Bruce is so wonderful. He woke up Saturday, the 3rd, and told me to get dressed because he had a surprise for me. The surprise was a trip to Quinault. Bruce had been working in Quinault for something like 6 weeks. He kept saying how beautiful it was and he was staying in the hotel right on the river. I wanted to go but couldn't for various reasons. He's done with the job and I finally wasn't busy, so off we went.
We went to Lake Quinault where we started our day finding the Worlds Largest Sitka Spruce. It was something like 1000 years old. It was huge. We then took a drive to North Lake Quinault where there were roadside waterfalls and then, eventually, the road gave way to a single lane dirt path with blind corners and hills. I was a wreck going up and Bruce was enjoying the scenery not caring that we could fall into the river at any moment if a moose or bear or deer jumped out in front of us. We could also have had a head-on collision if someone wasn't careful coming down the hill! He just doesn't think of these things while he's driving along singing merrily away to 80's music. I sat petrified with thoughts of our death or the aggravation of calling a tow-truck driver ran through my head. It didn't help when we happened upon a Toyota 4Runner with the passenger wheels off the road balancing precariously on the edge above the rocky river! They were lucky to be alive! The truck could tip and fall into the water at any moment! There was no one there so we drove on.
When we finally made it to the top it was fairly busy but it had a bathroom and the road was over, so I was cool with it. The hike was to be about 6-6.5 miles. The brochure didn't say that it was practically all up-hill, both ways! It started at a bridge and the view was already stunning. We almost just turned back there, but decided to see what else this hike had to offer. The blue-green water was amazing looking and there was a rocky waterfall covered in moss. Beautiful.
The hike itself was actually really boring, but Bruce and I got to talk a lot, which was nice. Did I mention that Bruce wants to be the World's Greatest Speed Hiker. I looked it up, there actually is a thing called Speed Hiking! Needless to say, we booked it up the hills. It was ok with me since the scenery was boring due to it's repetitiveness.
We passed a lot of backpackers who offered us their packs. We said "no thanks" and laughed at them for backpacking :) The last backpackers we came across looked a little tuckered out. I asked them how much further it was to Pony Bride and they said "Straight down the hill" with wide eyes. When they passed I expressed my concern to Bruce: the way they said it didn't sound good. It was straight down on wet rocks and slippery mud. We were walking in the bushes at points so we wouldn't sink in the pit of muck in places. That's ok, it went straight up again but, of course, we had to go straight down again, as well.
We finally saw a beautiful gorge with mossy rocks and the clearest bluest water. It was stunning. Of course, Bruce needed to experience this sight from a mossy fallen tree dangling on the edge of the cliff. Heaven forbid he do this on his own so he dragged me out there, too. Why enjoy the view from the safety of the trail?
We finished at Pony Bridge where we hung out a bit enjoying the scenery. (and for me, catching my breath. Bruce is a challenge to keep up with. Now I know that that I take 1.5 steps for every 1 step Bruce takes.)Then we speed hiked back up the hill. I'm glad I go to the gym or I wouldn't have kept up. Then down the treacherous one lane dirt car path.
Remember the 4Runner? Well, we were lucky enough to get to see the tow truck driver pull them off the cliff edge. Hippies. That's who had been driving. Bruce and I were coming up with stories about how they could have possibly ended up in that balancing act. Rocking out to 80's music while head banging his pouffy curly hair? Smoking pot? Spooked by an animal? Trying to let someone pass in the wrong spot? Who knows. But they quickly pulled the car out and we were on our way where we could stop on the bridge over the river so I could do cartwheels on pavement! The view was spectacular. Blue skies, clear aquamarine water, green mountains with snowy tops. Stunning.
Back on the road we discovered the pavement was just for a moment. Back onto dirt roads even higher on the hill/cliff with smaller corners between trees. Scary. Scary. Ok. We made it alive.
We stopped to see the World's Largest Red Cedar. More speed hiking but even faster than before because there were lots of stairs to climb and boardwalks to cross and roots to push off from. We got to circle this tree and see it from the inside. I was disappointed there was no signage to tell me about age, AFA points or anything else interesting. I like to read signs. We wandered around a bit inside and out and then we were back down the hill. Even faster than before. I was running and not keeping up with Bruce. I lost him at one point and almost went the wrong way. Where was my guide? I finally caught up and some older couple let us by and said there was no way they could descend that quickly on their old knees. Uh oh, will my knees be bad from jumping, running, hopping down the hill? It was fun, though.
After Lake Quinault Bruce surprised me with a beach visit. I had never been to Ocean Shores even though everyone else had and I wanted to know what the hubub was about. We went to Pacific Beach and walked along the beach collecting sand dollars. Bruce kept finding whole ones that were newly dead or dying. There were a lot of them. I forgot how cold and windy Washington beaches were. It was beautiful but we didn't stay too long because it was cold and we hadn't eaten all day. We finally made it to Ocean Shores. There was a lot of activity. Shopping, cart rentals and people all over the place. We drove out onto the beach and parked the car to watch the people starting their weekend celebrations and enjoy the view of the ocean from the windless confines of our car. The police were constantly patrolling and the firefighters were standing at their truck ready to jump into action.
After some time we decided to finally eat. Now where to eat. So many places had signs that said "Kites!" "Rentals!" "McDonald's!" but I wanted real food! We ended up at the Home Port and had a delicious seafood dinner. Bruce ordered some drinks without thinking about how I had an empty stomach. Instant buzz for me made good laughs for him :) As we left I saw a sign "Good Luck to the Gays" I was too slow with the picture taking, but had to share. I agree ~ Good luck Gays! We left for home feeling good about our mini-adventure and slept really well.
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