Orcas Island

Last year, when we visited San Juan Island, we had hoped to get to Orcas Island, one of the islands in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca that comprise the San Juan Islands, but did not have time.  We decided then that we would go back to camp on Orcas Island since a large part of the island is state park.  On Memorial Day weekend, we had our opportunity to take this long-awaited camping trip.

Orcas Island is a little like two bells connected by a thin cord.  The Washington State Ferry arrives on the west side of the island in the town of Orcas and Moran State Park is on the east side.  The town of Orcas is very small, but has the essentials - a few gift shops, grocery store, and restaurants - which made our long wait for the ferry leaving the island more bearable despite the drizzle.  On the way to Moran, we passed through Eastsound, the largest town on the island.  This was a quaint village with some resorts and some artisan shops.  It was great to have this as an option on the morning of the trip that it really rained.

The state park really provided plenty of activity options with so many miles of hiking trails.  On one afternoon, we hiked to Cascade Falls.  It was a two mile moderate hike from our campground.  The falls were not terribly large, but the lush green surroundings they were nestled into made them worth the trip.  Another day, we hiked up Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the San Juan Islands.  The hike was difficult at first in that it was a very steep grade.  Eventually, the trail began to wind along the face of the mountain then continued up to the summit.  The top was very crowded as there is a road to the summit; however, the clouds were so thick there was hardly anything to see anyway.  There is a stone observation tower, but that did not improve the view.  The descent was much easier, obviously.  The trail took us to Twin Lakes then Mountain Lake, where we walked along the shores directly back to our campsite.

Cascade Falls
Photo by E. Pittinger

View from the top of Mt. Constitution
Photo by E. Pittinger

By far the most exciting part of the weekend was kayaking.  We had been kayaking in the San Juan Islands before, but this time, we stayed very close to shore, which allowed us to see the sea life on the rocky cliffs of the island.  We saw many purple star fish and some seals.  Though the best visitor by far was a bald eagle.  On our previous kayaking trip in the San Juans, we saw many bald eagles from a distance.  On this trip, the eagle was perched on a rock close to the water and did not move for several minutes despite our group's approach.  It was a clear illustration of why kayaking is one of the most perfect ways to watch wildlife.

Photo by E. Pittinger

Despite a little rain and chilly northwest temperatures, it was a great trip.  Hopefully, we will some day return to this area for more northwest camping.  Of course, the chilly weather did not stop me from taking a dip in Mountain Lake.  It wouldn't be a vacation without swimming!

 

Photo by E. Pittinger

Oregon

The first stop on our Oregon trip was Mt. St. Helens, which is actually in Washington.  We went to the Johnston Ridge Observatory but knew before we got there that it wasn't going to be a totally fulfilling trip - we could hardly see 50 feet in front of the car.  The observatory was interesting - some interactive exhibits, lots of personal stories from the eruption, and a dramatic movie with a computer generated reenactment.  We never really saw the mountain, which was disappointing, but the observatory is clouded in about 65% of the time so it would be really lucky to get a view.  When we got down the mountain, the weather started to clear a bit.  We went to a Mt. St. Helen's gift shop where we found lots of Helenite jewelry; Helenite, also known as Mt. St. Helen's emerald, is made by burning ash from the eruption.  I have always felt a connection to Mt. St. Helens since the anniversary of the eruption is the same date as my birthday, so I bought some Helenite earrings.  The best purchase though was Ellie's Mt. St. Helen's before and after salt and pepper shakers (a brilliant idea I thought I had come up with minutes before entering the store where I realized someone else had already come up with the idea).

From Mt. St. Helens, we headed to Oregon.  Bypassing Portland, we visited Multnomah Falls about 30 minutes east of Portland along the Columbia River.  The falls are quite a tourist destination complete with paved paths, a restaurant, and a gift shop.  It is not typically the type of site I like to visit since it was so crowded, but the waterfall was beautiful and once we hiked beyond the main viewing area the crowds lessened.  Multnomah Falls is the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States.  It is 582 feet but not very wide.  A 1.25 mile hike took us to the top where we could just look over the edge from a platform.  While the hike was mostly uphill, the views of the Columbia River Gorge were wonderful from almost all of the spots on the trail.

