Last weekend Nick, Zoe, Dane, Lauren and I went to the Olympic peninsula and enjoyed the area, with Olympic National Park, the ocean and peacefulness all around us. It was amazing. Zoe was a little shy of 3 months old, so we were a touch worried about how she'd handle camping for the first time. We had no need to worry; she did GREAT!
We arrived on Friday morning to a first-come, first-served campsite on the ocean. We were hoping an early arrival would secure us a campsite, and our theory paid off. The only spot open was overlooking the Straight of Juan de Fuca (the Pacific Ocean) and across the straight was Canada and the Canadian Cascades. It was beautiful. We could hear the waves crashing against the bluff all day and night. The Lord really provided for us. We set up camp on Friday and headed to Olympic National Park that afternoon for a quick hike to Panaroma Point. It was beautiful and full of wildlife. We were within feet of mountain goats, deer and marmots. The views were spectacular. It was a lot of fun and helped us get ready for the next day's hike!
We arrived to the campsite around sunset, so the boys made dinner while Lauren, Zoe and I took a walk to watch the sun set. We found a great little rock beach and went back so the boys could see it too; Dane got some great pictures. We were pretty tired after dinner, so we put Zoe to bed (she just fell asleep in her swaddle blanket by the fire, so we put her in her car seat to sleep and let her rest in the tent) and hung out by the campfire until it burned out.
The next morning we woke up prepared for our 10 mile hike into the valley. Nick was carrying his pack with all our supplies and I was carrying Zoe in the Moby. We got to the park, took a long winding road on the side of one of the mountains when we found a gate blocking the road. We soon found that the road was closed the rest of the way due to snow, so we ended up re-routing. We were to make it to the valley, but found ourselves needing to hike 4 miles, one-way, to arrive at our starting point. So, we decided to continue the hike. We made it 4 crazy miles uphill to our starting point, but we wouldn't be able to hike into the valley. We enjoyed some great views from Obstruction Point and played, again, in the snow then made our way 4 miles back down. It was a long and hard hike, especially with the full packs and Zoe, but it was a ton of fun. Dane and Lauren make great company and we're so happy they're here with us to enjoy this all. By the time we got back we were exhausted. Another campfire dinner, Zoe to bed, s'mores and we were all out! The sounds of the ocean were great when Zoe woke up to nurse, and they lulled us all back to sleep.
The next morning we relaxed at the campsite. After breakfast we took a stroll around the campsite. There were historical sites of old Salt Creek forts from WWII and a few small trails. We then made our way down to the tide pools and played for a few hours. We made our way back, cleaned up camp and headed home to our next adventure; me returning to work!
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