Hike of a long time ago : Packwood Lake

This was a good one. A great one. And the perfect weather helped.

We left the campground early -- we had been warned about the congestion caused by the Packwood Flea Market, but only when we got to the turnoff 20 minutes later did we realize that the 90-minute travel time we'd estimated the day before was caused by the market backups. Ha!

The road up to the trailhead was paved and had only a few potholes -- easy peasy. And there was a big parking lot at the top -- which already had a lot of cars in it.

May we pause, for a moment, to admire the loveliness of this trailhead's information board? Tidy posters, info on animals you might see on the trail, a beautiful wooden map... this is my dream info board.

How pretty is this map?

Let's head out!

 One last glimpse of a nearby volcano (ummm, is that Rainier? or a Tatoosh?):

And then we were headed into the woods. The trail started right up -- again, this is Freshman Math sort of stuff. Start your trail off with a steep section to thin the crowd.

But soon we were on a gentle, rolling trail through the woods, and entered the Goat Rocks Wilderness.

There was even a hint of snow off the trail -- which made this stretch lovely and cool.

One really nice feature: no motorcycles or bikes on the trail. Makes for a nice, relaxing hike.

And then, finally, THIS:

Just, wow. So beautiful.

We chatted with a couple who were camping next to the lake with this view. Amazing. We had seen a few groups headed out from the lake -- apparently there is still a lot of snow on the nearby trails, so people were leaving a day early. And the trail is so gentle, and only 5 miles -- I think even I could backpack out there to camp for a night or two!

We spent a little over an hour at the lake, going partway around and admiring the view and then just sitting in the sun. Glorious!

this old ranger station is being restored

We crossed a bridge into the official camping area and had to stop, again, and admire the views.

We found a nice fire ring right on the lake and took a break. And, no, I'm not sure what mountain that is. Goat Rocks? Adams?

This week's #bootie is an instant classic.

After a while it was time to head back. Lots and lots of hikers heading in as we were heading out. And I made Wil pose in front of this waterfall along the trail. 

When we got back to the parking lot it was RAMMED. As we were taking our boots off a guy drove up, asked if we were leaving, and we said, "Yes, but in 5 minutes." He got all huffy, and said, "TWENTY MINUTES?!?!" So I replied, "No, 5 minutes ... but we saw a spot up closer to the trailhead if you can't wait" and he sped off. Always charming!

Now I know what you're thinking -- where did we go to recover?

I'd seen two potential spots on the way out to the trailhead. After we managed to crawl through Packwood (there would be no stopping there once we realized that most vendors were offering the same tat we could purchase at a county fair) we stopped in at the adorable Tall Timber Motel / Restaurant / Lounge. We walked in the front door and thought, mmm, no, not for us. Thankfully I saw the sign that said, "LOUNGE" around the side of the building and we came on in.

We only had a small snack -- the fry bread pizza, which was delicious -- but all of the food looked great. And you know I love a bar that has peanuts on the table.

Then, though we didn't *need* any more recovery, this was irresistible.

MUST. EAT.

It was HOT -- maybe 90 degrees? -- and the ice cream machine couldn't keep up with the demand for shakes and cones. But we settled into a booth in the tiny, happily air-conditioned cafe and had onion rings, a chocolate malt, and my cone -- inverted into a cup.

This hike was so beautiful -- a really nice trail, all gentle ups and downs, and then the lake as a reward. No scary stuff at all. A++

Packwood Lake

9.1 miles
1555 feet elevation

Hike of a couple of weeks ago... Vanson Peak and Cathedral Falls

Over Memorial Day Weekend we camped at Taidnapam Park ... about which more later. Ms. "Can't Sleep Past Dawn in a Tent" (ahem) was awake at 5:30, so we got up, had breakfast, and headed out.

We pulled out of the campground at 7am and during the 5-mile drive up the one-lane road to the trailhead I just kept thinking how great Woody is doing. Who's a good boy? Woody. There was a lone truck at the trailhead as we set out.

The trail was green and narrow at the beginning.

Here's a TMI moment for you. Feel free to scroll down to the lovely view below.

Driving up to the trailhead I started to feel a little odd. Just odd. Within a few yards of the trailhead, it was clear I needed a pit stop. In a place with no privy. It was clear I would need to ... join the society of bears.

Luckily I had been to a talk at the Mountaineers -- "Hiking and Backpacking Tips for Woman" -- where this matter was discussed in great detail. I marched off the trail, dug a "cat hole" and well... you know. I covered it up and emerged from the woods triumphantly. Let's just put this down to Kilimanjaro training.

We caught this lovely view and headed on down the trail.

The trail was empty and glorious -- winding up and down through the woods.

We crossed a few small creeks, admired a tiny waterfall, and had the world to ourselves.

At 1.1 miles we reached the natural highlight of the hike: Cathedral Falls. I knew there was a big waterfall, where the trail went behind the falls, but I didn't quite know what to expect. Kapow.

Whenever I see a waterfall I just wonder where the water is coming from. So. Much. Water.

Seriously, where is all this water coming from?

I hadn't known what to expect with the trail going behind the falls. Would it be narrow and slippery? Would we want to go under it? Guess I needn't have worried:

Wil on the trail behind Cathedral Falls

Sunny on the trail behind Cathedral Falls

Yep... plenty of room. And, of course ... THE BACK SIDE OF WATER! (And we didn't even need to go to Disneyland to see it!)

After oohing and aahing at the falls for a while, we continued on. We caught glimpses of the river:

And even managed not to miss the turn off toward Vanson Peak.

For the most part, the trail was in decent condition, though we did have to wiggle under a few trees, over a few trees, and around another.

Somewhere along here two runners and their dogs came up behind us on the trail, so we moved over to let them pass. Wil looked at one woman, said, "I know you..." and I realized it was Bobbi, whom we met on the Alaska Marathon Cruise way back in 2011. Crazy!

As Bobbi said on her FB page, "Yesterday, Lynn and I wanted to do an 8 mile trail run on a fairly obscure trail close to home that would not be crowded." I love that we literally ran into them in what honestly can be called the middle of nowhere.

We chatted for a few moments, and she recommended a trail for us the next day. (Spoiler alert: it was AWESOME.) Then they ran off and we were alone again. Just us and some friendly logs.

Oh, and trilliums! I hadn't seen any blooming yet, so this was lovely.

We crossed another couple of streams, which went well.

Okay, this one made me weirdly nervous.

And then, about 3 miles in, we hit this larger stream ... with a big log across it about 5 feet up.

Now, I'm sure we *could* have crossed this. Not at the water level -- it was too deep and moving too fast -- but I bet the log would have been fine. BUT. It just made me uncomfortable. I mean, I have been known to trip and fall on a sidewalk. So we turned around and looked for a place to sit and have a snack. 

On the way back we met a few more people, including a woman nervously walking with a gun tucked in the front of her pants (what?!?!?!), but luckily for the most part it was just us and the trees.

Oh, and, of course, another gander at Cathedral Falls...

We "recovered" by visiting a bar in the nearby town of Morton called The Buck Snort. It still amazes me that I managed to resist buying the camouflage BUCK SNORT t-shirt. But we couldn't resist this: draft beer in cold glass mugs, plus massive portions of onion rings and cheese bites.

So we didn't get anywhere near Vanson Peak, but we did have a great day in the woods, ran into an old friend, and saw THE BACK SIDE OF WATER. I still call that a win.

Vanson Peak

6.3 miles
1496 feet elevation