White hike

Monday morning after our usual summer Jay-swim-team/Jeff-and-Shaina-running routine, we threw together a bag of snacks and drove 2 hours and 15 minutes west to meet the White family for a hike at Olallie State Park. It was a cool, 60 degree, mostly cloudy day in the deep green forest of western Washington. Our trail of choice was the Twin Falls trail. After researching the best family friendly hikes within 2 hours of home, Steph and I chose the Twin Falls trail. I was concerned that the hike would be completely flat along the river and therefore dull in the vistas department while stressful in the Amber-falling-into-water department, but this trail surprised me in a most pleasant way, with its ups and downs and sweeping views.

Once we were all present (we drove in three separate vehicles), we ate a quick picnic lunch in the parking area, corralled all of the kids, and then headed up the trail. Our group was quite the entourage. With seven kids (ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9) and seven adults, we strung out in a long line along the trail. We were hardly ever all together at once for the entire hike because we couldn’t all fit together on the narrow trail! Plus, half of the kids started off at a run, forcing half of the adults to briskly follow, leaving the other half to a more moderate pace. Every now and then, the front-runners paused and waited for the cabooses to catch up, and the front-runners and cabooses switched places over and over. In that exuberant, slightly haphazard manner, we inchwormed along the trail, pausing to climb tree stumps and logs, throw rocks in the river, admire exceptionally massive trees, and breathe in that green damp air.

The ferns were frondy. The trees were stately. The river was rushing. The kids were exploring. It was an excellent family hike, even if the hills were a tad steep at times. We hiked about 1.7 miles out to a big bridge that crossed the main falls (which were gushing loudly but not from a particularly spectacular height). After admiring the falls, we turned back and retraced our steps to the car. The younger kids were rather worn out by this point, and Grampa Dan and Jeff gave lots of shoulder rides.

Amber and Jay were the only two kids who hiked the entire way without any help. Jay is in the best shape of his life from swimming for an hour every weekday at swim team practice. Even better, he FELT good on the hike too since he wasn’t tired, and he had a great time exploring and climbing and running ahead. Amber is AMBER. She thrives on running, climbing, throwing rocks, and choosing sticks. She was in her element. By the last half mile or so, she did start to flag slightly. I could tell because she got quiet, stopped running, sought me out, and held my hand for the rest of the hike. For the first 3/4 of the hike, she wouldn’t come near me because she wanted her freedom, but she always comes back to her mama when she’s hurt or tired. At least I’m good for something.

As for Rose, she did not wear socks with her shoes and ended up getting a small blister. Any discomfort or pain (from thirst to wounds to aches) reverses Rose’s superhuman determination and redirects it into mooching piggy back rides and shoulder rides from her various relatives. I only carried her for maybe an eighth of a mile, but her bones are heavy and my shoulders got sore.

We arrived back in the parking area two hours after we left, all sweaty and tuckered out. Our kids got straight into the van and buckled up immediately. Amber said “can you close the door, Mommy?” They were spent and ready to go home. Our drive home was extended about 40 minutes by a bad car accident, and then another 20 minutes by a quick stop at Costco. I dashed in and ordered a massive hot pizza, then grabbed a few food items for the week while they baked our za. We ate giant drippy cheesy pizza triangles on the last leg of our drive home, listening to Harry Potter on audiobook (we started the series at the beginning again for the summer since it has been over a year since we last listened to the last disc of book 7).

It was liberating to go to the mountains for a day! Usually the mountains feel unattainable unless we spend the night because they are so far away and it seems like a waste not to stay longer after such a drive. When we lowered our sights from Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams to the Snoqualmie region instead, we found plenty of greenery and scenery with half of the drive time.

I love the contrast between eastern Washington and the west side of the state. I also love having relatively easy access to the BOUNTEOUS, BEAUTIFUL, wet, green, tree-covered mountains, while living in such a gorgeously sunny dry place. One more of my WA-loves is how exotic the large ferns and moss-covered trees still feel to me, even after all of these years of visiting them. We know where to go when we need a dose of humidity and greenery!

