Elevation Gain: Approximately 2500 ft.
Time: Tuesday 9 am - Monday 2 pm
Weather: Overcast and rainy 4 of the 7 days with overcast with occasional sun-breaks in the other 3 days. The last day was the sunniest and warmest.
More to come later, but...
I just got out from 7 day/6 night trip along the Elwha River in the Olympic National Park.
Highlights include good meals, great kids, an amazing co-leader, and the majestic, mighty Elwha.
And here is later...
We spent Monday night at the Elwha campground. This is a drive-in campground, but it was a half mile from the "de-facto" trailhead for the 7 day/6 night trip alongside the Elwha river. I say de-facto, since the Whiskey Bend Road had washed out in two places this winter, so we had 5 miles of bonus hiking. We hiked a total of 10 miles the first day with the heaviest packs of the entire 12 day trip. My pack was heavy, but the hiking felt good until the last 2 hours when we were dealing with rain too. As we got to Lilian River, we dropped a good 300 feet, and we were at camp. I made chicken burritos with rice and beans.
The next day was a short hike to Mary's Falls where we had a dish called "Gado-gado spaghetti." The boys played pine cone wars on a bit of an island in the Elwha. We ate a ton of salmon berries. We woke up to a deer in camp who had no fear of us. She stayed around all morning.
The next day was a big hike down south to Chateau camp. The camp site was nearly impossible to find with no sign. Two boys on the trip spent the next two nights making a beautiful sign from a down tree that had been sawed off and left near the trail. Dinner was good tasting, but a pain to make. We had lasagna.
The next day we hiked to Camp wilder and had a rainy night. After the tents were all set up, the boys mostly got in to stay dry. I geared up and went exploring. I found a huge tree, where the limbs above were shielding most of the rain. I sat down and napped on the tree. I came back about an hour later, and my co-leader and a camper made a dinner shelter with a tarp. I cooked pesto pasta with roasted pine nuts. I finished a book in my tent that night. It was the first trip where I began a book and finished it on the same trip. Camp wilder was beautiful.
We turned around and went out the next day. We hiked to Elkhorn. A huge, beautiful site where I made pizzas for dinner. The next day was the last full day in the woods. We hiked out to the trailhead at the end of the Whiskey Bend road. It was not the best last site, but made for an easy out the next day.
On the last day, I felt weird leaving. I enjoy the woods a lot.
Orchid: Hiking 11.5 miles with a heavy pack.
Onion: Cooking the lasagna on the 3rd night.
Picture:
Google map
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