Adventures on the Coast of The Olympic Peninsula

Hearing rumors of 80° weather in Washington spurred ticket purchases and we were off! Fantasia picked me up from the airport with the car rented and REI purchases in the backseat. I donned my new tan from a quick Texas vacation to visit family, along new shades, having lost mine after too many trips on the golf cart to the drive up margarita stand on the beach. Life is hard.

Quick drive, ferry ride wind blowing in our hair, and another couple hour drive to the trail head. Tented up on the side of the road hidden in the woods. Awoke early to the warm sunshine to start a long hiking day. Three miles to the coast, quick and easy. Another 6-7 to our campsite, not so quick and easy...the sun scorched all non-covered skin and we wobbled our way over all types of surfaces. Sandy beaches to slippery sm-med sized rocks, to large boulders, to climbing over hillsides (which included ropes to get up and down) when the tides trapped us from going around points. Finally made it to the end of a beautiful stretch of beach, perfect campsite, with only a slight chance of the high tide getting us. Mountain house dinners taste amazing when you've hiked 8 hrs, and we watched the sunset from luxurious sleeping pad camp chairs. Too tired to drink whiskey.

Bomb campsite

Sunset #1

 Perusing the maps, deciding how long he's going to make me hike tomorrow.

Beaches for days!

Day two started after sleeping in until 9, then having a leisurely breakfast.  Tide was on the rise, and we greeted many a fellow hiker from our breakfast, those who had set alarms to hike early around certain points before the sea gods sent the high tides to block the way. 

Another 10 mile day further south. Memories from the last time I had hiked this coast were rudely intercepted by the amount of trash littering the rocks. Boots, laundry baskets, crates with Japanese writing, endless amounts of unwanted goods now filtered into memories of long beautiful beaches.

After hiking up and over one point, the around the point trail being hidden by the ocean, we had a long lunch and spotted a small, furry baby seal pup sunning himself on the beach. Fantasia immediately wanted to make friends, but after a few warning nips, we left the seal to his sunny nap and continued on to find the next camp spot. 

Campsite #2 was found in the trees, a shady spot much appreciated after baking in the hot sun all day. A dip in the warm ocean water washed away the sweat and dirt from the day, replacing it with a salty ocean cleanliness. We basked in the sunshine until dinner, then read and played cards, Fantasia winning every game while watching the sunset. We decided we might want to get up a bit earlier the next day to hit the ever alluring low tide, and not have to rope ourselves up and over land masses. 

View from the tent

Enjoying my camp chair after a swim

Fantasia finding critters

Sunsets that never get old

Campsite #3 in the trees. We had some campers just down the beach, but after finding a hidden camp spot, we barely noticed our neighbors. Took a nap, then had a sunset dinner followed by a few games of Rummy, all of which Fantasia won. Again. Looking pretty tan by now.

Woke early knowing we had a long day ahead of us. And by long, I mean almost 15 miles. The first 10 were nice and sunny and we felt pretty good in our boots. We made it back to the trail head we hiked out on that lead back to Ozette, now we needed to hike the 3 miles to the second trail head along the coast, followed by at least another mile (if we were lucky) to the camp site. Being 4th of July weekend, LOTS of people had hiked the 3 miles out to the coast and were bbqing, napping, and playing in the water. Many smiling faces and hellos, although I preferred the small deer, crabs, otters, seals, and squirrels that has accompanied us so far on the trip. I wasn't yet ready to make small talk with other campers. 

When I felt like my feet were about to fall off, we make it to our camp site. Beautiful two mile long beach, free of ocean current trash. We immediately went for a much needed dip. Beautiful shallow, clear blue water for about a half mile into the water, with slow soft waves lapping at our blistered feet. We swam and played in the waves until our hearts content, and our stomachs growled in anticipation of a delicious Mountain House Lasagna. Sunset was again enjoyed, this time with some whiskey we had saved for the last couple days (or were too tired to want any on the previous days). Life is good. Except that Fancy Pants Fantasia kept winning all the card games. I may or may not have had a little fit this evening when I almost, oh so close, won my first Rummy win, for him to snatch it out from beneath me at the last second, with a devious cackle.

