Memorial Day Adventures

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.....

I looked forward to Memorial Day weekend with a different kind of sweet anticipation this year. At least since the kids and I have moved back to Washington in 2008 we have camped with my sister and brother-in-law, Tina and Mike, their kids and occasionally several other siblings...families included. It was always the much awaited first camping trip of the year, and we would go....rain and all. This year, the weather was beautiful, but my children were with their father and my niece was making her first Holy Communion which took precedence over camping.

So, I planned a weekend of adventures that I intended on embarking upon whether alone or joined by family or friends. The Friday before Memorial Day was the last day of school. The kids left after their program to spend a few days with their dad and his mom, their grandmother. So my first grand adventure took place that night at home. I went to bed at 9 o'clock with a smile on my face, for I knew from this day forth, until school begins in September, I could sleep in if I wanted too!!! To a mother, that is pure joy!

However, Saturday morning I rose with the sun. I planned on hiking to the ghost town, Lester, WA with Emily and a long-time friend Valerie. My backpack was loaded with all I needed for a day of hiking: food, water, sunscreen, and camera (Cub scouts say there are 10 essentials, but those are all I needed for the day. :)

We met at my house and loaded up on gas before heading past Greenwater, WA and north of Mount Rainier. I thought I would stop at a Forest Service information station to get information on the roads and exact directions (Lord knows I have made the mistake NOT to do that before).  When we got there I bought a Forest Pass. I already had the Discover Pass required for state parks but the Forest Pass is required for parking on any Forest Service operated land, yet this does not include the National Park pass required for entry into Mt. Rainier.....whatever happened to "This land is your land, this land is mine"?

Pass in hand I was ready to get a map and directions and get on the road. What?!!! The ranger informed us that there was no way we could access the road to Lester due to the snow. Well, that was alright, I had a plan B...that too, we were told had low snow levels. We were told that we could drive as far as 2 miles within the trail head to Suntop and hike the rest of the way. That sounded alright with us...we planned to hike all day anyway. As we climbed back in the van only a little discouraged, Emily and I (OK, probably mostly me) decided that the forest ranger probably hadn't been up in that area for awhile and didn't really know what the roads were like. Surely the snow was melted enough by now. We'd give it a try.

We approached the gravel forest service road and everything appeared fine. The sun was high and twinkled in and out of the tall trees that were almost like a moving canopy above our heads. Campers were hidden within the firs and cedars and the smell of campfire arose a longing in our hearts to be in their midst. The road wound up and up, like a giant snake. We chased a deer around one corner and rabbits ran for the safety of the woods around another. As we saw two mile marker we felt confident that we were getting close; but whatever excitement each of us harbored gave way to hesitation when we rounded a bend and saw the road completely covered with the icy white stuff.

I parked the van and all of us figured we'd start the hike from here. As we were gathering our stuff, a few bikers, muddied from waste down passed us and said they had to turn around because it was too deep. Well, WE were walking....that would be different, so we thought. We hiked up the steep road a little ways but the snow got deeper and deeper. I swallowed my pride and admitted the ranger knew what she was talking about. Disappointed, but not disheartened, we decided to figure out a Plan C.

Starting off! Full of anticipation.

Plan C involved driving until we saw somewhere that looked interesting. We found ourselves by the entrance to the Tacoma Watershed, but we were met with another dead-end as the gate was closed. But then we saw "The Bridge". There is just something irritable about a bridge to me, especially when it has a beautiful river rushing underneath it and mountain scenery that spreads as far as the eye can see. A short debate delayed our adventure over whether or not we should walk the bridge in spite of the warning signs. We were a good mix of opinions, the three of us. There was me on one end of the spectrum urging us to go, my sister on the other with cautious reservation, and Valerie just ready to go along with whatever decision was made. We went.

 The river was absolutely hypnotizing! We rested for awhile under the bridge and marveled at how the gigantic rock in the water got there, and each of us lost in our own thought welcomed the sun as it warmed our skin.

The day was still young-ish and we weren't entirely done with nature. After exploring the bridge location to our hearts content we headed back into the town of Enumclaw, the van was quiet and I let the moment lead us to our next destination. So far I called all the shots, and that lead to three dead-ends (but some awesome views and a little excitement); I was more than ready for someone else to lead the way.

Emily suggested we head to the Carbon River area where the Rainier to Ruston race was to take place the following weekend. The race begins at the foothills of Mt. Rainier and ends by the Tacoma waterfront. It was a fun race that Emily, Tina and I took part in two years in a row, but were not going to be in this year. It was a great idea. We ended the day enjoying the varying shades of green in the old growth forests that paralleled the Carbon River.

The day was a good lesson in being present in the moment. It was a time to turn off the cell phones, turn up the music in the van and just BE. Our plans didn't turn out as we expected but the day was a total enjoyment. One day, though, the snow will be melted and we will try it again. You can't hide from us Lester! We will be back!!!

Sunny days to all,

Gina.

 (my camera, an old DSLR, just wasn't made for self portraits ;)





PS. If anyone reading this has any tips on arranging photos, I could use the help. They look fine when I am writing the post, but then when I go to publish it....they look all scattered!