We hiked up a mountain (again)

Last weekend, we hiked up Hurricane Hill, just like we did last year. The biggest difference was that this year, there was a lot more snow. I mean a lot more. The pack from last winter was dramatically more than the year before, which I think must be a good thing.

Mt. Baker is just barely visible in the distance:

We saw an Olympic Marmot, which was bigger and more golden than I remembered.

And there was no shortage of deer.

Silas enjoyed making snowballs (and then holding onto them until they melted away).

Hello little cloud.

On the way home, we were waylaid by a bridge opening on the Hood Canal Bridge. This gave me a rare opportunity to get out of the car whilst on the bridge in order to take a picture of the Olympic Mountains.
Thus ended our day trip to the mountains.

We hiked to the ocean

Last Sunday we hiked to Cape Alava/Sand Point. This is a 9.2 mile triangle: 3 miles from the trail head to the ocean, 3 miles along the coast, and 3 miles back to the trail head. I was afraid that, going at a 4 year old's pace, we wouldn't make it up the coast before the tide came back in. When the tide is high, this is a much more difficult hike, as the beach along certain stretches becomes submerged, and the only way to get through is to swim, or haul yourself up a cliff with a rope. To avoid that possibility, we walked around Sand Point for quite a while, then headed back up the path. So, about 7 miles overall.

The forest, on the hike in:
Checking out a location for a potential driftwood house:

Look, ma, I'm at the ocean!

On the top of what Silas calls "Dragon Mountain."

Me.

Us.

Strong (little) man:

Putting the finishing touch on the driftwood house:

Ta-da!

Enough of us. Here's what we came to see:



It rained during the hike back. Thankfully, the rainforest canopy kept us from getting totally drenched (sort of).

Long day. Good day.

Hike to the light house!

There we are: A happy little family enjoying the view from the top of the Dungeness Spit lighthouse. We don't look a bit frazzled, over-heated or exhausted.
Well, maybe a bit. It's actually a hike of over 5 miles to get from the mainland out to the end of the spit, where the lighthouse sits. Here's a view from the mainland:
Can you see that tiny speck way out on the horizon, just to the left of the trees? Probably not, but that little speck was our destination.
As we started out, we thought, like all the other times we'd come to the Spit, that we'd just walk a ways and then turn back. After all, it was only mid-morning and already verging on intensely hot. But as we got a mile or so away from shore, a breeze picked up and it became bearable. By the time we stopped to eat lunch, we were far enough along that there was no sense in turning back, and we decided to go the whole way.
We made a deal with Silas that if he walked all the way to the lighthouse, Drew would carry him back.
We were all very proud of ourselves when we beheld this sight:
Still a 10+ mile hike with no shade did leave it's mark, although Silas was magically spared sunburn. Poor Drew was sore for days after carrying our 35 pound son on his back for 5 miles. But it was all worth it.

The Spit is a national wildlife refuge, particularly for birds. Along with a few seals, we saw...
A Bald Eagle...
a Peregrine Falcon (much bigger than an eagle, which I wasn't expecting)...
And a lone Brant.

Silas has spent the past week talking about lighthouses, and this morning, we built one out of blocks. This hike definitely left an impression on all of us :)

The Olympic Mountains behind you, the Canadian coastal range in front and water all around...If you are ever out on the Olympic Peninsula, DO NOT miss Dungeness Spit. Even if you don't go all the way out to the lighthouse, this is still one of the most gorgeous places you could ever find yourself.

Merymere Falls

...a few pictures from last week's adventure: Marymere Falls, near Lake Crescent.
Checking out the river...
...and crossing the old, narrow log bridges.
Goofing around on the river bank...
...and hanging out on moss-covered boulders.
That was last week's adventure. This week's: the Dungeness spit, where we will hopefully catch a breeze off of the water and have break from the heat.

Until next time...

Big mountain, little hiker

Last week, we took Silas on his biggest hike to date: The Hurricane Hill Hike in the Olympics.
We brought the backpack carrier but didn't end up needing it. Our little mountain man walked the ENTIRE 6 plus miles, and perhaps not unexpectedly, managed the 1,700 feet elevation gain better than many of the adults we encountered on the trail.

On the way back down the mountain, we ran into many exhausted people who asked if he walked the whole way. "Yes" I said, "and if our 3 year-old can do it, so can you!"
We saw a lot of wildlife, including an overabundance of deer. They were everywhere! Look I spy one now:
And there's another:
This little chipmunk was so tame, she'd run across our hands and nibble our fingers. Even so, we resisted the temptation to drop a few bits of granola bar her way.
I recon that Silas hasn't seen snow since we were in Wisconsin in February of 09, so getting to touch some of the permanent snow was a big deal for him:
Look son, over yonder...
Now that Silas has completed this adventure, we are hoping to get a few more hikes in before fall, including one along the coast.

Grand Forest

We have been taking advantage of nice weather and hiking up in the Grand Forest a lot lately.
Our cat often walks with us for the first 15 minutes or so. He takes off when we get to a house occupied by horses and barking dogs.

This is the easement into the forest. Privately owned land is on either side of the path, and it's the only way into the park from our neighborhood.
Up in the park...I usually let Silas decide which way we'll go.
We twist and wind our way through the trees.
The forest is big enough that we usually only cover part of it while we're up there.
Finally, on the way back down, we meet a sunny path:
I will miss living in walking distance from such an awesome place, although there will be plenty of new places to explore around our new home. And I'm sure we'll be back to visit. It will be only 15 minutes away, after all :)