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It was a wedding invitation that first brought me to the Pacific Northwest six years ago, and I have been returning every year since to explore the mountains and the West Coast from British Columbia to northern California. Accessibility? 

Well at times it can be challenging, but it’s definitely doable if you have an adventurer’s soul and a willing companion. My husband and I found accessible trails on mountain tops, along the ocean and rivers, and in some of the most beautiful parks in both countries. Places like Stanley Park in Vancouver, which has a 9-kilometer bike/blade/walk path along its perimeter and a dozen paved pathways in its 1,000 acre interior, we found to be accessible by wheelchairs.

We also discovered accessible paths on the majestic 14,410 ft. Mt. Rainier in Washington, on Crater Lake and the miles of beautiful coastline in Oregon, and among the redwood forests on Mt. Shasta and at Yosemite National Park in California. I will go into greater detail about each of these and other accessible places in future articles, but for now I want to give you some tips about getting there and getting around if you use a wheelchair.

When I travel I use my 12-year old Quickie P-200 power chair, because it’s heavy duty enough for hiking trails, the back folds down for easy stowage in airplane cargo holds, and it can be disassembled into liftable parts if need be. When we first went out West, we rented a car and took the chair apart and put it in the trunk. However, assembling and disassembling, and lifting the pieces in and out of the trunk got old and cumbersome pretty quick. So we bought a portable aluminum ramp for $300 online and started renting a van instead. The ramp folds in half and can be carried like a suitcase. It goes through baggage with my other luggage at no cost because it is considered an accessory to my wheelchair.