On to the Lake Crescent Area of Olympic National Park! We were the second car in the parking lot to start our early morning (and VERY steep) hike. Our early arrival meant that we got to witness this...
A morning drink from the crystal clear lake for this guy. How awesome!
Long sleevers were a morning staple. Tiny Luke in a forest of giants. An easy waterfall hike to warm up our legs.
This perspective never gets old!
We often talked about the trail builders and trail maintenance. Luke thinks he has found a career option. :-)
We made it! Uphill from here!
This hike to the top of Storm King was about a 2+ mile trip up and a 2+ mile trip down. However there was an elevation gain of over 2000 feet. Translation.....SWITCHBACKS, lots and lots of switchbacks!
Luke did great! We had one or two spots of self doubt and complaining but he kept going. I remember hikes like this when I was a kid...wondering why in the world people do this...for fun?! He was in that mindset a few times but we assured him that it was worth it.
He made it! We all made it! And yes, it was worth it.
The trail got awfully dicey in some spots. We had a few instances where we had to "hug" the rockwall side of the trail. Adrenaline and adventure! Loved it.
Luke and L are in this picture...easing their way down. Coming down on a trail like this is always harder than going up. Less stability and tough on the knees. I think one of the proudest moments was on the way down when the not so early riser hikers were on their way up. We came across about a dozen hikers as we were coming down and they all asked "how much further?" "how much longer?" "are there switchbacks the entire way?" and the best question of all "did you make it to the top?" YES! Yes, we did! I think being able to answer these questions gave Luke some confidence and pride. A good thing!
I love the feeling of being surrounded by these massive trees. Humility at its finest.
Luke got tired of me talking about how this is my absolute favorite color green.
Lake Crescent
We made our way west to Washington's coast and the Pacific Ocean! Sidenote...when we returned from our amazing trip Luke and I headed to Hilton Head to meet up with some friends. We had at least our feet in both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans in the same week!!!
Rialto Beach. The land of amazing driftwood and fallen beach trees.
How's that for a perch?! :-)
The sea stacks amazed Luke and led to a brief coastal geology lesson.
But more than anything he loved building with all of the weathered wood and rounded coastal rocks. He and L spent hours building while I wandered the shore.
Coastal architects!
Tidal pool heaven! SO many creatures!
This little snail is headed on a sunset voyage. From the massive sea stacks to the tiny snails - amazed!
From Rialto Beach and the town of Forks we headed south along the coast the next morning to Kalaloch and Fourth Beach.
L had his eye on the tides (a large tidal range here) so that we arrived at Fourth Beach at the perfect time to discover and be amazed by all the tidal pools and creatures. These little guys were so noisy!! We leaned in and listened to their music. :-)
Morning sea mist
He clambered and climbed his little heart out!
So pretty!
Another attempt at contemplating. Ha!
We made our way east and inland to the Quinault area of Olympic National Park. Here we got to be immersed in a temperate rain forest! So many ecosystems in one park! From our first day in the park at Hurricane Ridge to Lake Crescent to Rialto Beach to Quinault. Amazing!
Ferns for days!!!
Rainforest Challenge
Lake Quinault! While I called my mom to check in and see how Jasper was doing these two skipped rocks and then set up a "freeze out challenge". They dared each other to swim in the lake. It was COLD.
Easing in
And they did it! If you can zoom in on this photo and the next you will see how a 20 yard swim in freezing cold water deteriorates as time goes on. Ha! Wide smiles in this photo.....
Looks of pain in this photo!
Hilarious for me, somewhat painful for them but the memories and the laughter...totally worth it!
One more volume to go (well if I'm honest there might be two more to go)! Thanks for hanging in there! Next up Mt. Rainier National Park, the Columbia River Gorge, and Portland.
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