As we were getting ready to leave the Hoh Rainforest, we ran into another hiker loitering outside of the visitors’ center. She told us that she had just come from the Sol Duc Salmon Cascades and the salmon were jumping. That was all we needed to hear to add a stop onto our return drive to Port Angeles.
Just off the main road through the rainforest is a quick little dirt trail down to a viewing platform over a roiling section of the Sol Duc River. Our new friend told us that there weren’t many salmon – maybe one leap every minute or so – but if we were patient, we’d see them.
And we did.
It was truly incredible. I was vaguely aware of the salmon run (I thought I’d seen the sign, but not really registered it, on our way into the rainforest) but never really thought I’d actually find myself leaning over a wooden railing, watching coho salmon fly through the air on their way up a waterfall.
I mean. Really.
It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences of my life.
Next week: hiking to the spectacular Sol Duc Falls.
After the Hall of Mosses hike, we put our heads together and decided that we had time for a second hike – and we weren’t ready to leave the Hoh Rainforest. I plumped for the famous Hoh River Trail, but was outvoted three to one in favor of the shorter and easier (but tbh, no less spectacular) Spruce Nature Trail.
We decided we’d walk as far as the Hoh River, so we could see it, and then make our way back to the warmth of the car (and a long drive back to Port Angeles).
All over the rainforest, we saw these trees on elevated roots – looking like they were standing on stilts. The trees took root initially on fallen logs – called nurse logs – and when the nurse logs rotted away the new growth was left standing on tiptoe. Weird!
The Spruce Nature Trail boasted its share of moss-hung trees, too – and other cool sights. Like this uprooted tree:
WOWSERS.
I was fascinated by the knotty bark. With all of the fascinating things to see and observe, it felt like no time at all before we reached the banks of the Hoh River.
With all the mist, the visibility was a bit limited – but it really didn’t matter. It was mysterious and quiet – and just beautiful.
When we got back to the car, we had our biggest wildlife sighting of the day – right off the parking lot! – a mother black-tailed deer and her two fawns.
Too cute!
We watched them quietly and from a safe distance until they decided they were done foraging, and ambled off to surprise some other lucky park visitors. Definitely a magical end to our afternoon in the Hoh Rainforest!
Next week: stopping by the Sol Duc River for some fishing – wink, wink.
After our morning at Ruby Beach, we headed for something completely different – Hoh Rainforest, park ecosystem #2. We were all a bit damp – okay, drenched – after the coastline, so I think the idea of walking under a rain-breaking canopy of trees was appealing to everyone.
Hoh Rainforest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the United States. The landscape was carved by glaciers, and it’s a completely different world from the coastline we had just left.
Our destination was the Hall of Mosses trail. If I’m being completely honest, I’ll tell you that we picked the trail based – pretty much – on the name alone. I mean, how could we pass up a trail called “Hall of Mosses” – could you? It helped that our cursory research confirmed the trail’s kid-friendliness; it’s short, relatively flat, and steeped with interesting things to look at.
My favorite thing about the trail was, predictably, the old-growth trees hung with primeval quantities of emerald green moss.
I know that Longfellow’s famous line “This is the forest primeval” was written about eastern Canada – but it could easily have been about this spot.
We veered off the main trail onto a little spur that took us into a magical grove of maples overhung with club moss.
Nugget liked the maple grove.
The other day, Nugget asked me what my favorite hike is. I couldn’t possibly decide – I’ve been privileged to experience so many incredible trails, in habitats ranging from coastlines to deserts to mountains to forests – and everything in between. But the Hall of Mosses trail would have to be up there. There was just so much to look at – from the largest moss-hung trees…
…to the tiniest details of mushrooms, moss, and tiny leaves.
The Hall of Mosses trail was short, but packed so much into a fascinating space. I’d love to go back – again and again. I’m sure it must change every day.
Next week: Still in the Hoh Rainforest, we explore another trail and amble down to the Hoh River.
When I decided to bring my family with me on my October business trip to Seattle, I began researching ideas for the following weekend right away. There are so many incredible destinations in Washington State, but I knew I wanted something within fairly easy reach of Seattle. A repeat trip to the San Juan Islands was out, because the San Juan Clipper season ended the week before we were scheduled to arrive, and the ferry had been unreliable due to COVID-related staffing shortages. So I hopped on a call with a colleague (who loves planning vacations for people) to discuss options. I told her I wanted something outdoorsy, within a couple of hours of Seattle. We kicked around Leavenworth, Bainbridge Island, Mount Rainier, and even driving as far as North Cascades, but ultimately settled on Olympic National Park.
Any travel book or tour guide would tell you that one of the things that makes Olympic special is that it’s really three parks in one. There’s the rugged Pacific coastline, the hauntingly beautiful Hoh Rainforest, and the Alpine expanses of the mountain section. With my colleague’s help, I planned a packed weekend that would allow us to experience all three.
