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| RAIN GAUGE= 13' IN 2012 |
Most places measure rain by inches, the
Olympic National Park in Washington State
measures it in feet. So, San Diego gets approximately 12 inches a rain in a year, the Olympic Nat. Park average is 12 feet!! So all sorts of things can happen with 12 feet of rain in a northern latitude, to begin with there is a Temperate Rain Forest, that's not at the equator. One can gaze upon a 250', 1000 year old Sitka Spruce loaded with epiphytes, while immersed in spider like ferns, and be surrounded by mountain ranges with glaciers.
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| FDR TALKING TO THE LOCAL KIDS |
I always thought Teddy Roosevelt was the only Roosevelt to do anything for the environment, come to find out Franklyn--(often rated just behind Lincoln as the greatest president of all time), was one of the people responsible for setting aside Olympic National Park. FDR says it was the children's sign's that said, "please save our trees Mr. President" that convinced him, when he visited in 1932.
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| SOL DUC HOT SPRINGS |
SOL DUC HOT SPRINGS-OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK: After a week of camping it was time to get spoiled. So we rented a cabin in the woods at Sol Duc, that was surrounded by lush vegetation and a medicinal hot springs next door. Once the place to go for medicinal cures, in 1912 the elegant hotel with a bowling alley, golf course and 110 bed sanatorium burnt to the ground. The forestry service replaced the grounds with self contained cabins and 3 hot spring pools. All I remember is after a good 7 mile hike, the minerals in the natural spring melted away all my aches and pains.
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| MT OLYMPUS |
HOH RAIN FOREST: We headed to Hoh Rain forest where some of the ancient growth still exists in the National park. Lot's of camping and hiking trails and some lead to the glaciated Mt. Olympus. After talking to Interpeter guide/photographer Janis Burger she pointed out how
climate change has affected Washington.
A recent study conducted by Olympic National Park has shown from the late 1970s to 2009 (a 30 year time period) aerial photos that indicated a 30%loss of glacial surface area in the Olympic range. Please if you have time check out this website with stunning time frame pictures and interactive glacial videos. P.S. Janis took the 2009 pics: http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/glaciers.htm
Pictures like these really show the urgency in addressing climate change and the choices we make.
FORKS, WASHINGTON- THE TWILIGHT OF OUR LIVES: We had some excitement in of all places Forks, WA. We checked into the
Miller Tree Bed and Breakfast, only to find out we were in the midst of "Twilight" country and we were staying in
BELLA'S room. Turns out the Twilight book and movie series was based in this town and people come from all around the world to see it, and we were in the Vampire house!
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| OUR ROOM WAS ON THE TOP FLOOR |
We got a little suspicious when tour buses were pulling up and taking a picture of the place right outside our window. Turns out the town is Twilight nuts, every store, and restaurant got into the act. So we decided to watch one of the DVDs on the TV, turns out, it was pretty darn good. Although I kept feeling like someone was watching over us all night.
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| QUINALT LODGE |
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| VIEW OUT THE FRONT |
QUINALT LODGE: After many nights of camping and roughing we decided it was time to splurge. The Quinalt lodge fit the bill, and old style lodge with a 7 prong elk mounted above a pyramiding fireplace in the Grand Room. The lodge sits on lake Quinalt and is surrounded by some old growth forests and a classic forest town.
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| GREAT ICE CREAM!!! |
SAY CHEESE: Myrna wanted to re-live one of her favorite childhood memories, so off we went to the
Tilamook cheese factory in Northern Oregon
. I'll have to say, I wasn't looking forward to it, but to my surprise it was one of the highlights of the trip- they had
ICE CREAM. We only had to wait in line for half an hour for some of the best ice cream I've ever had, yummmmy! Who has ever heard of Chocolate/Peanut Butter? turns out it is my new favorite and their best seller.
You get a free tour of the factory where they produce something like a million slabs of cheese a day on an intricate assembly line that looked like the most repetitive job ever.
