Pondering 32

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Greetings all! Alex and I enjoyed our first overlapping days off this past week and decided to take off for some us-time and to celebrate my 32nd (10/2). Monday was just an awesome day. We stopped first at the very-swollen Salmon Cascades just a few minutes down the road from the resort. The salmon running is in full-swing and it was just awesome watching them leap dramatically and confidently out of the water upstream and up-rapid in their instinctive quest for their breeding grounds. Had seen this before on TV but it was just amazing to witness. New definitions of "tenacity", "counter-cultural", and "are you kidding me??" lept to mind as we watched. We also took a beautiful hike through some old-growth forest. I have decided that this area of the park is my favorite...more on that later. We pretty much laughed for the next hour after leaving the forest. I was getting into the car but lost my footing and in pure "America's Funniest Videos"-style went down, down, down a short hill, head-over-heels. All Alex saw from the passenger side was me suddenly disappearing and then...after a pause...feet coming up and then disappearing themselves. At this point, she was leaping from the car only to find me shaking with laughter a dozen feet off the road. She wasn't sure if it was laughter or not at first and it took me a minute to catch my breath enough to assure her I was fine. It still makes us laugh when we remember. We then made a trek to Clallam Bay, Neah Bay, and Cape Flattery, the NW-ern most point in the lower 48. After a short hike from the car, we found a truly jaw-dropping beauty there...ocean waves crashing into sandstone cliffs, carving out enormous caves and hollows in the soft rock. Sea stacks and dramatic drops and a beautiful off-shore island and dense forest growth all made for an unexpectedly worthwhile experience. I will be putting all my new pics on the photo page tomorrow. We then stopped on the way out of Neah Bay for lunch at a roadside food hut run by a Macah lady (we were in the Macah reservation). After some terrific halibut and chips, we headed south, eventually arriving at Lake Quinalt where there is a lodge managed by the same company as Sol Duc (therby affording us employee discounts). They had a room with a view available and we had a really good evening relaxing and enjoying some terrific food at the Roosevelt Dining Room there. FDR's visit to the area was what prompted the creation of Olympic National Park. We also met Roosevelt, the cat (not kidding) and brushed our teeth with Roosevelt, the toothpaste (kidding). The next day we enjoyed some excellent quiet/coffee time in front of the lodge's roaring fireplace, then did some hiking in the surrounding rain forest. There are 6 record-holding trees in the area and we managed to see 2: the world's largest sitka spruce and the world's largest western yellow cedar. Incredible to stand at the foot of these ancient giants: nearly 200 ft tall, 20 ft around, and 1000 years old!! The cedar is supposed to be the largest tree in the world outside of California. On the way home we stopped by the Hoh Rain Forest. It was getting late and rainy so we didn't linger but did do a short hike. It was here that we decided that of all we have seen of the Olympic Park, with its diverse and awesome beauty, that we really like the Sol Duc valley forest environment the best of all. We love its enormous trees and beautiful forest floor and the quiet we find on long hikes through its shadows. On Thursday, our friend Tabatha arrived. Alex and I drove into Seattle and made a stop at the flagship REI store (camping/outdoors) where I found my Birthday gift from Alex...an awesome camping day-pack which can double as a trendy man-bag for all my manly essentials. We made it to Sea-Tac right on time then made a tiring 3.5 hour trek around the south end of the Sound to Kalaloch lodge where we spend the night. Alex and Tab will be there till Monday. They have an awesome suite there with a view of the Pacific. Friday morning, with our mochas in hand, we found a rare day of sun. So we headed for Hurricane Ridge to show off one of the most picturesque sights around. The fog/cloud bank which obstructed our view of the ridge however apparently did not get the memo. But we enjoyed the morning nonetheless up there, particularly since it was now (as opposed to when we were there last) covered with several inches of snow (as you can/will see in the pictures). It was so beautiful and quiet. Where else in the world can you wake up on the coast, then drive through a rain forest and arrive, 2 hours later, among and atop snowy peaks? Just awesone. We decided, in the cold up there, that some chili for lunch would be just the ticket so I drove us to Peak's Pub, a joint in PA I had passed a bunch of times where I noticed a sign proclaiming "Ed's Killer Chilli". That was enough for me so we went in to find a bar (not a bad place but definitely the type where the food is an afterthought). The menu consisted of: a cup of chilli, a bowl of chilli, a hot dog with chilli, nachos with chilli, and a quesadilla (not with chilli, but I'm sure they could have added it). So no wonder the waitress looked at us strange when we ordered 3 bowls of chilli, a quesadilla, and 3 waters. Really good chilli as advertised though!! The girls dropped me off after that and headed for some rest back at Kalaloch...I promise I am trying to get Alex on here to share and on the photo site to descibe her pics. Enjoyed some bittersweet campfire-time last night with the gang (got some pics there) who gathered to say goodbye again, this time to Kana...a sweet friend who is on her way home to Japan. She is such a light around here and will be missed. Finally, today I opened the pools but then got off at noon. I decided to hike so I did a 12-mile loop to Deer Lake, a sub-alpine lake on the way to the Blue Glacier and Olympic peaks beyond. Just a beautiful spot...I could see snow-capped heights ahead and it was noticably colder there, likely due to the 1700-ft elevation gain along the way...made for some sore muscles. But I will be well-recovered tonight due to the renown healing effects of our hot springs :) A mama doe and her fawns capped my hike as I neared its end. Missing Alex but I am so glad her other best friend is here to encourage and love her. Tab is also newly engaged so they have no shortage of conversation topics (as if they ever did). Thanks for reading all this. Realizing the end of our time here is fast-approaching and so am looking expectantly to our Father to continue to lead me and our family. We do continue to covet your prayers to be faithful witnesses and servants of the Most High.
dk