The coastline was first – I was so stoked to show the kids the wonders of Washington tidepooling. As it happened, time was not on our side – low tide was at about 5:00 a.m., and the closest beaches (Ruby and Kalaloch) were almost a two hour drive from our hotel in Port Angeles. Tidepooling would have to wait for a future trip, but we still had plenty of visual treats in the pounding waves and towering sea stacks. We made for Ruby Beach, keeping Kalaloch in reserve if time and weather allowed.
There’s something so wild and compelling about rain at the beach, isn’t there?
It was wet and cold, but we layered up and kept our feet moving, and it was totally worth it. I wouldn’t have missed Ruby Beach for the world.
Wet but happy family! A little rain won’t get in the way of our beach day.
We started out walking up the coastline, but the tide rushed in and cut off our path, so we turned and headed in the opposite direction, exploring as far as we could.
Although I would have loved to tidepool with the anklebiters, Ruby Beach was well worth the drive even without tidepooling – the trees, dramatic sea stacks, and crashing surf were spectacular. Someday we’ll make it back when the tide tables are our friends, and it’s not the worst thing in the world to have something to look forward to!
Next week: a truly magical walk through the Hoh Rainforest.
Another pandemic year, sigh. 2021 was, as expected, better than 2020. We were better at assessing and managing COVID risk, and we got out and about more – even traveling a few times. I’m cautiously optimistic that 2022 will bring more improvement, maybe gradual, but I have hope.
January got off to a rocky start, as we all know. I was downtown on January 6 – not close to the Capitol, fortunately; I was at my office on K Street, taking a deposition – but we didn’t know what was going on or what parts of the city might be dangerous, and it was a white-knuckled drive through Georgetown before I crossed the river into Virginia and breathed a sigh of relief. I stayed home the rest of the month, with great relief at having the ability to do so. A blanket of snow and a host of winter visitors to my bird feeders brought much-needed peace.
In February we had more snow, but it warmed up toward the end of the month and we cautiously poked our heads out of our den. After a year of almost complete solitude, we began to explore ways to manage COVID risk and get more socialization in. My law school bestie, Carly, drove her kids out to the exurbs for a play date one warm day, and we hit up a new-to-us playground. It was a small thing, but it felt monumental. Also a small thing that turned out to be monumental: at the end of the month I received an email from one of my law firm colleagues, noting that a client of his – a west coast-based tech company – was looking for an addition to their legal department. Dream job! I threw caution to the wind and my hat in the ring.
I spent most of March working on my application – and then on preparing for multiple rounds of interviews – to the tech company. Recently, relating the experience to an acquaintance, I reflected that I’ve never poured so much time or effort into getting a job before. I spent hours almost every March evening, and over multiple weekends, on the project. It didn’t leave much time for adventuring, but we did manage to scoot out for a hike toward the end of the month, to explore a little reservoir in Ashburn, Virginia, where I was hoping to paddle once the weather warmed up. We’d first visited in January, when the rushes in the shallows were crusted with ice, but the trail around the lake was beautiful – a winter wonderland – and I made plans to return again and again.
Here comes the sun! All that work in March paid off, because the first Friday of April brought the news that I landed the dream job! April was another busy month as I started the onboarding process with my soon-to-be new employer, told my firm I was leaving, and worked round the clock to transition my cases to other attorneys. But again, we made time for fun – spring arrived in earnest with the return of warm, sunny days, and our traditional bluebell hike. For the past couple of years, we’ve bluebell-spotted at Manassas National Battlefield Park. We hit the peak just right in 2021!
May was a roller coaster. I started the month with a week of “funemployment” – that delightful period between one job and another. The week coincided with the beginning of really warm weather, so I had big paddleboarding plans (and I did make it out twice), but a death in the family sent me up to New York twice – first with Nugget in tow, to say goodbye to a cherished person, and then a week later for the funeral. Water always helps, so I paddled a lot in May. At the end of the month, a hot weekend drew the kids and me to the beach with my dear friend Carly and her family, and we took turns duffing the kids in the Chesapeake Bay. Meanwhile, amongst all of the upheaval, I started my new job and discovered right away that it was exactly the move I needed to make.
June was wonderful. Looking back, it feels like I spent almost the entire month outside (although I know that can’t possibly be true). Between paddleboarding, the start of our family kayaking season, a new mountain bike, and cheering for Nugget at his weekly tee-ball games, it does seem like I never went indoors. As a die-hard summer fan, this is about right for me.
