Pacific Northwest 2018
7/22
Olivia, the kids’ babysitter and a friend, dropped us off at the airport at 4pm and headed back to home with instructions to watch Cassie, Ali, and Beebop. Alaskan Airways flight 753 with a flight path towards Charlotte then towards Flathead Lake or Cor’d Alane (some big lake). Most of the flight was great visibility. We followed the setting sun across the US. Especially cool to see Rainier on approach to Seattle!
We shuttled to the Hilton Garden Inn in Renton and we all went to sleep easily at 10pm Seattle time - 1:00 AM our body time!
7/23
Our bodies were generous and let us sleep in until 630 PST/9 EST. Microwave oatmeal for breakfast and Enterprise was ready for business. Off we went towards the Olympic Penninsula.
Sights along the way were amazing - 10 min after leaving the hotel Mt. Rainier peeked over the trees. Once past Tacoma, the road was flanked with cedar and spruce trees. The maritime smell and Adirondack type forest reminded us of Nova Scotia. We passed under a bridge in Bremerton that had graffiti that read “Love you Sam””Love you Hannah”. Our highlight was stopping for a drawbridge on the bridge and getting out of the car looking at Olympic Mountains to SW and sea to N.
Realizing we were still on N.C. time an 11am lunch was a good thing. We stopped at a state park and bought a “Discovery Pass” for entry to all state parks (a $30 cost). The Park Ranger suggested 2 restaurants in nearby Sequim (pronounced Squim). We ended up at The Oasis and had beautiful fish tacos with great chunks of cod. After lunch, we wandered north
through lavender fields to Dungeness Spit, a 2.5 mile sand spit with a lighthouse at the end along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, across fromVancouver Island.
Realizing we were still on N.C. time an 11am lunch was a good thing. We stopped at a state park and bought a “Discovery Pass” for entry to all state parks (a $30 cost). The Park Ranger suggested 2 restaurants in nearby Sequim (pronounced Squim). We ended up at The Oasis and had beautiful fish tacos with great chunks of cod. After lunch, we wandered north
Both kids really got into closeup and "concept" photos. Here is a batch of their camera play throughout the trip:
Our next stop was the house -the big house -1354 Ripplebrook - a house that was almost perfect for John, Judy, Andrew, Val, Laura, Gabriella, Andrea, Molly, Wendy, Michael, Carolyn, Richard and the four of us.
7/24
Rousing 16 people is not an easy task but after a good breakfast, we all made our way to the Hurricane Ridge visitors center. After discussion with a ranger we decided to go up Hurricane Hill a 4 mile round trip with a 1000ft elevation gain.
The views were spectacular! And the snow pack on the Baltic Range was amazing. Picnic lunch on top - including PB&J and WA cherries -then we headed back down. Sam was not too fond of the long walk or carrying anything,
At the bottom of the road, we spontaneously decided to go west to Crescent Lake. Talking ourselves out of our concern for swimmers itch (based on a report elsewhere on the lake) and in spite of no bathing suit for Brent, we had a lovely couple of hours at the day use beach at Crescent Lodge. Beautiful water -nice and cold! Molly, Brent, Hannah, Sam. Sara, Gabriella, Laura and Andrea swam, jumped off the dock, paddle boarded or just enjoyed the warm pebble beach. Even had a trout come up to Sam’s feet! Hannah paddle boarded as did Molly and Sam. Andrea and Laura jumped off the dock into beautiful aquamarine water!
7/25
Today we decided on an adventure the Wilkes had previously done before our arrival. We loaded the cars and took a left at the end of Ripplebrook and went up Deer Park Road to the top of Blue Mountain.The last 8 miles of road are single lane forest service road with hairpin curves, no guardrails and steep drop offs, climbing to 6200 ft. The top is bald- alpine meadow- and the views are 360 degrees and stunning!
The .25-.5 mile loop gives us great views of the NE, and central peninsula. Across the bay to the North is Canada - Victoria on Vancouver Island. Off in the distance to the E we can see Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier. Sara was not a fan of the drive but made it and enjoyed the views from the top!