Picture progression:

• Starting off: we were all a tad chilly at the beginning and were confused at all of the sweaty people heading back to the parking lot…until we hit the first hill! Off came our jackets.
• First stop: a boulder in the river. The part I was standing on was higher than where Jeff was standing, so I look way taller than him in this picture.
• Jay had fun slipping and hopping between rocks on the river.
• Our crew really took over the river access. That tiny red shirt on the far right is even one of ours (it’s Grama Leslie!)
• On the trail again: that MOSS. (and Jeff’s LEGS! 🙂
• How is this place only two hours from our house? It’s a whole new world. (Amber is on an Aladdin kick right now)
• Rose never says no to a shoulder ride, and Grampa Dan was carrying either Rose or Grayce for a good 75% of the hike.
• Grayce, Amber, and Jeff. At this stop, Amber pooped her pants. Jeff and I were unprepared for such an occurrence (unwisely, but seriously, she had just used the potty right before we embarked on the hike!). We ended up digging a hole with a stick and burying the poopy undies, apologizing profusely to mother nature and the forestry department under our breath. We cleaned Amber’s bum with a thin napkin we scrounged out of our backpack plus three tiny alcohol swabs that we had in our first aid kit. I used both the wrappers and the 1-inch-square alcohol swabs to wipe Amber. It was not ideal. Jeff and I decided that we had reached new heights of parenthood with this experience. (or was it a new low?) Amber went commando in her little skirt for the rest of the hike, which thankfully had soft little built in shorts underneath it.
• Miss Grayce. This is the closest she ever gets to smiling at me. For some reason she is WARY of Mean Aunt Shaina, probably because all I do is stop her from doing fun-but-harmful activities and/or take things away from her. Sorry little girl, maybe someday you’ll get over it and we can be friends!
• Tate, ready to pounce.
• The waterfalls were rather obscured by trees from the trail. We never ventured down side paths to see the falls better because that would have been inadvisable with the large number of tiny kids we were herding.
• Grampa and Gracie.
• This tree was massive! I told Grayce to hold out her little broken arm and it was so cute and tiny, stretching out.
• Cole: the chubbiest, happiest, blondest little 1-year-old I know. He has the best belly laugh and I love squeezing his tummy.
• In spite of/response to past failures, we managed to get all seven cousins in one picture! Grayce did NOT like sitting on the log, but she’ll be glad she did someday. I took like 7 pictures in a row and this was the best one I could snag before everyone ran away.
• The last waterfall at the turnaround point. It was much bigger, deeper, and more impressive in person.
• There was a bridge crossing the falls and the pictures do not show just how high up it was and how deep and gushy the water was.
• We used up our group picture prowess at the log, so I managed to at least get one of each of my kids by the waterfall we had worked so hard to find.
• Heading back.
• Looking downstream from the top of the bridge.
• These two girls sure love their grampa.
• Taking a break, waiting for the caboose crew to climb a particularly steep hill.
• See how the Amby is wilting?
• Jay was sure not wilting! He was ready to run! So he did. It is so fun to see him fit enough to have fun! Swim team for the win! Seriously, Jay has always been more of an intellectual gymnast rather than a physical type of guy, so it did my heart good to see him so happy on a 3 mile hike.
• Amber’s hair loved the humidity much more than mine did. Her ringlets became more and more perfectly round and individualized the longer we hiked.
• I have no clue how anyone can carry Rose (over 60 pounds of pure BONES) on their shoulders over rough terrain, but Jeff and his dad are like mountain goats with their ability to keep firm footing and carry heavy loads.
• When she couldn’t quite bring herself to hold my actual hand, but she still needed to be close to her mama, she clutched a dangling backpack strap.
• About 20 minutes into the drive home, Amby finally gave in and fell asleep. For some strange, traditional Amby-reason, she did not sleep for long (maybe 30 minutes). My kids have never slept for long in the car! Driving is supposed to be the great snooze! Alas. At least we had Harry Potter.