Naches Peak Loop

Today was Rainier fun with friends!  Naches Peak Loop came highly recommended and has been on my bucket list for this summer for a while.  Our schedule, the weather, and friends all came together for a fabulous hike.  The wildflowers and views were exactly as advertised: beautiful!

With a total of 13 kids and 3 adults we made quite a group.  As the hike progressed, smaller groups started to form:  The tweens (and early teens) who raced along the trail at an incredible pace with little concern for the stunning views, or the aging legs of their parents.  The teens who stopped often to appreciate the scenery and improve upon it with selfies.  And the moms who stopped to take pictures of their kids and the scenery, tried to keep everyone from killing themselves on the cliffs, and provided snacks at various times.  

Good times.  Good times.

The rest of this post is just pictures of beautiful kids and beautiful vistas.  

Oh, and we were introduced to huckleberries.  Not surprisingly, Ben was a fan.

Such a great day.  And now I think it is going to take me a couple of days to recover.  About 3.4 miles of carrying Isaac up and down a mountain is exhausting.  Hopefully we can plan more adventures when my shoulders and back have a chance to recoup.

Hoh and Lake Quinault, Day 3

Day 2 also ended very well.  We were hiding in our tent from the mosquitoes for a while, but when it came time to go to sleep Isaac did very well. So well that the next morning he even slept in.

Hal. le. lu. juh.

At which point I just had to take some pictures, because we never see this child asleep anymore.  It was rather sweet.

While we were waiting for him to wake up, Jason did a little bit of reading on his phone.

And his brothers tried to stay asleep.

Just a little peek out of our tent window.

Alas, the quiet time had to end, breakfast had to be eaten, and the van had to be packed with all of our stuff.  

Before we left, I took a minute to take some pictures of our awesome campsite.

And of our chittering friend who was vastly disappointed that we were neither willing to feed him nor leave crumbs around for his consumption.

Josh loves cleaning up his tent.  He just picks the whole thing up and shakes it out.

Our clean campsite:

We were both sad and relieved to go.  At the end of the drive home was our home with showers and beds with mattresses.  But, we were leaving behind some really fun times.  

To keep the fun going, we decided to break up the drive with lunch at Lake Quinault.  When we got there, Ben didn't think that the picnic table was big enough for him and Jason AND Josh so he tried to take care of that.

I can see why a lot of people recommend Lake Quinault.

We, OF COURSE, had to spend time throwing rocks in the water.  Jason, Josh, and Michael decided to have a rock skipping contest.

Isaac just wanted to fill the Pringles container with rocks.

Then with full bellies and exhausted bodies we finished the drive home.  A fabulous vacation and we hope to have many more here in Washington State.

Hoh and Ruby Beach, Day 2

Day 1 ended brilliantly.  We started our nighttime routine with Isaac and he actually feel asleep before I finished the Moon Song.  

Heaven is a place where toddlers fall asleep easily.

Day 2 started pretty good as well with Jason cooking sausages over a campfire.  Sausage is a good start to just about anything.

Our plans for Thursday were to go to a beach.  After some research and last minute texting with Rachel, we decided to go to Ruby Beach.  So after a leisurely breakfast, we loaded up the car with the beach gear and drove out of the park and right past some elk in the parking lot.

They're huge.

And then we caught sight of a deer on the way to the beach.

Despite the grey, cold, cloudy weather, the parking lot for Ruby Beach was packed.  I was a little surprised by that, but I keep reminding myself that people here can't let the weather stop them or they won't get to do much.

Ruby Beach has it all: driftwood, sea stacks, tidal pools, great sand, and cold water.  Jason got a little inspired by the driftwood and pulled a Gandalf: YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

Did I mention cold?  It was a little chilly.

I love Washington State, but this kind of scene in this kind of weather makes think of the X-Files and wonder how many episodes were filmed here.

Isaac was ready to go and start exploring the sea stacks right away.

The older boys went straight to the water.  Sadly, they were still wearing their regular clothes.  Sadly, none of them can ever manage to stay dry long enough to change into their swimsuits at the beach.

We managed to arrive close enough to low tide to get to spend time exploring the tidal pools.

Foot prints in the sand.  Can you guess whose are who's?

Cool purple starfish.  These ones were much larger than the ones we saw at Owen Beach earlier this summer.

We eventually set up a base camp near a cliff with some excellent driftwood on which to sit and dry out wet jeans.  Also, teepees.

Jason set up a little changing room so the boys could change into their swimsuits.

Michael and Ben found a small area they called the "hole" where they could get in deep-ish water and ride logs on the waves without risking being dragged out to sea.

Did I mention that it was cold?

Not that cold matters to this guy.  He just keeps on going and completely ignores the chattering of his teeth and shaking of his body.

Our base camp also had a little cave.

Snot and sand make a great facial mask.

The boys did some more log riding and then we headed back to our campsite.

Where we had dinner and then proceeded to go down to the river to spend even more time near water.

It's kind of an obsession.

Thus ended day 2.