(Pictures are all available in an album in FaceBook.)
Current Location: Bremerton, Washington
We love because it’s the only true adventure.
~ Nikki Giovanni
Early Saturday morning we headed into the Olympic Mountains up along the Dungeness river to hike to Royal Lake. What an amazing area! After selecting a campsite and dropping our gear off we headed on up further into the Upper Royal Basin. It was still mostly covered in snow, but it was absolutely stunning! This is definitely a trip we would recommend if you are ever in the area. It was a gentle 7 mile climb rewarded with incredible views and lots of opportunities for wildlife watching, including mountain goats, marmots, deer, and even fish in the water. If you want to go, be aware that it is in the Olympic National Park and a permit is required for overnight trips. The lake and surrounding area have been heavily used in the past and are undergoing restoration, so the Park is serious about making sure everyone backpacking has a permit – we got checked by a few rangers on the way up (which is a first).
Jackie and her boyfriend, Mikel, joined us for the fun. (That might make it the Adventure-Some version of a double date. 😀 ) It was Mikel’s first backpacking experience and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.
Sunday morning a curious mountain goat circled around the lake and our campsite so we had plenty of chances to check him out – especially when he came within about 30′ of us!
- 1 mountain goat, seen up close
- 2 days up in the mountains
- 8 years of our greatest adventure, marriage!
Alas, Sunday we headed back down the mountain and aimed toward the house where we caught up on gardening and yard work while supper was sizzling on the grill. What a fabulous and productive weekend!
Monday was a full day of work, with a brief interlude to meet with a fellow from the local newspaper. We’re going to partner with them to write a few articles for the fall outdoor guide publication that the paper puts out to encourage people to get outside more! Ashley and I have been brainstorming already and are so excited about the project. (It doesn’t go to print until September but we’ll be sure to let you know when we have more information.)
- Lessons Learned (or relearned):
- Marriage is our favorite adventure!
- Mountain basins are among our favorite places.
- Letterpress printing is pretty awesome, it combines creativity and old industrial machinery
Yesterday found us celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary! We rode our bicycles to a nearby breakfast cafe and ate in a converted VW Bus, attended a Letterpress Printing workshop where we carved our own designs and then printed them onto a calendar using an old printing press, played a game over a drink at a local brewery and then shared a delicious home-made supper of ribeye steak, corn on the cob and stuffed mushrooms off the grill. What an amazing day! We even managed to get some work done in there somewhere…
Better and better,
Matthew & Ashley