Monday, September 25, 2017

High Divide Amazement- Day 3-4

I woke up to the sun peaking up over the high points ready for another amazing day in Olympic National Park.
The climb out of the basin was very steep but over quickly, I stopped to enjoy the moss and rocks on the way up.
We continued along the ridgetop of the High Divide toward Heart Lake.
I got super excited to see the high meadows.
A view of the lakes below.
The views of Mt. Olympus were incredible and got better with every turn!
When we reached the turn off to Bogachiel Peak I got excited to get to the high point of the day. One of the other faster hikers and I stopped to enjoy watching our first black bear of the day in the meadow below and wait for the rest of our group to catch up.
I got a bit overly enthusiastic and when the group did catch up I did not realize that not everyone wanted to go to the top of the peak. I charged ahead to soak in the amazing view. When part of the group got back down we stayed in the high places and headed over to look at Hoh Lake, enjoying more views of Mt. Olympus on the way.
We spent some time having lunch and soaking in the amazement of these high places. I started to relax and be open to what the mountains had to teach me.
The ridge hiking where you can see along way in front. We enjoyed watching several more bears on the hillside below enjoying the blueberries.
I couldn't get enough of the views of Mt. Olympus.
Gazing down at the Hoh River below grateful for the ridge trail, seeing Mt. Olympus, and all the bear sightings.
We continued to enjoy Mt. Olympus and kept seeing many bears as we headed toward Heart Lake. The trail was a bit crowded, even with a long distance trail running group speeding by us! We hiked about 6 miles on day 3 enjoying every minute of this high country.
Once we got closer to Heart Lake the bears were everywhere! They were disinterested us and only had eyes for the wild blueberries but they were sure fun to watch.
It was lovely to see some of the color as these high places start to experience their very short fall season.
One last gaze at Mt. Olympus before turning toward heart lake.
The view of heart lake from above. We headed down to our campsite, enjoying the views of bears along the way.
Bear watching was definitely the evening's entertainment. They dotted the hillside.
I lost count at 14 bear sightings.
Again, we had to get six tents into one campsite because that is how the permit system works here. I was reflecting on abundance and what the wilderness provided being enough- my gear was lighter than ever despite the huge bear canister and enough- enough fuel even to share with a group member who needed some, enough room for six tents at the campsite, and being strong enough to make this trip.
Early in the morning of day four the clouds started rolling in to Heart Lake and we began our 8 mile hike out to the Sol Duc Trailhead.
The high stream leading down from Heart Lake was clear and lovely.
Along the way we enjoyed the waterfalls and mushrooms of this old growth forest. Getting back toward Sol Duc Falls reminded me of a miscarriage I had partially at Hurricane Hill and partially at Sol Duc. I was amazed to remember how that baby would be 12 years old. The woods really seemed to hold me in my grief that night.
I reflected on what my 19 year old self had to teach me from the summer of 1997- that was a time before some of my many big losses. I was so open to the woods and to learning about backpacking. I was willing to try solo camping and using my voices to lead church services on Sunday, which was terrifying. I was in such wonder and amazement of the wilderness of Olympic National Park- spent so much time running and hiking in the rain, watching the stars from the hot springs at night, and appreciated the high divide so much in August when the snow melted. The beach was also a favorite place- I was so amazed by third beach, taking a bus and hiking to spend a night alone right on the beach listening to the ocean, and then discovering that a waterfall on the bluff led straight into the ocean. That summer I learned to weave hemp necklaces, learned about marmots, discovered Tracy Chapman and the Indigo Girls, and the woods became more of my identity and safe, sacred place. I love my 39 year old self- still strong and brave, but the wonder and adventure of that 19 year old was lovely to remember.