Joy bookended July. We rang in the month camping on Chincoteague over Independence Day weekend (my favorite holiday). Saw the famous wild horses three times, toasted marshmallows over our own campfire, and charged into the surf at Assateague Island National Seashore – perfect. Most of the month was spent getting used to my new job (and to feeling truly happy as a lawyer for the first time EVER), and playing outside whenever I got the chance – taking my paddleboard to Beaverdam Reservoir as much as possible, mountain biking with Nugget, and hiking and kayaking with Steve and both kids every weekend day. At the end of the month, we drove up to New York State for my cousin Jocelyn’s wedding celebration – it was postponed by a year because of the pandemic, but worth the wait. Both kids were in the wedding, along with Jocelyn’s niece and nephew. It was seriously cute.
August brought adventure! First, at the end of July, Steve and I fulfilled a long-cherished wish and bought touring kayaks (as a fifteenth anniversary gift to each other, two weeks before our sixteenth anniversary – the pandemic had interfered with our plans for almost a year). My parents wanted the kids to themselves for a week, so we took the kayaks off for a week of paddling in the Adirondacks; we hit up Schroon Lake, Lake Placid, Lake Flower, Upper St. Regis Lake, and Spitfire Lake. We also found time to hike almost every day, and knocked off our fifth Adirondack high peak. The rest of the month was quieter, at home, but the hot Virginia sun was comforting and life-affirming to this summer-loving girl.
The start of September brought mixed feelings. The kids were back at school, which is conflicting for me. On the one hand, it’s easier to work without them around (self-evident truths…). On the other hand, I always worry about their safety when I send them out into the world. It’s hard being a parent in 2021. We found pockets of joy, though. Time on our favorite trails – always restoring. And at the end of the month, I made my way back to a start line – this time with my bike, not my running shoes. Twenty miles of car-free biking in D.C. was a treat (despite a flat tire midway through the ride).
October took us all the way across the country! I had a weeklong business trip to my company’s headquarters in Seattle, and since it happened to coincide with my birthday, Steve and the kids accompanied me so I wouldn’t have to ring in the year alone. We made it fun: bookended the workweek with one weekend of Seattle tourist treats (including a ride to the top of the Space Needle!), and one weekend of hiking and beachcombing at Olympic National Park. Back at home, we found the BEST trick-or-treating street in our neighborhood, and the kids both chose to wear costumes they already owned (Peanut was a veterinarian, and Nugget was a baseball player), so I didn’t have to spend a dime on equipping them for Halloween. A treat indeed!
November saw us on the go again, traveling to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law. Uncle Dan loves playing tour guide, and we were treated to the very best highlights of western Colorado (including Uncle Dan’s Dinosaur Tour, parts one, two, and three) and Utah. Three national parks, one national monument, an adorable Alpine adventure town, pizza at a famous spot in Fruita, lots of doggy petting, Thanksgiving with our people – lots of stories to come, but it was all wonderful.
Bringing us to December. Jingle and sparkle, ahoy. Although our celebrations have been curtailed this year – a nod to what feels like a never-ending pandemic – we’ve found ways to make magic. I went back to Seattle at the beginning of the month (alone this time) for work, and got to see Pike Place in its Christmas finery. Back at home, we chose and decorated our tree, walked our old stomping grounds at Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria, and celebrated the fact that as of early December, all four of us are finally fully vaxxed against COVID (and Steve and I are now boosted, as of just this week). Yay, science! And yay us, for making it through another pandemic year and finding SO MUCH JOY along the way.
On our last morning in Shenandoah, we awoke to bright sunshine and bluebird skies – finally! After a hearty breakfast at Skylands, we shoved off for home, but with one stop on the way: Mary’s Rock, redemption time.
We’d attempted Mary’s Rock before; in fall of 2016, on our first visit to the park, we’d picked it out as a reach hike to do with two babies in backpacks. The hike starts with a climb up first to the intersection with the Appalachian Trail, and then to a ridgeline, which you follow to the summit. We could have finished the hike, I think, but for a particularly cold weather day. The kids cried and fussed all the way up to the ridgeline, then went into baby shutdown mode and fell asleep. Reluctantly, we decided to turn back rather than subject them to brisk winds at the summit. It was the right call, but we had been itching to try again – and finish this time – ever since. With two experienced little hikers and a beautiful day, Labor Day 2021 was go time.
Although our ultimate goal was the summit, there was plenty to enjoy on the way up.
Like a new friend. See the little one up there?
We stood and watched while a mother and two fawns strolled across the trail, casual as you please. Magic!
Intersection with the famous Appalachian Trail! The kids were proud that they had feet on the AT.
Not long after bidding goodbye to our new white-tailed deer friends, we had another surprise treat in store: this absolutely breathtaking sunlight filtering in rays to light up the trail.
Of course photos don’t even come close to doing it justice. It really was like walking through a hall of lights.
A short ridge walk, and we finally made it – the summit of Mary’s Rock!
Triumphant family! It took us almost five years to get here, but we made it.