Photo by E. Pittinger

After our short hike at the falls, we headed back to Portland where we ate some delicious pub food at Henry's Tavern followed by delicious ice cream (I had Oregon Strawberry) at Ruby Jewel Ice Cream.  The next morning we visited Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Voodoo Donuts where I had the dirt donut (a white frosted donut  with crumbled Oreo cookies on it) and a Portland Cream (essentially just a Boston cream donut).  The donuts were very innovative, but I didn't find them any better than any other donuts I have ever had.  In fact, I think the chocolate frosted donut at Rielly's bakery in Biddeford, ME, though simple, could beat Voodoo Donuts any day.  Portland is a weird combination of classic, modern, and hip though a bit dingy.  I also felt like some of the people we encountered were a little hipster stand-offish as in way too cool to interact pleasantly with us.  We definitely did not spend enough time in Portland to get a true sense of the city.  Later in the morning, we headed to Washington Park where we visited the World Forestry Center Discovery Museum.  The museum was super interactive, so maybe more full for the dozens of elementary school children who were visiting while we were,  but once the kids went to lunch, we were able to try out all the interactive exhibits including simulations of logging, smoke-jumping, and white-water rafting.  After a brief lunch in the Arboretum, we headed west toward the coast.  

Photo by E. Pittinger

Coastal Oregon was by far the best part of our trip.  I have never seen such a beautiful coastline.  Most of what we saw was steep tree covered hillsides leading to cliffs leading to sandy beaches.  There were also many large rock formations out in the surf.  At Smuggler's Cove in Oswald West State Park, a secluded beach accessed by a 3/4 mile hike, we saw wonderful tide pools filled with sea anemones, star fish, tiny fish, and crabs.  The rocks around the tide pools were so encrusted with sea life that none of the rock was visible.  After leaving Smuggler's Cove, we headed a little north to Ecola State Park where we got a lovely view of Haystack Rock (a large rock formation in the surf that serves as a refuge for many sea birds) and Tilly lighthouse (a lighthouse built a bit out to see on a rock formation).  This view is made famous by The Goonies because it is where the shot of the medallion lining up with the rocks was shot.  

Photo by E. Pittinger

Once inspired by the view at Ecola State Park, we headed to Astoria, where parts of the The Goonies were filmed.  Astoria is just like in The Goonies, in fact, it looks a bit stuck in the '80s.  However, this is a good thing because it is not a pretentious town at all.  People were so friendly there.  We had a delicious dinner at the Fort George Brewery, which included their house made sausage and lots of local brews.  After the brewery, we went up to the house used as the Walsh's house in The Goonies.  The owners are so generous as to let people walk up their driveway and take pictures of the house.  From the house, we could hear the barking of sea lions; this was not just a quiet noise, but a loud roar of barking despite the fact that we were about a half mile from the water.  We headed down to a pier to check out the commotion and saw hundreds of sea lions camped up on the pier for the night.  They were piled on top of each other and jumping in and out of the water.  It was better than anything you could ever see in a zoo.  That night, on a Goonies high, we watched the Goonies to prepare for a tour of the town the next day.  Despite the rain the next day, we went to the jail where the opening scene of the movie was filmed; the jail is now the Oregon Film Museum.  The museum had some props from the movie as well as information on other movies (300) filmed in Oregon.  We also saw the history museum that features in one scene of The Goonies (when the kids are riding down the street and wave to Mikey's Dad who is talking down the flag at the museum).   Since it was such a rainy day we had a quiet lunch at T-Paul's Urban Cafe then headed north back to Washington.

Ellie and I doing the truffle shuffle in front of the Goonies house

  

Quinault Rain forest

Rainforests are so intriguing.  All the monkeys flying through the thick canopy.  The millions of exotic insects living in the dark underbrush.  So obviously, I wanted to visit a rainforest in Washington.  Right,  temperate rainforests are not tropical rainforests.

The west side of the Olympic mountains is home to two rain forests that get over twelve feet of rain a year - the Hoh rainforest to the north and the Quinault rain forest to the south.  We took a Sunday hike around part of the Quinault rainforest.

We started at the National Forest Ranger station on the east shore of Lake Quinault.  From there, we crossed the road and began the Quinault Loop Trail, a moderate three mile trail.  The forest looked much like any other Northwest forest except maybe a little more lush with moss.

It seemed we were hiking through a previously forested area, which is typical on National Forest land, since there wasn't a lot of diversity in trees.

Eventually, the trail got to denser forests.  Again, the transcendental nature of the forests here astonishes me.  You just don't find such untouched land back east.  Here is our depiction of a transcendental painting:

When we met back up with the road, we were a little less than a mile from the Ranger Station.  Here was a well-maintained nature trail with signs pointing out the features of the rainforest.  The most interesting aspect are the nursing trees - trees that fall down then have other trees grow on top of them.  As the original tree rots, the other trees grow their roots around the rotting trunk.  There was one example there where the trees growing on top of the nursing tree were already at least twenty years old.  It is a magnificent example of nature's recycling.

The trail crossed the road back to the shores of Lake Quinault.  We walked along the lakeshore partly through a National Park campground and partly through Quinault Indian land.  The lake was choppy water but pleasant.  Across the lake, some of the smaller peaks in the Olympic range rose above the water.  Just before we reached the ranger station, we arrived at the Lake Quinault Lodge, a classic early twentieth century lodge, where we had a nice lunch.  The Monte Cristo was delicious after a couple hours of hiking.  FDR even ate there in 1937!

