roadtrip | summer 2011 | sat aug 6 | hot spring, cold lake & a waterfall

We left the campground after a lovely pancake breakfast, and headed up the road to Sol Duc. The sun was shining and the mountain valley filled with daisies, foxglove and yellow buttercups.

We stopped along the road at a trailhead for the Ancient Grove, and wound around through moss and giant trees. The trail went alongside the Sol Duc river, which carved the valley down from the snowy peaks. It was rushing below, fast for so late in the season. There are many places where the river has carved out the banks, leaving an enormous tree's roots exposed. Only a few well-placed supports keep the giants standing upright. Fallen trees, too, dot the forest floor in all states of decay.

These old-growth woods are the stuff of fairy lands, with wood bridges, sunlit clover and carpets of thick neon moss. It's a place of decay—but not the sad, ruinous type of decay, rather the joyful thick scent of wood so old and wet and soft it falls into pieces at a touch, where beetles and birds flicker in and out of the sunlight, and creatures make their homes in the hollows of giant tree trunks.

We kept going up the road to the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, a developed site with several different pools. We took in the baths and the stinky, sulphury water for a couple of hours. The fountain pool was warm and soft, crowded with visitors of all ages. The small pool was hot and muscle-meltingly delightful, even in the warm sun. And the big pool was the perfect temperature, and it was fun to dive and swim in the un-chlorinated water.

At the Sol Duc Hot Springs, cold pool.

After the springs we kept going another mile or so to the end of the valley, where the trailhead starts for Sol Duc Falls. We ate our lunch on the grass in the parking area. It was sunny and warm, with clear skies. After lunch we headed up the short trail to the falls, through more of the mossy glens with towering trees. There's a rock cascade on the trail just before the falls that captures the tranquil beauty of trickling streams, the thousand little creeks that feed the rivers that follow the rivers to the sea.

Small cascade, Sol Duc Falls trail.

The falls themselves are beautiful, a steep cataract through a water-carved gorge flowing fast beneath the foot bridge. Not the biggest, or grandest falls we've ever seen, but delightfully rich. Standing near the top at the overlook, the water sprays out in a fine mist. It must be a different feeling to stand in that place on a cold, gray autumn day, but on a warm sunny Saturday in summer, it was perfect.

Sol Duc Falls, at the top of the falls before the bridge.

We drove back down out of the valley and to Lake Crescent, but instead of going back to the campsite we went to visit the Lake Crescent Lodge nearby. It's one of the old Park Service lodges, on the south-eastern shore of the lake. There are little wood-sided cabins, a boat house with a dock, and a rustic-style lobby and lounge.

We rented a canoe and paddled around, over to a small cove to swim and see the drop-off underwater. Adrian and I wore our goggles and looked out into the turquoise depths. The girl at the boat dock said the lake is known to be at least 625' deep, but many believe it is much deeper.

When we were warm and dry after our swim, and after returning the canoe, we had a rest and a drink at the lodge. We sat on the begonia-strewn veranda looking out at the lake. I can only imagine what it must have been like 80 years ago -- wealthy Seattle lumber barons dressing for dinner, hiking to the falls in woolen coats and tall leather boots, rowing on the lake in the early mornings.

On the veranda at Lake Crescent Lodge.

We got back to camp around dinner time, and roasted hot dogs on sticks over the open fire. We cooked s'mores and went to bed happy and tired.


read about Sun, Aug 7th>

roadtrip | summer 2011 | fri aug 5 | to the peninsula

This was a big moment for us—we were heading for the Olympic Peninsula. We'd planned to visit this part of the country in 1996, as part of our 3-month cross-country trip. But when we pulled into Seattle, after a quick call home, we found out we were out of money. I mean, really out of money. So we had to head back, and promised to come this way again.

Then, in 2009, we planned to trek this way for a week in May. We printed brochures and set aside a week to make the trip. But suddenly I was out of a job, and we weren't going to be able to make it—and in a strange set of circumstances, we ended up moving to Seattle instead. Two years later, we finally had the time and funds and everything lined up: we were heading out to the peninsula to see the big trees, the wild coast and the long range of snow-capped mountains we can see from our kitchen window. It took us 15 years to make it back here. This was going to be big.

We left early to catch the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, hoping to avoid the Friday rush and get a campsite in Olympic National Park. Of all the places we had on the itinerary, this was the most unsure—they don't take reservations at most of the park's campsites. It's a first-come-first-served rush to secure a spot during busy summer weekends. We crossed our fingers and headed straight for the Lake Crescent area at the northern edge of the park, just a half hour from Port Angeles.

