10th anniversary trip

Jack and I went away for a week on our own in mid June for an early 10th anniversary celebration.   My parents generously stayed at our house with the kids.  By this point we were fully vaccinated, but still felt that a simpler trip, close to home made the most sense for us, so we drove to the Olympic Peninsula.  Here are 10 things we did.

1)  Sunday - we lucked out and caught the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston with only a 5 minute wait and walked 6 miles on the Olympic Discovery Trail, along Lake Crescent.  We did a short side trail to see the Devil's punch bowl.   We stayed in a cozy, little cabin near La Push.

2)  Monday - Our most ambitious hike was 13 miles up Mt. Muller (3350 ft net elevation gain).  We saw one person leaving the parking lot as we arrived an no one else for the whole 8 hours it took us.  Before we were engulfed in clouds we saw a bit of the spectacular views that motivate the trail.   It was hard and we were still learning (again?) just how far off out smart watches are when it comes to hiking distances.  At three separate points we though "oh there are just five miles to go", first from believing Jack's watch and them from misidentifying a landmark rock described in the guide book.   The last bit was nice and flat and I'm proud of myself for doing it.   Getting back to the car at 8:15 pm meant that dinner was tricky.   Luckily the grocery store in Forks was still open so we bought a frozen pizza and some other supplies and ate dinner in bed.

 

we already know my apple watch overestimates distance by about 25%

3)  Tuesday - We took it easy and walked 4 miles (total) to Third Beach.  We found a log big enough to string up our hammock.  It was sunny.

4)  Wednesday - It was a very rainy morning when we checked out of our cabin.  By the time we got to Kalaloch beach at noon it was sunny again.  We did a short walk (2 miles) along the beach and then drove on to Lake Quinault Lodge.  The trails just behind the lodge were surprisingly nice and we walked another 1.5 miles and ate dinner at the lodge.   Everything was still take out style so we ate most dinners outside and breakfasts in our room there.

evidence of bears behind the lodge

Jack at the spot where his mom and step dad got married way back when

5)  Thursday - After resting we were ready to try another peak.  We went part way up Colonel Bob Peak (starting to the south with Pete's Creek trail).  As expected from a Memorial Day trip report, Moonshine Flats was covered in snow so we turned around there so it ended up being a 6.5 miles hike with 3,500 feet of elevation.   Without my hiking poles I would have twisted my ankles 10 times over.  We saw only two other hikers who proceeded up in to the snow at 3:45 pm in shorts with light packs and several more miles than us down to the other trailhead they started from.  We took bears pretty seriously on this trip.  I even wore the bear bell to make noise on my pack and we sang and shouted as we got near noisy water to avoid surprising any bears.   On the drive out we did startle a bear and got to watch it run away down the road a bit, while sitting safely in our car.

6)  Friday - Quintessential Olympic Peninsula rain arrive on Friday and we hiked 3.5 wet miles along the east fork of the Quinault River with quite a few other people.   Back at the lodge we swam in beautiful indoor pool again and played a great board game called Seven Wonders Duel, which we've only played three times in four busy years.  I won :)

7)  Saturday - We left at 7 am to get back for D's last baseball game, since Jack was the coach.

8)  We read aloud Piranesi, the new book by Susanna Clarke.

9)  In a stroke of good fortune, just before our trip we learned that a TV series had been made from the book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, also by Susanna Clarke, so we were able to buy and download it before we left good internet access.  We both read the book about 10 years ago and then over the past six months or so we listened to the audiobook together for a second read.   Clearly it's a good book and the show was done very well.

10)  We enjoyed time together without work (mostly), kids or much cooking and we slept!