My WA Trip

[TheZenful1]

At the beginning of April, I began planning a trip out to Southern Washington state to visit a friend I hadn't seen in 18 years. I posted on BF for some assistance of stuff to do or go see. I did & do appreciate all the offers from our Canadian neighbors to come on up and share some brews (My apologies for not making it this time, maybe next time. I'll have to get a passport.). And, hopefully I'll have more time available to meet up for the Koffee Klatch Knife Kult, lol.

I packed pretty basic for the trip and held open expectations. I've got probably around 300 pictures from the entire trip, but I'll post only a handful up here.

1st place we went & checked out was Multnomah Falls. Decent hike, not bad for me (had a quadruple bypass 4 months earlier).

One heck of a view looking back down.

1 of the short hikes near the house I spotted this:

Old Man's beard right?

 

[TheZenful1]

The next place we planned to go was here:

Too bad Mt. St. Helen's wasn't open yet. I would've loved to go hiking all around her. But we went to Ape Caves.

Bring your headlamps, lanterns or flashlights. It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. But what turned up in photos was real cool. While down there you couldn't see the vibrant colors of the stone.

There were a couple climbs we had to do that weren't too bad. Everyone travelling down there was helping one another out (wish the entire world was like that more often).

Mother Earth gives birth to one of the Brother's Bear, lol!

That TNF Recon pack was really nice to have with. Enough storage for extra water, some clothing, jic it was cold or got wet... I was grateful to have it with.

 

[TheZenful1]

When we got out of the lava tube, there was some cool trails on the way back to the parking lot. Which, by the way, seemed to be a heckuva lot farther hike back to than going through the tube.

Old man's beard again?

Some funky fungus, it looked squishy.

Some makeshift shelter if it were out in the middle of nowhere.

The temps were real nice up there, so it surprised me to see this:

Mossy stones... big huge pile too.

These woods were awesome.

 

[TheZenful1]

I've got a lil bit more in pics. You guys let me know if you want me to post more. I'd be happy to oblige.

 

[Stark Knives]

These look great.

More please!

I'm almost positive that's old man's beard.

 

[TheZenful1]

Saturday night we were back at the house and enjoyed a nice little fire while the kiddo's made s'mores.

They had a beautiful view off the deck.

Next day we took the childrens fishing. A small lake about 1/2 mile away from the house that I guess the city stocks up. From the looks of everyone's catches, trout was the fish of the day. Even a hawk who swooped down was treated to a nice fatty by a good samaritan.

Monday we took a trip up the coast. The views were awesome. I spotted Bigfoot, well, at least a business of his.

When we got close to the ocean I spotted quite a few of these signs. I think that would deter me from living in this city.

One can definitely see the effects of the logging industry. My friend driving told me that they film at least one of those extreme logging shows up this way.

The views were awesome... Oh I said that already...

Up in the Olympic National Forest. I thought this was a cool shot.

 

[brians]

Great pics. That Recon looks like a good daypack.

 

[TheZenful1]

I hadn't seen the Pacific up close in dang near 20 years.

So, we found a place to park and investigate the beach. It was windy & a bit chilly.

The stone had all these pits or depressions in them.

This is what they had posted on an info board:

 

[TheZenful1]

Great pics. That Recon looks like a good daypack.

I packed enough in it for a 5 day trip out there. It was stuffed to the gills when I came back. I think it would be safe to say that if strictly hiking, maybe a 3 day. I'll definitely be looking to test that theory out this summer or fall. I've got a pic of it stuffed, let me go upload it and put it up here.

Here we go:

 

[TheZenful1]

Some views on the beach. I couldn't figure it out until I saw some stones & identified them. Then entire beach was basalt, it wasn't "regular" sand to me.

I didn't know what this was at first. I figured it was some sort of "Tremors" beast offspring that didn't make it, LOL!

Yeah, yeah, go ahead, make fun of me, haha.

As I said, it was chilly & windy. Glad I had my new jacket from REI with.

That tree looked cool from this view.

Looks like he had been evicted or foreclosed on.

A heart shaped stone

A rainbow that was half circle, you could see where it ended on both sides. Sometimes it looked like it ended in the grasses just on the other side of the highway.

 

[FwdHO]

What a great trip! I have been to several of the places ( I live in WA) and your pics are fantastic representations of them. Looks like you had a blast!

 

[TheZenful1]

What a great trip! I have been to several of the places ( I live in WA) and your pics are fantastic representations of them. Looks like you had a blast!

I did. Makes me think "What the heck am I doing living here in the Midwest?" Nice temps, mild snow if any, unless on a mountain & no mosquitoes! Practically no bugs at all that bite, buzz or irritate the heck out of a person. All the greens and lush forestry, the wildlife, and the chance to go raid Bushman's fatwood stores, LOL!

 

[ml100]

Thanks for sharing.
great pics.

 

[LMT66]

Great pictures Zen! Thanks for posting these up.

 

[ROCK6]

Great pics Zen! I really miss the area like you...other than a few short trips to see the family (or some Army temporary duty), I haven't been back for sight-seeing in close to 20 years myself. Thanks for taking the time to post the pictures and narrate...looks like you guys had a great time!

ROCK6

 

[eomeo]

Great pictures. I really like the Ape Caves, and try to go through them about every other year. It is a really nice experience in July or August when it is 90F degrees out to go underground and have it still be 42F.

 

[jds1]

I really like the beach shots, especially the bridge photo. :thumbup:

Jeff

 

[JV3]

nice pics! i'm digging this tree. if i was a multi-millionaire i'd put that in a living room...or build a gigantic snake enclosure around it

 

[Mistwalker]

Awesome pics! I really like the shot of the hawk flying off with the fish. I dig looking at natures art in the shapes of driftwood, I used to collect it.

 

[DennisStrickland]

thanks for the great review. i lived in that general area [portland ] for a coupal of years & had forgot how green all of it was.i've seen small sleet in june so a jacket is a good carry.