The absolute best part of the day was seeing the world's largest Sitka Spruce.  This area of Washington is actually home to six conifers that are the largest known specimens of their species.  The Sitka is 191 feet tall and has a circumference of 58'11".  It is about 1,000 year old!  It was by far the largest tree I ever saw and a great end to a great day.

                      

Wallace Falls

You know you have adapted to the Northwest when despite a 100% chance of rain, you are going hiking.  Off we went a few weekends ago to Wallace Park State Park.

While the park was in the Cascade Foothills, a couple hours north east of Tacoma, it was worth the drive since it is one of the first places we have found to hike in Washington where a day hike can actually get you to a sight.  And what a beautiful sight.

The trail is 2.75 miles each way.  It starts rising gradually along the Wallace River.

After a short time, the terrain begins to climb farther above the river.  Soon, we arrived at the lower falls and a nice picnic shelter, very useful on such a rainy day.  The lower falls are easy to miss because the view point is tucked down the hill behind the picnic shelter.  The best view of the falls is at the lower falls since the span from lower to middle falls can all be taken in with one view.

After another mile of steeper trail, we got to the most spectacular of the falls, the middle falls.  The middle falls are a 265 foot drop and provide all the mist and noise you would expect from a waterfall.

A short distance later brought us to the top of the trail and the upper falls.  The upper falls were definitely more of a gradual cascade.  At that point in the trail, we had reached the edge of the in-bounds state park land and turned for the downhill hike back to the parking lot.  By the end of the day, our whole party was soaked to the bone except the one person who had smartly wore rain pants.  Luckily, we didn't have to drive too far outside the park entrance to find a coffee stand.  Typical Northwest - lots of rain and plenty of options for a hot beverage.

  

Olympic National Park

With the unusually warm and dry spring weather last weekend, we took a hike on the North Fork Skokomish Trail in the Olympic National Park.  The full trail is about 12 miles beginning at the Staircase Ranger Station and ending around the base of Mt. Steel.  We did a little less than half the trail.    This area being all ancient forest made the hike like being in a Transcendental painting.

The trail began winding along the staircase rapids of the Skokomish river.

After about an hour of hiking, we began to climb above the river.  Slowly, the unmelted snow of winter began to appear.  First, there were just small piles of snow on the edges of the trail and in the shade.  Soon after, we were walking through snow pretty consistently, but it was low enough to hardly get boots wet.  Eventually, we were in consistent snow of about one foot.  Luckily, the more prepared of us (not me) had remembered to bring our gators.  More prepared for snow, we set off for about 2 or 3 more miles trudging through the snow and dealing with large trees blocking the narrow trail.

We passed over many streams leading down to the river.  Most of them were small enough to wade through on rocks.  One in particular was running quite deeply in a small gorge.  The trail continued over across on a log bridge, which was essentially just a fallen tree that had been flattened on the top and a handrail added.  This was by far the scariest part of the hike.

By midday, we reached Donohue Creek where we stopped for lunch.  Unlike hiking in the east, where it is easy to get to a summit - or multiple summits - in one day - hiking in the Olympic National Park is a more remote and lengthy experience.  To truly reach any kind of height, multi-day trips are necessary.  However, even a day hike where the farthest destination is just a creek can be an amazing experience.  Sitting next to Donohue Creek with such a mix of ancient trees above me was like being in one of those Transcendental paintings where two small people are sitting at the edge of a cliff in a vast and lush green landscape.  It made me feel small and at peace.  

Book Review: The Giver Quartet

A few weeks ago a jump for joy surprise came in the mail:  an autographed copy of the final installment in Lois Lowry's Giver series.  My mom is awesome!  The present inspired me to reread all of the books that form The Giver Quartet.

I first read The Giver in elementary school and have since taught it to middle schoolers several times.  I remember as a child wondering if a place like Jonas' community - everything in perfect order, everyone perfectly taken care of - really did exist.  Parts of this social idealism really appealed to my desire for an ordered life even as a child.  While the supreme order of the community is appealing - no conflict, no hunger, no sadness - the sterility and mundanity is the downside of that order.  The good things in life - freewill, beauty, love, friendship - are only good in relation to the downs of life.  In Jonas' community, there are no downs, just mundanity.   Of course, almost no one in the community notices, and as the Giver points out, freewill and feelings can lead to catastrophes and have in the past.   Jonas is a twelve-year old who through his assignment working with the Giver learns some disturbing truths about his community.  He must courageously attempt to change the community.

