Pitch a Tent!

Summer in Seattle means time-to-go-camping! Last year we only got out twice, but both times were awesome.

The first camping trip we did in July. Dayne and I headed out to Lake Quinault and the Willaby Campground. Neither of us had been before and it ended up being a great choice, we just loved it out there! The campground is so green and lush and right on the lake. We found the best site, down a set of steps and completely private from the other campsites, but the whole campground seemed very nice.

The area has lots of hiking option ranging in difficulty and distance. The trails go through amazing forests of huge, old growth trees, as well as next to the lake shore, over waterfalls and past the Lake Quinault Lodge. You can see the largest spruce on one trail, and the largest cedar on another. It's all really beautiful.

After a morning of hiking, we inflated the raft and went for a float on the pretty and serene lake in the afternoon. We saw others fishing, paddle boarding and boating.

Our second trip last summer was back out towards Salmon la Sac for a group camping weekend. This time Jen and I weren't as lucky and all the sites were booked by the time we arrived. We scrambled around with Gary and Elisabeth and finally crossed the river and grabbed an unofficial site. It ended up being great because 1) there was a fire ban and you just can't sneak a tiny fire while in a regulated site and 2) it was during the Perseid meteor shower and without lights or neighboring campfires we could see an amazing site!

The weather that weekend was so hot that we all took our rafts to Lake Cle Elum and spent the entire day floating and swimming in the lake. I can't remember the last time I swam, not just waded around, in a lake and it was awesome. We all felt like kids again!

Next weekend will be our first camping trip of the season, bring on the s'mores!

Lake Quinault camping photos here.

Summer Camping

Oh summer I miss you and you've only been gone 1 week! As with every year, a weekend favorite of ours is to go camping. This year we broke in Dayne's new tent down at Moss Creek Campground which is basically across the river and up in the hills from Hood River, OR. This is a long drive for a Friday after work (6 hours with traffic!) but we had a reservation so we didn't worry about rolling in after dark. It did lead to the "I can't wait to see this in the light" situation that we've had so many times in so many places. This turned out to be a very pretty (and quiet as the weather had threatened to be horrible) campground.

 

Saturday was gorgeous so we jumped in the car and headed across the gorge and up to Mt. Hood. We'd never been and were interested in seeing the Timberline Lodge. Built in 1937 the lodge really evokes that rugged PNW feel. The mountain and the surroundings are stunning! Sunny summer day and snow on the ground? Cool!

As we enjoyed a bit of happy hour back at our campsite later we saw and heard an owl in the trees above us and then a deer walked thru the grounds by our site. Yeah! Wildlife spotting :)

Our plan was to visit Mt. St. Helens the next day on our drive home but the torrential rains finally arrived so we skipped the "two mountains, two states" plan.

On our second camping trip friends Matt & Jen came along and we picked the much closer Cle Elum River on a hot sunny weekend. Jen and I went out earlier in the day and landed a nice camp spot right on the water. The boys arrived in time for happy hour.

We spend most of Saturday on the "yachts" floating around the river, spying herons, ducks and huge osprey.

And of course no trip to Cle Elum is complete without a stop at The Brick in Roslyn, WA's oldest continuously operating saloon complete with running spittoon. Roslyn has a little farmer's market on Sunday that we hit on the way out of town also.

Back at our waterfront site we watched the sun set and fended off the mosquitoes, Matt especially put his foot - or should I say thumb- down on those little pests and then watched as the sky filled with stars!

Oh summer! Oh camping! Can't wait to do it again next year!

All camping photos here and here