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE NATIONAL SCENIC AREA: Time to go meet our good friends the Embrees
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| MARK AND GRETCHEN EMBREE |
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| LUNCH SPOT ON DEVIL'S RIDGE |
for a few nights of camping. Rich Kelso's cousin was nice enough to get us a campsite at Ainsworth campground. Come to find out Columbia River Gorge (30 miles east of Portland) has one of the highest concentrations of waterfalls in the entire world.
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| GREAT PLACE TO MEDITATE |
This 4,000 foot gorge has some of the best hiking trails I've ever seen. Lined with overstimulating waterfalls, some as high as 629 feet (Multnomah falls) you can take the 7 mile
Devil's ridge hike with a 2,500' climb, and be rewarded with the view of 3 volcanoes (Mt. Ranier, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helen's).
At one point we hiked down to this waterfall right off the trail, you had to dog it over some logs and rocks, but once you get there, OMG, sitting on the rocks, with a 200 foot waterfall -100' away with a crystal clear pool and feeling the waterfall spray across your face,
takes me right to the heart of why we are alive and how nature is still our guide on what is beautiful and vitally important for us and our children.
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THE HOBBIT HOUSE
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MYRNA ON BOY SCOUT TRAIL
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| DAMNATION CREEK TRAIL |
GIANT REDWOODS:
Now back in California we thought we had little chance to stay at a campsite in the Redwoods with no reservations. But thanks to the Internet we were able to book a place at Mill Creek in the Del Norte Coast Redwood State Park, next to he Jedediah Smith Park. We had a phenomenal day driving on what is called the
Holcomb Hill Road. On the dirt road there are signs that say no RVs or campers, we twisted and turned through some of the most magnificent trees I have ever seen, upwards of 350 feet and as large as 35 story building. Think of how well they are adapted to get water up that high, against gravity, through it's intricate capillary root system. I'll have to say I have never imagined we would be able to see something like this in Big Red, we felt like we were on a Disney ride.
After an exhausting day of driving and hiking the "Boy Scout trail", our senses were a tad bit overwhelmed, we had to go find our campsite at Mill Creek. We thought we had campsite #80--the tag had another name, after a fair amount of searching it turned out to be #87, the sign, to our chagrin, pointed straight up. About 100 yards into the forest. Both too tired to say "damn it" we decided the best thing to do was to make this last night of camping a great experience and just carry our stuff up to the campsite. Turns out this place must have been made in heaven and after a short 5 trips up and down to get our gear, we ended up in God's place for the night. Completely engulfed by some ancient trees logged in the 1920s, their "100' ferry root trees", come out from the stump and were growing everywhere.
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| CAMPSITE IN HEAVEN |
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| TORREY AND TREV |
TORREY AND TREV: Off to our last major stop on the Northwest adventure. Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, where Torrey and Trev live.
Trev is working with an elementary school in their computer lab and Torrey is almost finished with her Phd in Education with an emphasis in Technology. She is finishing a year early, paid for it herself, while working 2 jobs for the University on the side. (I say only 2 jobs!) She took us for this great hike around the campus and we talked about life and the big picture along the way. These are the moments I treasure with my 2 daughters.
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| YES, THE CIRCLE OF LIFE IS A...MAZING |
ENLIGHTENMENT: We all look for signs that will give us greater enlightenment. I re-discovered once again on this trip, that it is not just sitting under a waterfall, or climbing a pass, it was being surrounded by your family and friends that makes life so special.
ONE LAST THING: MYRNA AND I CAN'T DECIDE WHICH BEACH PICTURE WE SHOULD USE FOR OUR NEXT CHRISTMAS CARD: I SAY THE ONE ON THE LEFT, SHE SAYS THE ONE ON THE RIGHT- WHAT DO YOU THINK?
ONE LAST THING: MYRNA AND I CAN'T DECIDE WHICH BEACH PICTURE WE SHOULD USE FOR OUR NEXT CHRISTMAS CARD: I SAY THE ONE ON THE LEFT, SHE SAYS THE ONE ON THE RIGHT- WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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