In the second book, Gathering Blue, Lowry introduces a very different community where people have freewill, yet poverty, selfishness, danger, and hunger prevail.  The main character is again a twelve-ish child.  Kira is in a very bad situation when she is selected to help the community in a very special way.  There is no direct connection to The Giver in this second installment, but there are many parallels between the stories.  By the third book, The Messenger, Lowry is beginning to tie the stories together with the return of Matty, a character from Gathering Blue, who is now the protagonist.  This story also gives hints as to what happened to Jonas after The Giver ended.  While the hints are indirect, they are exhilarating to a fan of The Giver.  Matty, again a twelve-ish child, lives in a community that takes the good from the other two communities - people have freewill but are also kind and generous.  As evil begins to take-hold of the village, Matty is sent to save it.

All three books parallel each other in the depiction of young heroes courageously fighting for better societies, but each book ends abruptly.  In Lowry's new novel, Son, the stories are brought to a nice conclusion.  She opens back in Jonas' community around the same time that The Giver began.  The plot of Son moves through and beyond the time of the other three novels and encompasses most of the settings of the other three; in this way, Son literally encompasses the other three stories. The main character, Claire, is a birthmother in the original community.  After giving birth to a boy, she is kept from the baby, as is the custom, and assigned to different work.  Due to an unusual protocol, she is not reminded to take the medication required for all adults, leaving her to feel real emotions, something foreign to the members of the community.   While she begins at roughly the same age as the other three protagonists, her story is of a much more mature nature.  It touches on a type of loss and loneliness that is deeper and more adult than the previous books.  Perhaps in the same way that the characters of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series grew up at the same rate the texts became more mature, Lowry has saved this intriguing viewpoint for a more mature audience.  Of course, this could just be my bias as an adult reader.  There are themes in the other three books that are perhaps nearly as mature and not viewed in the same way by children.  Perhaps, like when I read The Giver as a child, there are aspects of Son that are understood differently by children than by adults.  For this reason, I often like to go back to novels I loved as a child.

For someone who has not read The Giver since childhood, or someone that has never read it at all, The Giver Quartet is a worthy revisit or first visit.

Puget Sound's Rougher Museums

Museums don't always have to be frilly buildings with girly tchotchkes in the gift shop.  Recently, I had the opportunity to visit two of Puget Sound's rougher museums.  Both the brand new Lemay - America's Car Museum and the recently relocated Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) are industrial looking buildings filled with the kind of stuff that interests small boys.  Yes, neither were my choice; however, both were entertaining.

Lemay - America's Car Museum is also sometimes referred to as the giant metal slug.  The museum sits between downtown Tacoma and the Tacoma Dome.  When we first visited Tacoma in 2010, the building was under construction.  We had a lot of wild guesses as to what this long flat metal building next to the interstate was going to be.  It looks a little like an upside-down sardine can on a pedestal.  In reality, it is just a huge garage.  The museum, which opened in the summer of 2012, houses more than 300 cars, trucks, and motorcycles most of which are from the first half of the twentieth century.  Much to my delight, it was a romp through some of my favorite eras.  There was a wide array of the earliest automobiles, sleek and stylish cars from the roaring twenties, behemoths of the fifties, and in good taste, very few cars from the sixties, seventies, and eighties.  Stylish and cars just didn't go together in those decades.   From a 1906 Cadillac to the 1994 Flintmobile, built for the Flintstone's movie, it was a feast of our country's gluttony for rolling autonomy.

The Museum of History and Industry was exactly how it sounds - a little boring.  While they had many interactive exhibits, the topics - business, innovation, city planning - are not necessarily my interests.  The new location, they just moved to a former Naval Armory on South Lake Union at the end of 2012, is rather nice.  The entrance opens into a four story atrium.  Right away there is a giant wall of dioramas about Washington that can be lit up one at a time by the patrons.  They also have business building boards that look like air hockey tables and allow patrons to assemble tools for a business and see if that business would succeed.  From a room about Boeing to a periscope to earthquakes to film in Seattle to the World's Fair to Microsoft, the museum is a hodgepodge, which is perhaps why I didn't love it.  There seemed to be no topical organization or central focus for us to connect with as we roamed through the artifacts.  The absolute BEST thing was the musical medley about the Seattle fire complete with light up artifacts.  I haven't seen anything so amazingly hokey since the Salem Witch museum's rendition of the Salem Witch trials complete with lit up wax figurines in dioramas.  All kidding aside, this was their best exhibit because it logically moved from the fire to how Seattle rebuilt.  I also really liked the 3D map of the Puget Sound area that was set up to change from the natural area to the man-altered area.  Probably, I set myself up for disappointment because somewhere I got the idea that the museum would have a real train, which it didn't.  Although, for a museum full of topics I am not interested in, I was entertained for the better part of a day.