Our first choice was the Fairholme campgrounds at the western edge of the lake. We drove slowly through the loops, looking for a spot—and found one of the very last ones, just as a whole line of cars pulled in behind us. Success! And just in time for lunch, a bike ride and a stroll down to the lake.

Fairholme campground, lunch time.

At a small cove, Matty and Adrian took a little swim in the cold glacial water. The lake water is crystal blue, almost completely without nitrogen so without any algae growth. It's clear, cold and clean. The bottom drops off quickly, and you can see through to fallen trees and sunken boulders in the depths.

A cold, quick dip in Lake Crescent.

We spent the late afternoon on a little beach by the general store, moving our chairs every now and then to soak up the last rays of the sun. That night we built a fire and grilled hamburgers, followed by an old-fashioned marshmallow roast.

As the sky grew darker and darker, we heard a strange bird call near our site. A yelping, screeching call. Adrian shone a light up into the tree branches above us, where we saw an owl sitting quite close. Really close. By it's fluffy, ruffled feathers and uneven coloring we could tell it was a juvenile, with white and grey spots on its belly and white in the back.

In the middle of the night we heard it again, this time two of them. Adrian and I shuffled around in our sleeping bags and quietly unzipped the tent window, slowly shining the light up into the tree. There they were, not more than 15 feet from our tent! It's rare to see these secretive birds at all, much less twice in a night, so close.

Artist's rendering of
owl, tent & family.

The next day we looked through a couple of guide books, and asked a ranger to confirm what kind they might have been. We're almost positive they were Northern Spotted Owls, the famous birds that have been the source of conflict between loggers and environmentalists for years. The birds' rapidly declining numbers have brought to light the differences between new and old growth forests in the pacific northwest—the owls are at the top of a food chain that depends on multi-layered forests with trees that are more than 60+ years old. (I think it goes something like this: fungus grows on tree, flying squirrel eats fungus, owl eats flying squirrel.) They've been on the news. They're protected by the Endangered Species Act.

I like to think they were saying hello. Welcome to the peninsula. We're glad you made it.


read about Sat, Aug 6th>

roadtrip | summer 2011 | introduction

This was no spur-of-the-moment trip. We started planning in February. Campsites were reserved, maps examined, routes plotted. Our car camping kit got a tune-up (thicker sleeping pads, new camp chairs that fold flat and stack.) Our car was outfitted with a cargo box and bike rack. We were ready to go. Except it was still spring.

So we waited, and waited through the grey, the rain, the cold. "It'll all be better," we thought, "on our trip. It will be sunny. The birds will chirp. Summer will come."

Well, summer didn't come. We waited for the sun to come out all through June, through July. Wasn't it supposed to be sunny? A short warm-up camping trip in July had rain every day. Would it RAIN on our trip? Inconceivable! Right?

Right! I'm happy to say that as we pulled out on the first day of our trip, there was no rain, and no forecast of rain. Besides one or two cloudy days, and one very foggy mountain drive, we had great weather and an easy drive. Summer did come, and we set off to explore our newly-adopted state, to see the places that are a bit too far and a bit too remote for weekend drives. We drove for 9 days, covering more than 1400 miles up and down and around. Our goal was to be on the move almost every day, to take in lots of places rather than hunker down at only one or two -- the idea was that we'd be able to identify the places we'd like to come back to, places where we'd like to spend a little more time.

We limited our explorations to the southwestern corner of the state of Washington, with a few forays into Oregon along the border. Originally we'd planned for a full "Tour de Washington," except it turns out Washington is big. Really big. But even with our time limit, our route took us through temperate rainforests, coastal beaches, mossy glens, volcanic wastelands and hot, dry desert buttes. We saw the moon through a telescope, spotted spotted owls and ate briny oysters hot from the grill. We soaked in hot, sulphury pools. We slept to the sound of the waves.

Washington is a truly exceptional state.


Here's our route, with the major stopping points:

I've chronicled each day of our trip on this blog, along with a few of our photos. You can also just look at the photos on Flickr—there are many more there than would fit in this blog.

We can't wait to do more touring around Washington. After two years in Seattle, we've done our best to take day trips, weekends and any other time we can squeeze in, and yet we've only just begun. There are so many more places to explore!

Enjoy.


read about Fri, Aug 5>