Ben and I were thinking of something we could do with our mom's for Mother's Day besides the food, presents and cards like we do all the time. We came up with the idea of taking them on a hike. But where? I went through some of the lists Mom and I had on hikes "yet to do" and came across one that sounded like everyone could handle. I was one of the easier family friendly ones. Staircase Rapids Loop was outside of Hoodsport near Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Park. I have never been out there so it would be nice to do something I've never done.
We asked Trish if this was something she was interested in and she said yes. She also asked if Ed and Amy could come. We said, of course. The more the merrier. I told Mom and she said she wanted to go and we talked Dad into going as well. He needed to do something besides chores and appointments all the time. I didn't invite Erika and Zach because Erika's been working on her thesis and there are no dogs allowed inside ONP. She would want to go if Emmett could come. I didn't invite Doug because he would probably want to bring Charlie and again, no dogs allowed in ONP or he didn't feel like doing anything. Probably didn't feel like doing anything.
Over the past couple weeks, I checked several websites on the trail conditions just to make sure we weren't going to have any problems. I checked ONP's website for road conditions and learned that because it was a National Park we needed a pass. In one of our several conversations with Trish she said that Ed has a pass so we didn't need to worry about getting one. Yay! One less thing to worry about and we were going to save some money.
I told Mom we would be using her Expedition because it could hold everyone so we didn't have to drive two vehicles up. She wasn't a fan but she understood. Of course she was going to make me drive.
We let everyone know to meet up at our house at 9 a.m. on the Saturday. I told them to be prepared for any type of weather...even though it was suppose to be mild and overcast, but you just never know. The mountains make their own weather. If they wanted to bring snacks that was up to them but we did have plans for dinner when we were done, wear sturdy shoes, bring plenty of water and your sense of adventure!
Ben and I tried to go to bed early the night before but that didn't happen. We stayed up until at least one because the evening gets away from us when we are watching television, working on our computers or when Ben's playing his game in the other room. We did eventually get ready for bed and set our alarm for 8ish. I knew that would give us enough time to get up, ready and dressed before anyone got here.
The alarms went off at 8 and 8:15 because we are lazy. We both did eventually get up and got ready to go. I wasn't all that hungry but I've been fasting in the mornings since January because I have a sedentary job that keeps me in front of the computer most of my week. I do get up and do things throughout the day. I avoid snacking and only drink water. I did grab a One bar and threw that into my back pack along with water, extra socks and other random things we might need.
Everyone arrived around 9ish. Mom and Dad got there before Trish and I gave her a bad time about not getting her at 9 like she suggested. She said he had to pick up Ed and they hit a bout of traffic at JBLM. I told her no excuses, lol. I told everyone to use the bathroom one more time and to make sure they had all of their stuff. Everyone piled into the Expedition and off we went.
We talked about various stuff as we made our way to Hwy 101 through Tumwater. I thought the traffic would be terrible but it surprisingly wasn't.. It was a smooth transition to every junction we hit. I knew it would take us about an hour to get up there. I had planned on doing this hike last summer but this area was closed to the public because of the influx of people due to Covid and those people were vandalizing the area with overcrowding. We had to come up with a different time to visit the area.
We reached Hoodsport and made the left turn onto Hwy 119. It was a paved road that took us along Lake Cushman. There were lots of side roads and driveways leading to various vacation homes, summer communities, camping areas, actual homes, RV sites, etc. This area was busier than I thought it was. We followed the road until we reached NF-24, we made a left and followed it until it turned into a gavel road. Most of the road was okay but there were sections of washboard grooves and potholes. The trailhead was about a 16 mile drive from Hoodsport.
We arrived to the parking area and drove up to the overflow parking lot. The lot was smaller than anticipated but there were plenty of spots around 11 a.m. If you came any later than that you would probably have to wait for a spot. Ed got his pass out and we stuck it on the dash, we all changed our shoes and got all of our stuff ready to go.
We walked down to the trail head by the river but first everyone used the biffy (bathroom in the forest for you). Once everyone was done we enjoyed the views of the North Fork Skokomish River and started our 2.1 mile hike around the loop. It was mostly flat with a couple of areas where we gained some elevation. Overall we would be gaining about 200 feet. Ben and Amy started off like we were in a race to get done. I reminded them that we are out here to enjoy the hike at a leisurely pace. They argued that this is how fast they walk normally. I told them they have to adjust because we are here with others who have different paces and want to stop and take pictures and enjoy the scenery. The day is about our mother's.
We stopped many times along the river for some cool river shots (the river was so clear), scenery, large boulders, funky old growth trees with mossy beards, nurse logs, wildlife and just the overall feel of being outdoors on a nice day.