Mt. Olympus as seen from Blue
Port Angeles from Blue
Molly and Sam
Stepping back to remember one bit of the story, Mike and Wendy did not go up Blue Mountain with us because they were to take Carolyn to Port Angeles to catch her bus which would take her to the airport. Unfortunately, there was no bus, even though she had reservations! She and several others were left in the lurch, so W and M drove C to the ferry somewhere that connected her to some transport which finally got her to her destination in time for her flight. After all of that driving W and M were not up the for the drive to Blue Mountain or our afternoon adventures which led the rest of us to Port Williams State Park beach.
The time change caught up with Sam and he fell asleep on the way and stayed asleep while all others unloaded and headed out along the beach. Fortunately, he awoke 15 minutes later and rejoined the group with Sara, who had stayed back with him. It was a great long beach with cold water
and plenty of seaweed. Brent and Sam dunked themselves in the cold water. Hannah, not to be outdone, went next, then Molly. Several helped to build a sandcastle out of rocks, sand and seaweed! The rest enjoyed the view and conversation.
7/26
Today’s plan - Sol Duc Falls. We stopped first at the Ancient Groves trail which is a glorious old growth trail in the forest.
It was short but it was beautiful with huge trees, taller than is seen in NC, even at the Joyce Kilmer park near the Smokies. It was a short distance to the trail to the falls the falls.
So it’s a .8 mile trail from the parking lot to the falls, but in true Hubbell fashion, we got adventurous and after we made it to the falls, which were stunning, we decided to return along “Lovers Lane” trail. At the falls, this trail is marked as 2.7 miles, then we discover it is 3 miles, and we come out on the road, 1.7 miles from the car. So Brent gets to take a 5.5 mile hike and be the shuttle for the two other drivers! The woods are beautiful with ferns as tall as the adults. We saw grouse.
Amazing old growth sitka firs that are apparently up to 750 years old.
As a treat we all stop again at Crescent Lake. Sara, who wanted to go to the Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach, but instead settled for the Sol Duc adventure found her happy place
because she got in up to her neck in the pleasantly chilly lake.
Everyone waded into the water, which was fun!
It was short but it was beautiful with huge trees, taller than is seen in NC, even at the Joyce Kilmer park near the Smokies. It was a short distance to the trail to the falls the falls.
So it’s a .8 mile trail from the parking lot to the falls, but in true Hubbell fashion, we got adventurous and after we made it to the falls, which were stunning, we decided to return along “Lovers Lane” trail. At the falls, this trail is marked as 2.7 miles, then we discover it is 3 miles, and we come out on the road, 1.7 miles from the car. So Brent gets to take a 5.5 mile hike and be the shuttle for the two other drivers! The woods are beautiful with ferns as tall as the adults. We saw grouse.
Amazing old growth sitka firs that are apparently up to 750 years old.
As a treat we all stop again at Crescent Lake. Sara, who wanted to go to the Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach, but instead settled for the Sol Duc adventure found her happy place
The evening capped off with fun family time in the hot tub and glow in the dark bocci ball and soccer circle. I love this family!
7/27
We said goodbye to Andrew, Val, John and Judy as they departed for CA and see you later to Wendy and Michael as they headed to Rainier and set off with Richard and Laura’s crew to caravan on our way to Seattle. We caught the ferry at Port Townsend and ate lunch onboard. We noticed they had ready entertainment with puzzles set up on tables to put together. The ferry seemed to cover the distance quickly and we disembarked for some time at local military grounds (Fort Casey) a WWII defense left as state park land.
We then headed to Deception Pass. Just before the bridge is a state park with an easy beach access to view the bridge.
From here we said goodbye to Laura’s crew as they headed on to their home. Richard joined us and we drove over the bridge.
Richard and Brent walked over the bridge to get some pics and actually saw a whale in the water below!
After a dinner at Anthony’s, we dropped Richard off in W Seattle and we headed to our next abode, which was just a couple of blocks away from Seattle Center. Temps in the area have been in the high 80s/low 90s which is a great in July in NC but very hot in Seattle where only 1/3 of private residencies have AC. None of our accommodations had AC - good thing we didn’t spend much time in the rooms!
