Sol Duc (etc)

Second camping trip: complete

We were five this time as Josh was enrolled in the second session of summer school (automotive service - he's been destroying his jeans every week and loving it).  This time we were headed to Sol Duc in Olympic National Park. It was long drive and Hurricane Ridge was sort of (emphasis on sort of) on the way, so we stopped off for a look and quick snack. The drive was intense for Jason and his fear of falling off the side of a mountain and the view was a little bit cloudy, but I thought it was worth it and spectacular nonetheless. Plus, I will probably never get Jason on that road again so it was worth taking our time to look around.

The boys had a serious case of the grumps, so we got some ice cream to try to cure that. Isaac didn't like his (not a big surprise) so his grumps got much worse, but Michael and Ben seemed to appreciate the sugar hit.

We did eventually make it to our campground and were delighted to discover the wooded area behind us that was empty of people and perfect to explore. And Ben loves to climb on logs so this was a win for him.

The other win for all the boys was my chair. Jason got this for ME for Christmas and I do have to say that it gets A LOT of use...just not by me.

On our first evening, Ben and I decided to explore the trail on the side of the campground. I have to say that he didn't have blue jeans on, I think he would have blended right in.

We weren't able to move very far, very quickly because we found Huckleberry bushes all along the path. They were everywhere and Ben is easily distracted. 

The next morning we hiked to Sol Duc Falls. The hike was only about a mile so everyone could do the distance and it was worth the effort. Though the effort meant that Isaac suddenly had to poop. He and Jason booked it back to the parking lot and Jason said later it was the fastest mile he's done in a while.

At the boys' request (a nice way of saying whining), we had a chill afternoon of doing pretty much nothing until our ticket reservation time at the hot springs.  The Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort was just down the street and we had purchased tickets for the 4-5:30pm session. There are 4 pools - a regular pool and 3 hot springs pools (98 degrees, 102 degrees, and 108 degrees).

At first, the boys only wanted to go in the regular pool, which was a bit on the chilly side especially since it was mostly in the shade. However, when Isaac's lips started turning blue, I dragged him to the coolest of the warm pools and had him stick his feet in. Eventually, he decided to go all in and the other boys joined him. 

After that they were willing to go try out the other pools as well.

In the end, this was the favorite activity of the trip and Isaac is still begging to go camping here again so he can go back in the hot springs.

But all good things must end. And after two days of complaining and whining, Jason and I decided to cut this trip short and head home. I took one last walk by the Sol Duc River and we piled in the car to head home.

We did stop at the Ancient Grove (0.6 mile walk) and 

and an overlook at Crescent Lake on the way. 

There were a lot of great things about this trip, but it was also incredibly stressful and has me questioning if I want to do any more trips this summer with the kids. I love them and want them to have a great time and wonderful memories of family trips, but right now I am just exhausted.