March 25th Leaving Portland for the Olympic Peninsula
On this morning, Alena came back with her awesome vehicle an she and John spend about an hour loading the car with our gear and clothing and checking the oil and tires. Mark Welch was joining us for a 4 day jaunt up Hwy 101 to the Kalaloch Lodge ,the Hoh Rainforest, Neah Bay’s Makah museum and a flashy end at Lake Sutherlin. We left our house around 11am and drove up through Scapoose and St Helen’s stopping for food and supplies on the way. We had late lunch in Aberdeen and arrived at Kalaloch Lodge around 5pm. Our room, cabin 40, was wonderful; an old log cabin design with a completely accessible bathroom and entrance way. We had a lovely but overpriced dinner served by a friendly kind waitress at the lodge. Afterwards, John lounged around in the flannel champion sparkplug pants I got him and we played board games. the room had a view of the ocean and we all enjoyed the birds, bats and plant life. I know it is not really funny but the framed and posted “Beach Logs Kill” sign cracked me up every time I saw it. Alena bought me a sticker of it in the gift shop.
March 26th Big Cedar Tree, Ruby Beach, the Hoh Rain Forest
Every morning of our trip I was the first person to awaken and had the pleasure of meditating outside for 20-40 minutes before John came out to smoke and talk. Alena, John and I let Mark sleep in and took off early in the morning to explore, beach 4, Big Cedar Tree and Ruby beach.
The Big Cedar tree is NOT the largest red cedar in the world. The Largest Cedar Tree in the world is in the Olympic National Forest near Quinault Lake and we had already passed that location when driving into the Kalaloch Lodge. The Big Cedar Tree we saw was as big as some of the Sequoias and Redwoods in California though. My body and soul had a huge emotional response to this tree and I longed for it, as if it were a long lost childhood friend. Large trees frequently have this effect on me. I cry whenever I see the redwoods in Northern California and do my best to take routes that travel through them when planning trips. So Alena and I walked to the Big Cedar tree and I sat on a section of it gnarled lovely roots and rested my head upon the trunk. Here are a few pictures of this amazing being.
John went deeper into the woods on the path and I walked back towards the car taking in some of the wonderful fungal life.
After spending such a considerable amount of time with Big Cedar tree we were ready to climb back into Juicy. Oh yes, sometime early the day before, we had helped Alena brainstorm a name for her car “Juicy Fruit” so now we were in the habit of singing “Juicy, Juicy fruit” after a soul funk song from the 80’s. Juicy Fruit drove us faithfully and efficiently from place to place. At noon we went back to the Lodge to pick up Mark and get ready for the most anticipated part of our trip, hiking the Hall of Mosses trail in the Hoh Rainforest. The Hoh Rainforest is the largest temperate rainforest in North America and has the densest canopy and thickest mycelial mat. In order for a ecosystem to be called a rain forest it must receive 100 inches of annual rain. Roosevelt Elk roam the park, the largest herd in the USA. Paul Stamets does a lot or his research in the Hoh.
I was a little scared about whether or not Mark and I would be able to walk so far as the trail itself is 8/10 of a mile and is a whole mile when you include the parking lot and trail leading up to it. mark has numbness in his feet, and a lot of pain and walks with two canes. There are days when I have trouble walking the distance from my front porch to my bathroom at home because of the pain in my muscles and joints. Alena lead the way. John went along another path but came to find us and provided encouragement and support as we rolled by. A series of inspiring activities, people and the invention of playful games got us through. Mark and I both walked the entire path and felt ecstatic and triumphant at the end. The Hoh was so thick and green and mossy, the ground breathed with us as we walked and I felt a deep sense of restoration and healing with each step.
It was a wonderful adventure and we celebrated by having a diner in Forks at a “Homestyle Cooking” restaurant that served chili and was out of the first 3 things I tried to order. We drove back to Kalaloch Lodge for the last time and got ready to leave int he morning by playing a game of Sorry on an original board form the 60’s.
Friday March 27th Sappho, Neah Bay, Lake Sutherland
We managed to get out of the Lodge by the 11am check out time and we headed up 101 leaving the southern section of protected marine coastline for the northern most tip Neah Bay, belonging to the Makah First nations people. I was fascinated by the fact that there was a town named Sappho. We researched it to find that it was started by a pioneer who dragged 8 of his 10 children and a second wife with 3 children across the country to found a city named after Sappho. When we arrived there the only sign of anything was an advertisements for 8ft Bigfoots on the side of a pagan household ( their door said Blessed by the Lord and Lady).
We enjoyed our winding drive and stopped at this adorable and hospitable Sunsets West Co-op in Calallam Bay at the junction of 112 & 101. I accidentally left my phone there and did not realize it until we reached the Makah Cultural Museum. Fortunately Jane answered her phone and reassured me that she would not be closing before 7pm. After we saw the amazing Makah museum holdings; which included over 5300 artifacts recovered from a 500 year old, pre colonization mudslide that allowed archeologist to recover preserved artifacts that gave a very complete record. My favorite experience there was being able to sit inside of a 60 ft Cedar Longhouse on a cedar plank bed listening to tapes of Makah language and chanting. I was so moved and fed by this.
After the museum we drove right back to see Jane at the Co-op and she found my phone and returned it to me. I bought a pair of hand crocheted pink silk yarn slippers that she had made herself. They have adorable ruby red buttons with the shape of an 8 pointed star on them. I will wear them at Temples. We also bought many yummy organic treats and snacks there. We drove happily away knowing we would soon be with our friends Tai and Stian and Kat on Lake Sutherland.
As soon as we arrived I got out the Mushroom prayer flag my brother and I purchased at the Sister Spirit Pagan Faire and tied it to the outside deck where it began to wave around and jingle its brass bells in the wind. The cabin belongs to Tai’s Estes (paternal) family members. Tai agreed to host us for Friday night so that we could have a lovely social event before I helped her buckle down and finish her Master’s thesis. We stayed up fairly late communing and telling stories but I still woke up early at 8am and sat on the deck to meditate. When everyone was up, we agreed to go to Granny’s restaurant for a big breakfast as a way to send Kat, Stian and Mark to Seattle. Mark would get to attend the Seattle Cascadian illuminati Event featuring Denny Sargent’s presentation and Kat would return to her cats and West Seattle home. Alena stayed with John and Tai and I long enough to help us buy firewood and groceries at a Safeway. Tai also took us to the infamous “Swain’s Has Everything” store to get a few items John wanted for his solo camping trips.
