creative mounting ;-)



Used this position for most of US-2 Eastbound, up and over Stevens Pass.



Used this position for the majority of WA-20 Westbound, up and over Washington Pass, as you see in the video in the first post.

In addition to those 2, I've also done Roof Cam (for the amazing segment of WA-20 from Twisp to Omak) and Driver Side Window Cam (from where the first photos were taken into Leavenworth). Hopefully I can get some more videos up tonight....

Oops, forgot to mention that I don't have a remote for the GoPro. Instead, the 32GB SDHC card is good for 8hrs+ of videos, while the battery is good for at least 2hrs. So, I'd just mount it, start recording, and go until I stop for some pictures. If the battery gets low by then, I'd bring it inside the car to charge; then I mount it on the windshield or hanging off the sunroof and keep recording.

[IND-Distribution]

Just noticed your front plate- well played.

[Veritable]

Here's a clip of my car climbing the Stevens Pass, and NOT keeping up to a Chrysler 200 Convertible. My car was no match for the Imported From Detroit Chrysler muscle....

(Actually, I was maintaining the 60-65mph speed limit throughout; not sure why he sped up so much past me, then slowed down so much, then almost ran into my lane as I passed him, then sped up so much again... with predictable result)

[Glop]

LOL What a douche... Chrysler...

[Veritable]

Here's US-2 Eastbound, past Stevens Pass and alongside Wenatchee River, ending with a slow drive-through of the Bavarian-themed town Leavenworth:

[MikesBMW]

sweet vids, i guess there is no way to get just the exhaust noise and none of the wind

[M5007]

I would like to make that trip.