Olympic Peninsula

On a recent week off we visited the Olympic Peninsula. Monday morning we headed out the scenic route. Starting through nearby Trout Lake for some huckleberry rolls at the cafe. NF-23 is 67 miles north to Randle. All but 11 miles were paved but some of that was frost heaved worse than the washboard gravel from lil' yeti's perspective. A couple cabinet doors were opened and their contents strewn all over inside. But nothing messy or broken, fortunately.

At Randle we found an IGA with lunch fixin's. Then US-12 west to Marys Corner, and I-5 north to Tumwater (near Olympia). US-101 north lead to Seal Rock CG (Olympic NF) in Quilcene for the night. It's near Dabob Bay on Hood Canal which connects with Puget Sound. The beach was surprisingly rocky with the unsurprising aroma of low tide.

That or overflowing dumpsters from weekend visitors. But a timely trash truck emptied them during our after dinner walk, which was a mixed blessing.

Tuesday we continued up 101 (aka, Pacific Coast Highway) to Port Angeles and Olympic National Park. Nice visitor center. Helpful staff. Good orientation film. Excellent displays.

Williams Mine

For this weekend's hike I parked at the Williams Mine trailhead. I started up the Pacific Crest Trail at about 4,000' elevation.

The day's loop was 15.9 miles total. The midpoint of my path was on the eastern side of the loop at about 6,100' elevation. That's about halfway up the west side of Mt Adams.

Cultus Trial

One reason for residing in the Pacific Northwest this summer was to do some hiking. That's central to my health plan. Between the Gifford Pinchot NF and the Cascade Mountains, nature was calling. So it was time to answer.

I started with the Buck Creek trail. It was a 3.9 mile spur with about 1,200' elevation gain. So about 7.8 miles round trip. But I had two false starts. The first was heading west from the trailhead. The trail started descending immediately, which didn't seem right. But I did see a nice buck!

That trail also joined a horse trail. So I returned to the truck and started again, east this time. That quickly turned south, and showed even more equestrian evidence. So I deduced it connected to the horse camp just down the road.

WA & OR Exploring

Summer is off to a good start. Conboy Lake NWR in southern WA is nice. After winter in the Mojave Desert it's so green up here. Weather's pleasant. The refuge is small and quiet. Friendly staff. Few visitors. Mostly birders. That makes Loretta's job easy (if sometimes boring) to run the visitor center. Meanwhile, I'm busy with heavy equipment projects.

Schedule flexibility has been great. That's helped with blocks of days off to explore the area. We started with a couple of 3-day trips. First we went west to Panther Creek Campground in nearby Gifford Pinchot National Forest for 2 nights.

The lush, dense forest was so cool. The under story was carpeted with ferns. Branches were draped with "old man's beard" moss.

5,000 Hours

I started resident volunteering in 2012. Beginning as a camp host in Death Valley National Park, Furnace Creek CA. I confirmed a great way to winterize my RV. Just park it by a cactus, palm tree, or both!

After two winters I moved on to Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake CO. Summer 2014 I mainly did interpretation. That meant giving historic tours, staffing the visitor center desk and roving trails. Plus managing traffic jams caused by elk and moose, especially during the fall rut. Interpretation was a great learning experience. But I also did a special project: building a pack animal shelter.