Day 113 - Olympic Cape Flattery

After enjoying a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and pizza-sized hot cakes, we drove along the coastal roads to Cape Flattery, the northwest-most point in the lower 48 states.

The weather was rainy and overcast but the rain stopped when we hit the north coast. The road hugged the shoreline as we enjoyed pretty harbor and misty rock views. We often stopped to ponder at beauty.

The rain began again just as we passed into the rundown Neah Bay in the Makah Indian Reservation. A half dozen tribes have reservations along this Pacific corner. Despite the rain, we hiked out to Cape Flattery.. and boy, were we glad we did. The Cape was magnificent with countless caves, islands, birds and vistas.

We skipped another costal hike to Shi Shi beach as the rain was pouring and the hike long, instead returning to the cabins. After a rice and beans lunch at the cabins, we rallied and drove to the Sol Duc valley for the afternoon. This valley had a crystal clear river, ancient Douglas-Firs and a picturesque triple waterfall.

We then returned yet again to The Hungry Bear, our fourth pilgrimage in three days, for another great meal, this one topped off by Bumbleberry Pie al a mode-- yum. More badminton, more s'mores and more fire watching capped another fun day at Olympic.

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Day 168 - JMT Pinchot Pass

The mountains appeared like sand dunes in the soft early light. We drank our coffee, packed up our gear and set off up the hill toward Pinchot Pass. Not a mile up the trail, we encountered another sensational High Sierra lake, Lake Marjorie, and the peaceful reflections off the lake's surface. Mountains of white and red and grey and black surrounded us-- all surfaces seemingly from another planet, but welcoming us this morning on Earth. Jeff and Steve and a lady named Tara joined us at the picturesque summit of Pinchot Pass. We remained there for a complete hour, enjoying stories of hiking triumph and Jeff's difficult but rewarding experiences as a search and rescue captain. Reluctant to leave the 12,000 foot pass, but begged forward by the slowly descending trail, we hiked on. The wonderful landscape in the background, with layers of blues, and browns and whites, appeared like an Ansel Adams masterpiece, and the trail a magical doorway to its frame. The sce

Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today, the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit. We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers. The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding. We made it to Guitar Lake by

Day 150 - Big Sur Hearst Castle

Big Sur coastline continues in its beauty. Elephant seals practice sparring. They make a snore-like belly belch sound while sparring and then after ten seconds later lie back down to snooze on the sand. The Hearst Castle is an incredibly luxurious complex on top of a high hill overlooking the ocean and coastal mountains. The feel was Mediterranean, royal and magical. The outdoor pool had a Roman feel-- on a hill, in California. Strangely awesome. But the indoor pool was the tops-- like a Turkish kings dream moment come to life. I found a beautiful campground close to the castle and stopped for the night.

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