On Saturday, July 2nd, we went on a family hike at Silver Falls near Mt. Rainier, a 2 hour drive from home. This trail was the number one vote when I asked the kids which trails they wanted to visit again. When I saw that it was almost equidistant between our house and Mel and Braxton's place, I invited them to come with us. We met them at the Ohanapecosh campground, which was packed with cars, making parking hard to come by. Eventually we parked and hit the trail.
We couldn't have picked a more perfect bluebird glory of a day. It was about 65 degrees when we started hiking, with sunlight filtering through the bright green forest. When I did this trail with the kids on one of our Wedventures two years ago, it took us a nice long time to journey to the waterfall because the kids climbed on every stump, log, and rock along the trail. This time we were fast! Jay, Rose, Jeff, and Braxton cruised up ahead at a speedy clip. Mel, Amber, and I walked at a more normal speed, with Amber forcing us to run and catch up to the front group whenever they pulled too far away.
The kids are in excellent physical condition thanks to five weeks of swimming and running. They are also 2 years older and less interested in stopping to climb and touch every single thing along the trail. Amber wanted to climb and play along the way, but she felt the pull of the fast big kids up ahead, so she kept moving. We finished the hike well over half an hour faster than the last time we did it, even with a sizeable stop to admire the roaring Silver Falls. As we hiked back towards the car, I decided that my now-older, fitter children need longer hikes in the future!
It was pleasant and therapeutic hiking along through the sun-dappled greenery and tall silent trees with my sister and daughter. It has been a while since I went to a trail with actual other people, and I loved it! Hiking is a very rhythmic restful activity. Trail running has a certain frantic element to it due to terrain-dodging and ankle-risking, but hiking is very Zen.
Silver Falls was MASSIVE. Last time we visited, it was September and the falls were more of a gentle gush. Turns out in early July they become a roaring beast. The clear blue Ohanapecosh River is supplied by creeks farther up in the mountains rather than from melting glaciers, which apparently is what gives the water its crystal blue color. (Glacier-fed rivers are milky white with suspended sediment, the website says.) We could barely hear each other talk over the roar of the swirling frothy water.
After our hike, we found a river access point and sat on a log, tentatively dipping our feet into the FRIGID water. It was so cold, even tough skinned Jeff couldn't hold his feet in the water for more than 2 minutes at a time. Once we had soaked and snacked, we said goodbye to Mel and Braxton, and drove the curvy highway 12 homeward.
With zero warning after about 45 minutes of twisty-turny mountain pass driving, Amber suddenly puked. Thankfully she grabbed one of the blue barf bags that I keep stashed in the van seat pockets and used it properly. After our last carsickness vomit debacle, I ordered a case of blue hospital grade emesis bags from Amazon to keep on hand. It was the tidiest backseat barf-a-thon we've ever had! When Amber started hurling, Jeff pulled over as soon as he could and when she was done, I simply took the bag and tossed it in the nearest trash can. Boom. No mess.
We went to Costco on the way home for a late lunch/early dinner/$350 of groceries.
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