High Divide Amazement- Day 1-2

Every summer I aim to go backpacking without kids at least once. This was my third adult backpacking trip and the grand finale of summer. I headed up toward Olympic National Park the most beautiful place on earth on a Wed night. After three attempts at campsites and discovering that the BLM campsites took only Discover passes in lieu of payment, I made the long late drive to the Hoh Rain forest where I had a cozy night in the back of my car.
The next morning I had a chance to explore the Hall of Mosses trail before heading out on my backpacking adventure. It was excellent to enjoy the early morning among the big trees.
This is one place that was not on fire and still green. The Hoh rain forest is lovely.
I finished the hike around soaking in all that the lush green rainforest had to offer.
So much beautiful moss.
I really liked this nurse stump. On my long drive out toward Sol Duc I made my camping coffee with some hot water from the gas station.
I arrived at the Sol Duc trailhood to find an eager group of five other hikers from the Seattle area. The first day was spent enjoying the Sol Duc forests. We hiked a half mile to Sol Duc Falls.
The falls were powerful and lovely. Sol Duc is like coming home. I lived at the hot springs resort for the summer and would run the trail to this very waterfall many days. While driving up the road I reflected on my first overnight in the woods of the North Fork of the Sol Duc river in early summer with many downed trees.
I fell in love with backpacking here as a 19 year old. Here I am reuniting with my memories of my 19 year old self.
We hiked a short 4 miles to Deer Lake which was our Thursday night campsite.
I really enjoyed the reflection and how beautiful the lake was.
We took a side trip toward Leech Lake that ended up being around 5 miles round trip. We discovered a little meadow.
This adventure had SO MANY delicious blueberries at every turn. I invested in a bear can big enough to take my oldest hiking here next summer. I LOVE Olympic National Park!!!
After a yummy blueberry full breakfast, we headed toward the seven lakes basin.
I started to feel like I was on top of the world.
I love hiking down ridge trails. The sunshine and high meadows made for an amazing day.
The blueberry bushes were starting to turn red.
Climbing up into the high places was amazing.
We started hiking down into the lake basin to round out a short 4.5 mile day.
We arrived at beautiful lunch lake and soaked in the view of the lake surrounded by the high places.
The water was sparkling! In the evening when I went down to filter I saw a black bear on the other side of the lake. There were also signs about goat herds following people waiting for them to pee but that did not seem to be an issue this year.
My hiking companions and I all took some time to relax and soak in the lake, sunshine, and high places as well as eat plenty more huckleberries.
Unfortunately, due to only having one permit, the ranger forced us to combine into one campsite. Here is our tetris of six tents to a campsite. Everyone had a peaceful night with some great memories of everything we had seen on days one and two...

Fun for Everyone- Camping, Swimming, Hiking, and Frogs!

Mom-We were super excited for a reunion with old friends. We took a long drive to Packwood, WA and then up to White Pass. I was a little nervous about finding a labor day campsite, but we hit the jackpot with a dispersed campsite next to Rimrock Lake.
Analise- I LOVED the water!   💗💓💔💕💖💗💚💙💛💜🖤💟💟🖤💝💜💛💑💓💔💖💖💗💮♥💗💚💠💝♡
Amy- Carolee's family had a floatie that was SOOOOOO much fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amy- We were sort of fighting over the floatie.
Amy- The water was SOOOO cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT as cold as Opal Creek/Opal Pool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom- We had our own private beach and took turns paddling out to the little island.
Mom- The campsite was spacious and right above a nice little lake beach.
 Analise- I caught a cute baby frog and named her Annie! The next day I caught A LOT of frogs and named one "Miss Beautiful." 💓💗💖💘💚💛💜💕💘💟💓🎔💝💖💛💜❤♥♡
Amy- We had a little ride which resulted in me "giving" Isaac the floatie.
 Analise- This is me waving my fish hook.
Mom- Enjoying the sunrise on day 2.
 Analise- I LOVED Scout the dog. We got to stay at our campsite for three days! 💗💖💘💙💚💛💜💓
Mom- We convinced the kids to head back up to White Pass and go for a hike. Here we are in a meadow. I was so proud of Analise who made it four miles, about halfway on our friend Mike's shoulders.
Amy- I swam in Deer Lake.
 Analise- 💓💖💗💘💙💚💛💜 I LOVED playing in the water at Deer Lake.
Amy- Deer Lake was SOOOOOOOOO MUCH fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mom- I enjoyed hiking and seeing Deer Lake as well.
Mom- Our friends Mike and Elijah went for a float at Deer Lake.
 Analise- 💓💖💗💘💙💚💛💚💛💜😍I LOVED the mud.
Mom- Friend Janelle, Elijah, and I went a little farther to explore Sand Lake.
Mom- A beautiful high meadow near Sand Lake.
Mom- Sand Lake was very sandy.
 Analise- 💖😻💟 I hiked FOUR miles and LOVED hiking with the dog Scout and his family.
Mom- Reminder of our connection with the long trail I hope to someday hike. We hiked a tiny piece of it this day.
Mom- Back at Rimrock Lake enjoying the view.
Amy- One of those days, we kayaked to an island on our lake.
 Analise- 💖💏💟💝 Our friend Carolee let me borrow her hoodie. It was COZY!!!
Mom- I have almost given up on camping and hiking with Analise and was super pleased to have such a great adventure with both girls. I think having a lake, a dog, and friends made a big difference. We hope to see our friends again soon and were glad for this Labor Day weekend adventure.