The Savage Traveler: Out West Adventure: Part 2--Our 40th Anniversary

FATHERS’ DAY AND OUR 40^TH ANNIVERSARY!! We wanted the day to be special and it truly was. After scrambled eggs with lots of veggies and bacon bits we drove up Whiskey Bend Road to the trailhead at the end. The road itself is mostly one-lane and gravel but it’s pretty smooth and there are lots of turnouts for when one meets a car. Along the way there was a mama black tail deer with a tiny new fawn wanting to nurse right in the road! The road goes past the area where they are removing the Glines Canyon dam and we got glimpses of the work and the drained Mills Lake bed. The trail runs along the side of the very steep Glines Canyon and beyond what we had time or inclination to hike. We hiked for about an hour and then retraced our path enjoying the many, many wildflowers in bloom, the towering, moss laden trees, and the bird calls. The whole way we could smell Twinflowers blooming beside the path. Occasionally, the smell of roses would be stronger and then we would come upon a wild rose blooming. On our way out to an overlook we came across a small brown snake trying to find some warmth in a patch of sun in the middle of our path, so we carefully walked around her so as not to disturb her. When we had walked enough and turned around, we drove back down Whiskey Bend Road to the main road and stopped at Madison Falls. A short hike with our lunch bag and we had ourselves a lovely setting for our picnic on a bench beside the falls. Then we drove back west to Lake Crescent where we stopped and called Ken and Jen to check in on Fathers, Day and tried but didn't get Sarah and her family. So we went on to the Sol Duc River Road.

Mama and baby

Giles Canyon Trail

Sunning snake

Mills Lake overlook

Glines Canyon overlook

Twinflower

The Sol Duc road runs right along the tumbling, glacial river and rises into the hills. We stopped to hike in to see Salmon Cascade, a narrow rocky passage where one can sometimes see the salmon fighting their way upstream to spawn. Farther up there is a Hot Springs Resort with two round, spring-fed, cement pools and one larger, rectangular, treated water pool. We hadn't brought suits and it was too late in the day to be worth the expense so we continued to the end of the road. There we took the hike to see the beautiful and thundering Sol Duc Falls. As we left the area we finally got a call in to Sarah and talked to all the kids who wished Boppa Happy Father’s Day and both of us Happy Anniversary. When we got closer to Crescent Lake we began a call with Marv’s Mom but it got dropped. We figured we had hiked 5 or 6 miles all day and had earned our dinner out.

Sol Duc River

Salmon Cascade

Olympic Mountains in the distance

Upper Sol Duc River

Unnamed cascade along the trail

Sol Duc Falls

"Furry" Branches

We changed clothes in the truck at the Lodge and took a bottle of our Anindor Wine to the lakeshore where we found two Adirondacks with a table in between just waiting for us. The lake is glacially formed and narrow but 600 feet deep so it is a clear beautiful blue. Our chairs faced west as the sun got lower in the sky and interesting clouds played across the sky. When we went in for dinner we found they had reserved their best corner table for us, looking right over the spot we had just sipped our wine. Our waiter, William, was a Makah native of royal lineage who waits tables 4 nights a week just because he likes it and his wages go in his travel fund. He knew the place and the menu very well and made our evening enjoyable and memorable. We shared the wild mushroom risotto as an appetizer and then I had salmon from Neah Bay (where William’s family ruled) and Marv had duck. For dessert Marv had Marion berry crisp with Marion berry ice cream made especially for the Lodge and I had a Ghirardelli brownie with ice cream. It was the most expensive meal we've ever had but it was well worth it. It had been a wonderful and memorable 40^th Anniversary!