Set about enjoying those summit views. The payoff was well worth the climb.
I was so proud of both kids – they had so much fun and really expanded their hiking skills over our weekend in Shenandoah. They pushed themselves past their comfort zones and were rewarded, not only with spectacular views, but also with the knowledge that they could do hard things.
That concludes our whirlwind tour of Shenandoah – but never fear, travel recaps continue! I’ll have some holiday and New Year’s content for you for the next few weeks, but in 2022 we’ll head all the way across the country together.
After climbing Hawksbill in the morning, the afternoon was reserved for Stony Man Mountain – the second highest peak in the park. This was a repeat hike for us; we’d brought my parents up here over Thanksgiving weekend in 2017 (or 2018? I think it was 2017) – so we knew this would be an approachable one. The last time we’d climbed Stony Man, both kids were in backpacks and Steve was under the weather. Both feeling good, and with all family feet on the trail, we were ready to go.
Stony Man trailhead. Hello, old friend!
The Stony Man trail is one of the softest, most groomed trails in a park full of soft, groomed trails. After our summer of Adirondack hiking, it felt like the absolute lap of luxury.
Approaching the summit… that was fast!
And views – check! It was almost as grey and misty as the morning on Hawksbill, but still so beautiful. Shenandoah is my home park, and I love every inch of it, in all of its moods.
Next week: one final hike to cap off the weekend, and it’s a good one – redemption time.
Hawksbill Mountain is Shenandoah’s highest point, but not its most difficult hike. We planned to combine it with a few other hikes for an active but doable-for-kids day. The morning dawned cloudy and misty, so the views from the summit weren’t going to be the best ever, but we figured it would still be beautiful (spoiler: it was). Off we go through the woods…
The kids were hoping for more scrambles (like on the accidental portion of our Bearfence hike) but Steve and I were on our game this time. Scramble up this tiny rock, kids.
After what felt like a very short walk, we were approaching the summit of Hawksbill! That went fast.
Let’s go get that summit, team!
Arrived at the top of Shenandoah – views for days, even with the cloud cover and mist.
I’d love to come up here on a sunny, clear day to see how the view changes – but this misty, magical morning at the highest point in Shenandoah was plenty beautiful.
Next week: from the highest summit in Shenandoah to… the second highest summit in Shenandoah.
Another old favorite – we almost never miss the Story of the Forest trail, no matter how quick the visit to Shenandoah. This time, we stopped by the Big Meadows visitor center so the kiddos could take their Junior Ranger oath of office, then immediately struck off for one of our favorite easy, kid-friendly hikes in the park.
The trail dips downhill a ways, then meanders over gently rolling hills – nothing difficult about it at all – for a little under two miles. It’s a lovely hike for kids, since there are plenty of natural elements to keep them engaged (including a Poohsticks bridge) and you can make it as long or as short as you like.
It’s a classic wooded trail; I think quite a few park visitors skip Story of the Forest because it doesn’t boast sweeping vistas (like Hawksbill) or strenuous scrambles (like Old Rag) or roaring waterfalls (like Dark Hollow) – just a peaceful path through a verdant forest. But there’s plenty to see if you drop your eyes to the forest floor itself – like bright green eruptions of ferns, my favorite.
And forest friends, like a sweet doe and her speckled fawns. All together now: awwwwww.
I just love their quiet grace.
Spotted just off the trail: an air quality monitoring station. Unbeknownst to many park visitors, Shenandoah struggles with air quality problems thanks to surrounding industry. Air quality monitoring stations in the park perform important work to ensure that our wild space stays healthy for us all.
Just a beautiful, peaceful walk in the woods – can’t top that.
Next week: we climb to the highest point in the park.
It would be hard for me to pick a favorite spot in Shenandoah National Park – I love every inch of the place. But if pressed, I might say that I love Big Meadows just a tiny bit more than the rest – maybe. (Then again, maybe not. It would be a wrench to have to choose; I’m glad I actually don’t.) I don’t think we ever come to Shenandoah without at least a quick pause at Big Meadows, and ideally, a nice leg-stretching hike.
Off we go!
I was thinking a lot of my grandmother, who had a great fondness for meadows. She would have so loved the expansive views and the lavish goldenrod flowers.
Bees buzzing everywhere! Go, little pollinators, go!
Don’t mind me, I’m just over here playing with my macro settings. #photographynerd
The sun was baking down and the meadow was blisteringly hot. (We were glad to have our hats and approximately a gallon each of sunscreen.)
Such a gorgeous afternoon hike – there’s no end to the little herd paths and spurs branching out every which way in Big Meadows, and there’s always more to see, whether you stretch up and gaze at the mountains off in the distance or crouch down to inspect a bee or a wildflower at close range. I just love it.
Next week: Another old favorite, and some new friends.
covered in flour 