One spot along the river, we walked down to the river and saw large fallen logs across the banks and we found a great spot to take a couple pictures with the cascading rapids. This area was so beautiful!
We continued up the trail next to the river and stopped a few more times to see the sights, trees, get some more pictures of the tree canopy, the river, each other, the giant rock formations and other things we thought were picture worthy.
There was this really cool spot in the trail with some very large rocks. We took a group picture with it. We rounded the corner and made it to the bridge which was roughly a mile from the trail head. We were half way done.
This suspension bridge was built in 2013 and gives hikers a stunning viewpoint of the rapids from above. The original bridge was taken out in 1998 by high water. The new one was built much higher to accommodate the sometimes thunderous spring run off. We spent some time here enjoying the views of the bridge. We made our way across and to the other side of the loop. This part of the trail took us away from the river and more into the tree canopy.
We walked by several groups of people. Some wore masks and some didn't. You could tell who the city people were and which ones were people who have hiked before. We saw a 12 year old walking the trail in flip flops. There was a group of people a little off the trail congregated next to a small waterfall near the creek. They knew we were interested in taking pictures of the area and didn't really move so we kinda went in there, got what we wanted and left.
There was a small stream that dumped into a larger creek along the trail. We followed the side trail to admire Slate Creek. Slate Creek eventually went into the North Fork Skokomish River. We took a dozen photos while we were there and Ben decided to throw rocks into the water to try and get us soaked.
We made our way back to the trail. We walked up in elevation for a short distance and on the right of us was a closed off section of trail that lead to a cliff. Of course Ben doesn't read directions and he went to check it out. This is the reason why things get taken away or people die from not listening to warnings. He said it was totally worth it because you got a great view of the river valley below.
I wasn't sure how much longer the trail was but we knew it was a short easy one. It felt like we've gone a mile on this side of the river. We rounded the corner and the trail ended into the parking lot where we parked Mom's Expedition. I wondered where the trail was going to end up. Why didn't we see this when we came in? Who knows. We walked down to the Expedition and got ready to go. Some of us changed our shoes and socks and some used the bathroom one more time.
We left the trail head parking and drove back towards Lake Cushman. I asked people to let me know if they wanted me to stop so they could see waterfalls, the lake or something else that caught their eyes. Our first stop was a view of the lake from the forest road. I wanted a picture of it so I stopped and got out for a couple seconds.
A little further up the road we stopped at a waterfall near the Mount Rose trail head.
We all walked up the trail to the small bridge to enjoy the view and the small waterfall that ran through there.
Ben and I just got done taking a couple pictures when I saw a driver's license just off the side of the bridge. I picked it up and looked at it. A girl named Kelsie from Michigan probably had no idea this was even here. I picked it up and decided I was going to help her out once we got back into Lacey. I would want someone to do that for me if I lost something important like this.
We continued exploring the area and even went down the staircase to see the view of Lake Cushman from this spot. We all got our fill for the day and made our way back into Lacey.
Along the way, I asked the mom's what they wanted for dinner and they said that teriyaki sounded good. I told them the best place was the one near our house but we had to order it to go. We parked and Ben, Ed and I went in. I paid for mine and Mom's, Dad gave me money for his and Ed paid for his and Amy's (she would have to pay him back) and Ben paid for his and his mom's food. We ordered and they said it would be about 10 minutes. We found a place to sit and meanwhile I looked up Kelsey in Instagram and found her but her profile was private so I tried Facebook and found her so I messaged her. I wasn't sure when she would respond because I didn't know if she was still in ONP where there is no service or heading somewhere else on her adventure west. I would have to wait until she messaged me back. Our food was ready, we grabbed it, took it back to the Expedition and headed back to our house to eat it.
It tasted so good after a two mile hike. We all spread out at the dining room table, ate and shared stories. It was a great ending to a nice day. I hope we get to do more of these over the next few months. We gotta start whittling down the list Mom and I made over the past few years. This was a good starting hike for the nice weather season.
After we were done eating and cleaned up, everyone went home. We thanked them for coming over and going hiking with us and they thanked us for the really nice day. I was also watching my friend Alicia's dogs for the weekend so I had to go over there and check on them. While driving down the road heading to Tumwater, I got a message back from Kelsie. She was very grateful that I found it and that I literally saved her trip. She had me sent it in the mail to her aunt near Denver, Colorado. She said that was her last stop before getting on a plane to head home. She thanked me a dozen times and I told her I was happy to do it.
There is still kindness left in this world. Be kind to one another even if it's a stranger. It can go a long way.
Next Adventure: Mother's Day
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