7/28
Brent’s Fitbit said he did 14+ miles and 31k steps today! And that was in the city. It was a busy day. We started by finding a French bakery for breakfast,
then going to Seattle City Center, where, on a whim we bought tickets to the Space Needle and The Chihuly Glass Exhibit. WOW!
By the way, your can see how conveniently located we were - this picture shows both our accommodations and our parking. That's our blue car in the lot between the blue and green field and the yellow lettered "SKYE", and our abode is across that one street in the center - the tan with darker gray top building.
From there we strolled down the wharf to Pike Place Market where we found yummy treats and left gum on the Gum Wall.
Then we strolled farther south past the Seattle Art Museum to the amazing library - Seattle Central.
The children’s section was much larger than any one we have at home. We took a break and let the kids pick out some books to read for a bit. After the break, we set off to find the REI store where Hannah and Sam were able to try out their 65 foot climbing wall. Both made it to the top!
7/29
We checked out of Seattle ASAP, but not in at Rainier (Ashford, actually) until 3. We took our time and stopped first at Mt. Baker Lake Beach which had a diving board but also was cold and kelpy. We then headed to Alki Beach on the ocean with views of Seattle.
Pretty cool neighborhood and the beach seem to be Seattle’s version of Miami Beach with dive groups, joggers, volleyball - lots going on! But the water was cold and Sam and Hannah didn’t want to swim, Sam seems to be showing some signs of homesickness. Maybe it is because he got his head squeezed in the rotating doors at Target after getting gum for the Gum Wall at Pike Place yesterday... We head on towards Rainier, stopping in Graham at Safeway for gas and supplies. We had been touch with Wendy and Mike and planned to have them over for dinner. Alder lake looked like a nice stop but wasn’t so much. The water was so low that the bottom was muddy, squishy and no one wanted to get in it.
After dinner, Wendy and Mike headed back to their place and we headed up to Paradise - so nice to go in at evening light. There was no traffic and plenty of parking! We came back slowly stopping at all of the pull offs. Brent got wet in Kamura creek in the milky glacier water, whitened with glacial "flour".
As we were leaving the Paradise parking lot, Richard texts us. Apparently, the text had finally gone through and appeared as he was leaving Paradise just as we were arriving! He decides to wait at Ashford house for us and we give him our leftover salmon dinner so he got to have dinner with us anyway! And instead of driving back to Seattle, we invited him to stay with us for the night - a treat we hadn’t counted on!
7/30
Even though Brent set an alarm for 6am, we woke up before it went off and were able to get out by 7:05 with plans to meet Wendy and Mike at Paradise while Richard headed back to Seattle. We wanted to hike with them before they headed back to Seattle for their flight home the next day. After strolling around a bit haphazardly through the meadows around Paradise,
we finally picked our way to the Nisqually Vista Trail which, according to the book our friend Jeff lent us, was “the trail to see, if God forbid, you only have 1/2 hour in the Park." The meadow flowers and spruce were beautiful, the horse and deer flies terrifying!
Not biting due to DEET but still buzzing in relentlessly. The views were stupendous!
After our goodbyes to Wendy and Mike we took a stroll through the gift shop and visitors center before an early lunch on the deck of the Paradise Inn, under the some construction, but a great place for a picnic lunch before another lovely meadow stroll to Myrtle Falls.
So when we say meadow, keep in mind the covered terrain -volcanic mountain Cascade Plate. The visitor’s center is at 5400ft, while the top of Rainier is some 14,400 feet. So there is some up and down. But ours is a walk in the woods compared to the adventurers we see with skis strapped to backpacks of those who intend to get up to the snowpack and enjoy a nice ski run -at the end of July!
After leaving Paradise we drove east a few miles to see iconic Reflection Lake and rather than hiking the 3.5 mile loop, we poked along the shore for a while.
Sam and Brent kept trying to get a decent shot of the jumping fish but that proved too difficult to time. We did manage to find a pair of small trout in a still pool and got a pic of one!
