Washington State Day 4: Crescent Lake; Sol Duc Falls; Farm

Magical is the word for this trip.  We keep talking of fairies, gnomes and mermaids.  The scenery of the Pacific Northwest is straight out of a fairytale.  The property where we are staying is no different.  We are staying in 1 of 4 cabins built right on the Sol Duc River.  Our cabin is cozy, well stocked and absolutely home.  

We (and our bodies) were thankful to take in a slow morning and explore the property.  After breakfast and coffee, we walked a few yards through the woods behind our cabin to be greeted by the wonderful Sol Duc River.  There is nothing I love more.  We took in the scenery and rock hopped for a bit then set out to find the farm animals.  Michelle, the property owner came out to welcome us.  She told us about the farm and gave us some guidance into seeing the park.  She introduced us to their chocolate lab, Bailey, and we were in love.  Bailey was our official tour guide of the property.  She led us down a tree lined path and across a moss covered bridge over Beaver Creek.  This bridge was straight out of a movie!  MAGIC!  Bailey then led us down a short path to another section of the Sol Duc.  She was ready to fetch!  We found her a great stick and she proudly carried it everywhere. 

Lily fell in love with Lentil, the goat.  If Lily stopped petting her, Lentil would head butt her hand or start nibbling her fingers.

We made our way back to our cabin to pack up for day of exploring ONP.  Bailey made sure we were making our sandwiches correctly.

Our first stop was Lake Crescent Lodge to hike the Marymere Falls Trail.  Again MAGIC!  Enormous trees, soft forest floor, river sounds, carpets of ferns and drapes of moss.  At one point, I said, “it looked like someone perfectly landscaped all of this.”  I then quickly realized Someone did, the master landscape architect Himself: GOD! 

The hiker behind Lily commented on the shoeprint on her back.  Lily was a sweet big sissy and gave SE a boost when she needed it.

More tough uphill and we made it to the falls.  This trail was 2.2 miles with 299 feet of elevation gain.

 

We made our way back down the trail and enjoyed a picnic lunch at the lodge by the lake.  My people had to jump into the frigid lake – they are awesome!  

Next, we headed to the Sol Duc Valley.  We stopped at the Salmon Cascades in hopes of seeing them jumping upstream.  While we didn’t see any salmon, this was another beautiful spot.  We continued driving to the trailhead and set out on the Sol Duc Falls Nature Trail.  Again MAGIC!  This trail was 2.1 miles with a 253 feet elevation gain.

We noticed a little whirlpool funnel under the rock Lily was sitting on.  My people were highly fascinated with this.  They would drop things into it and watch the funnel suck it down.  Nature is cool!

Walking back we came across a tree with a small tunnel under it.  

Lily: "Lets crawl through it!"

SE: uh....

We laughed so hard on the way back from this hike.  Family bonding, exhaustion - who knows, but we giggled about the dumbest of things.  One man passed us and said something about us giggling so much.  James said, "yeah, it must be a funny trail."  When the man passed, I burst out laughing because James said it in the dorkiest way possible.  I am sure you had to be there, but it was a fun walk back!

We stopped at the Salmon Cascades again just to make sure the salmon didn’t decide to start jumping while we were gone.  We sat and watched the rushing water for a bit, then the bugs found us, and we decided to call it a day.

We drove into Forks for dinner.  Forks is known for being the town featured in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, which Lily and I have both read.  The town (which consists of 1 main road a few blocks long) is filled with Twilight memorabilia.  Lily and I were hoping to see some places that were filmed in the movie, but ironically NONE of the movies were filmed near Forks.

 

Finding somewhere to eat was a bit of a challenge.  There are only a handful of dine-in options and Yelp was not recommending any of them.  We tried the highest recommended pizza place, only to go in and learn that It was take out only and 1.5 hours to make a pizza.  We tried the taproom next door to learn they did not allow anyone under 21 on the premises.  We ended up at Pacific Pizza and the food was great. As with many places, it was understaffed, but the guys working were busting their butts to keep things going.

 

After dinner, we went back to the first pizza place because they had ice cream!  We walked down the street to a store dedicated to Twilight fans.

We made our way back to our cabin.  The owner, John , brought out some graham crackers for us to feed to the goats, horses and cows.  

 

Bailey took us down to the river again because she knew how much we loved playing fetch with her.  She is a crazy smart dog!  She went and found the same stick we had been using that morning.  She runs ahead and drops the stick and looks at you.  As soon as you pick it up, she runs down the bank and waits for you to throw it.  She is ALL Lab!

We went back to our cabin and played a few games on the picnic table and relaxed to the sound of a rushing river.  After a while, I wondered out loud where Bailey went.  I turned around and she was behind me standing right next to her stick!

 

Total steps:  18, 281  Distance:  9 miles   Flights climbed:  20