Ranger Falls Hike

When I asked Pammy on Thursday what her weekend plans were, she said she was going hiking on Saturday morning. Since Scott decided to do some overtime, I asked her if she wanted some company, and she did! I met up with her at 8:30 this morning at the Panera in Puyallup to carpool and we drove through Carbonado to just past the Carbon River Ranger Station to the northwest entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park.  We walked on the old road that goes along the Carbon River and is now closed to cars.  We haven't hiked, just the two of us, in a while, so it was great to catch up.  The first 3 miles flew by, and we were thinking of turning around, but just past that is the trailhead for Ranger Falls & Green Lake.  It was another mile to the falls, so we decided to just add it on.  I'm glad that we did because the falls were beautiful, but it was a strenuous section.  We gained nearly 1,000 feet in that one mile.  We went really slow on the way up, which was great as my legs were tired and there were a lot of stairs!  The trees along the trail were huge!  Such a beautiful area.  In all we hiked 8.45 miles, which is the longest hike I've done in years.  To be honest I can't believe I made it!  

The Carbon River 

This was taken on the forest road we walked down.

Pammy & I taking a rest.

The trailhead.

The beginning of the climb!

We thought this looked like a peace sign.

Ranger Falls

The sun came out for a little bit.

We crossed two of these bridges.

The deets.

Sequalitchew Creek Hike

We had a very wet hike this morning in DuPont on the Sequalitchew Creek trail. We’ve done this trail many times before, but I don’t remember it ever being that crowded with people and dogs especially in the pouring rain. I guess Washingtonians are a hardy folk. Of course, if we only hiked in good weather, we wouldn’t get many hikes in!  The trail was muddy with some large puddles, but we made it through. Nova was happy the entire time. She’s such a nature girl. The puppies were happy as well. 

Nova started on Corey’s back but she didn’t look comfortable so she got switched to the front.

One drenched 🐶 

Hike @ Park Pointe & Troll

Today we met up with Gabby & Ethan to check out another Thomas Dambo troll in Issaquah and also hike at nearby Park Pointe.  We parked at the community center then made our way down the Rainier Trail to see Jakob Two Trees, which stands at 14 feet tall.  There were quite a few folks there, so we didn't linger after getting photos. Instead, we walked further down to reach Park Pointe. The trails there were nice, although part of it is near a shooting range, so it definitely isn't the place to go if you're looking for a peaceful walk in the woods.  We completed 2.76 miles total with an elevation gain of 262 feet, which felt much higher as it was all in one straight shot.  We only got rained on a little bit at the end, so we will count it as a successful outing in that regard.  Near the parking lot there is a little dog park; since no other dogs were around, we let the puppies run around in there which they loved.  

Our route: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9,10,11,3,2 then back to 1.

This was from point 4 to 5 which was all uphill.

Not sure why this old bullet ridden car is there?

Tree hugger!

Harvey's tongue is so long!

Hike deets.

Gabby's Birthday Weekend at Long Beach

Gabby & Ethan (and their cat Fawkes) spent her birthday weekend in Long Beach this year. They both said they had a great time and would like to come back sometime.  They really lucked out and had dry weather for their entire trip.  Here is her write up and photos of their adventure.

We drove down to Long Beach on Sunday afternoon for my 25th birthday trip with Fawkes in tow. We stayed at the Adrift Hotel, which we really enjoyed. It was Fawkes's first time in a hotel other than when he moved from Ventura to Seattle, and he did much better than we expected! We made it in time to see the sunset on the beach before getting pizza from a dive bar in town and checking out the hotel pool.

On my birthday, we got up early to bird around Willapa Bay Wildlife Refuge. We saw a colorful sunrise and hiked the South Bay Loop Trail, which was very beautiful. We moved on to Leadbetter State Park, which was a new one for my list. Unfortunately, our Discover Pass had expired and there were no pay stations in the park, so we couldn't do the trail I had planned. We parked in the no-fee area and walked part of the Martha Jordan Birding Trail before driving back to town to get some pastries for breakfast. Afterwards, Ethan took a quick cat nap, and I did some reading on the beach. Next, we loaded Fawkes into his backpack and brought him out onto the beach by the hotel to show him the ocean. As expected, he was not impressed. We dropped Fawkes back off at the room before doing a complimentary tasting at Adrift Distilleries and then grabbing a delicious dinner at the hotel restaurant, Pickled Fish. It was a great birthday!

On our last day, we woke up early again to hike some trails at Cape Disappointment State Park. I loved seeing the lighthouses, and the views were stunning. We checked out of the hotel and drove home, and Fawkes was happy to be back!

On the road!

Their hotel.

Fancy room!

Nice view from their room.

Beautiful sunset!

It looks cold!

Fawkes

Day 2 sunrise-beautiful!

The birthday girl!

Fancy drinks!

Last day--Cape Disappointment light house!