Because of the breeze there was not a decent reflection but the area was a hot spot for photographers and tours. We did manage to find some more snow -in July!
Once again, we headed back to Ashford and Brent took the first nap of the trip! We drove back to Alder lake but still found it too low for our liking so we filled the gas tank and found Rainier Base Camp where we let Hannah and Sam play in their climbing wall,
ate some dinner, had some beer and enjoyed an ice cream cone. Then, this became the first time we played any of the games be brought! Brent also rinsed down the car - still coated in Blue Mountain and Deer Park Road dust!
7/31
Last day of July. Last day of our trip. We are all ready to head home. Sam and Hannah have done really, much better on this trip, but they are still young!
Sam has had to cope with no devices for pretty much the entire trip due to poor choices and Hannah lost her tablet for the last few days. Getting going in the morning seems to be the toughest - Sam is pinging, amped up, and struggles to get it together.
Hannah has a hair trigger with everyone. It’s hard, and we recognize this homesickness, but our time is short so we intend to enjoy what we have remaining here. Having a known path, a distinct timeframe, is often a comfort, so we tell the kids our plan and move on. We clean out of the Ashford place at a reasonable early time and make it to the Rainier gate at 8am and head up the mountain one last time.
We stop first at Reflection Lake but alas, the morning light is good but it’s hazy from forest fires and breezy still so no reflection. We drive on down Steve’s Canyon, past Ohanapotesh and the Grove of Patriarchs (which we skipped since we hiked through the Ancient Groves and Sol Duc), past Box Canyon and in the car version of the Wonderland Trail, circle the mountain to Sunrise Visitors Center.
This is the park’s Eastern version of Paradise. It is 1000 feet higher at 6400 feet and it somehow seems closer to the summit.
So this was our longest hike at Rainier. We had originally thought to hike the Sunrise Rim Trail but at the advice of a ranger, set out instead for Frozen Lake, 1.5 miles away. Up the slope of the main meadow to the ridge in a small saddle where the trail diverges, Sam started striding out pretty well, so Brent kept up with him, and Sara and Hannah only caught up with them when we had a mountain goat pointed out to us.
As we chatted with a park volunteer Sara shared her discomfort of the vertiginous nature of the trail
and decided to go back to the saddle and continue eastwards on the Sunrise Sourdough Trail.
Sam and Brent continued on the trail to Frozen lake which turned out to be a glacial lake with two large glacier ice chunks. It was well roped off as it was the water source for Sunrise!
As we chatted with a park volunteer Sara shared her discomfort of the vertiginous nature of the trail
Sam and Brent continued on the trail to Frozen lake which turned out to be a glacial lake with two large glacier ice chunks. It was well roped off as it was the water source for Sunrise!
On our trek back down, Sam and I enjoyed an introspective conversation about our family - how we have been active in the outdoors, how we wanted to continue to honor Opa (my Dad) by continuing to travel, how travel had always been such a large part of this family. On all sides of this family, there are world travelers. There are many places that helped form us. Sam marveled that at one time, Opa had actually owned his primary residence in Goldsboro, a beach property at Sunset Beach, a mountain property on Roan Mountain, a second blank lot on Roan Mountain, and with his sisters, a property on an Adirondack Lake. We have been so absolutely blessed at the opportunities we've had to see God's creation. Sam says when he gets a job, he's going to buy the Indian Lake house back for us...
Then, Sam saw the marmot...
We collected the kid's national park passport stamps, then drove back towards Seattle to Ramada Inn in Kent, where we would stay before returning rental car in AM and catching shuttle at 10. It was a lovely evening with a sushi dinner. Sam saw a GameStop store and drooled a good bit before leaving empty handed. We swam in the hotel pool and sat in the hot tub. Between tonight's "America's Got Talent" and tomorrow morning's TV, the kids have recouped all their screen fix!
8/01
Travel day. All goes smoothly, car return, shuttle, and flight. Fun to see Mt. Baker on way out, then soon after, a forest fire with haze bank blowing many, many miles to the east.
Flight path has us just south of Flathead Lake - fun to recall summer 2017 at Glacier! When over Kentucky/Ohio line,
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