We stayed at this campsite for two nights, with a short day (finally) in between. This day was supposed to be another 9 miler, but the high tide beat us, and when we couldn't find the trail immediately I chose to turn back and enjoy the day reading, napping and swimming. WIN!

The last morning we woke early, before 6 am, for the 6 mile hike out to sadly drive back to Seattle and fly home. 

The first of the arches

The last sunset

Hiking out 

All in all the trip was fantastic. Great companion (even with the card games ha!), great trails and adventures, great weather, great sunsets, great relaxation. A delay of ferry travel from the 4th of July holiday rush gave us an unexpected day in Seattle, spend walking around town, visiting the brewery's and generally relaxing.

There is always a sense of sadness when these trips are over, a realization and reminder of what is important in these short lives of ours.

Favorite picture of us from our first Adventure away from AK

I'm in a local grocery store paying for a few items and the cashier asks me if i'd like a receipt, which I did, and said yes. Then he asked me if I wanted a date. The kind you eat? The kind where dinner is involved with mostly awkward conversation where you're attempting to care about some childhood story this guy is telling you, which may or may not end in someone running away? I wanted one, and not the other. This is a 50% success rate people. I back up slowly, shifty eyes and all, and out the door without responding. Which is when I realized it. I'm always going to be slightly awkward, even now that I made it to thirty years of age.
Thirty. 30. Three-Zero.  Hot Damn I finally made it to the promised land, my birthday month! (We get a month now, right?) And so far it has been a great new year of life, starting with a slumber party. An actual slumber party complete with good friends, champagne, and breakfast in sleeping bag bed the following morning. Also included in the last 6 days: brewing of a ginger hefeweizen beer, hiking to the top of a mountain with some amazing, witty ladies, dinner of freshly caught king salmon and halibut, bonding time at the Triangle with some of my favorite people, a new adventure movie, a new puzzle (!), and many meals of spicy curry. It's possible the reminder that a slight amount of awkwardness in life makes it interesting, or maybe it's the whole giving less shits as I get older. In any case, I'm finding more humor in it than the adverse.

Pretty Ladies on top of a Mountain 

Birthday Roomies in Fur Coats

Juneau is making its last great attempt at keeping me in Alaska with 70 degree days, beautiful sunsets, and an easy blissfulness that surrounds the town. It seems like I have been waiting 5 and 1/2 years for this, and after a hard year of rain, it almost seems worth the wait. Sailing races, bonfires on the beach, camping adventures, late nights sitting outside with friends in light jackets, rock climbing at the sea cliffs, natural vitamin D, BBQing the last of last summer's salmon, a slight coloring to my transparent skin. My love affair with Alaska has started it's last chapter, ending in what we hope is pure happiness.

Some time ago, I woke up to sunshine and a slight breeze coming through my window. I smiled, feeling more content that I had in over a year, and I knew I had fallen back in love with Alaska. I also knew that it would now be okay to leave Alaska. No longer would I be leaving because of pain, no longer escaping. I would be leaving a place I love, leaving many beloved friends and places, and it would be a place I would plan to return to.

I need to leave for adventure. Now is the time. Now I feel my strongest.

In 4 short months I will be taking a year to live, learn, and grow in New Zealand. I'll start in Nelson while I attend the Center for Fine Woodworking, and then plan to travel, work, and of course explore and play.

Already I find myself constantly thinking into the future, should I sell my car, what about my computer, should I get a better camera? I keep pulling myself back, reminding myself to live in the present, soak up all the love and words of wisdom from the wonderful people around me, enjoy the last summer adventuring in Alaska before leaving in September. It's a daily reminder to stop wasting time watching TV or some other aimless activity, and go for a walk with a friend, cook dinner for many friends, or just read a book in the presence of someone wonderful.

I arrived in Juneau 5 1/2 years ago via ferry, my car packed to the brim with many things I needed, most I didn't. I had felt restless, stagnant, bored of my life so when Alaska presented herself, I said yes, and it was the best decision I ever made. I'm hoping New Zealand will be my next best decision I will ever make.

So here we go, I'll figure out the blogging world this summer, documenting what I expect will be the most epic summer of my life so far, before diving deep into NZ.
Cheers!

Knowing

We were holding on for dear life, while knowing we had a lifetime to live.