A Bavarian Disneyland

So, with an extra day on our hands before the girls were coming down off the mountain, we explored the nearby ‘Bavarian’ town of Leavenworth. In the ‘60s, the town decided to model itself after a German mountain village, and it’s now home to oompah bands, mustachioed men in lederhosen and (thankfully) beer gardens.

It’s extremely cheesy, of course, but a lot of fun if you jump in with both feet. 

We were lucky enough to experience a Leavenworth tradition – a lovely lady named Wendy approached us at dinner and gave us two tickets to an outdoor performance of ‘The Sound of Music’ (now in its 15th year of production). The setting was so lovely, I didn’t have the heart to tell them the musical is actually set in Austria. Well, it’s all Europe, isn’t it?

The next morning, we drove down and met Trika and Jenny as they bounced energetically off the trail. Karen provided the yellow snacks – which disappeared about 10 seconds after I took this shot…

Enchantments – down again…

On the way back, I spotted my first elusive marmot. These beaver-sized furry rodents are extremely cute. They’re covered in flurry greyish red hair and communicate with eerie high-pitched whistles.

I met Trika and Jenny just over the peak of the Pass – we enjoyed a quick lunch together and split up. They to continue over and camp, me to return to lake level…

 

Naturally, the first thing I did was take a dip in the lake – what do you think of our private swimming pool? That’s me in the middle.

 

Karen had spent the day putting together an extremely fashionable ensemble around her knee brace. I’m sure she won’t mind my previewing it before its debut at the Milan Fashion Show.

We camped one more night at the lake, then headed down into the heat, the mosquitoes and the biting flies on Saturday…

Enchantments – up and over Asgaard Pass

Day two and Karen decided to stay at base camp and rest her knee while Trika and Jenny pushed on with the walk. I wanted to see the Upper Enchantment basin so formulated a plan to get up and down Asgaard in a day – not impossible without a full pack but still a lot of climbing.

Luckily, we had a cool, cloudy morning for the ascent. About two thirds of the way, I scampered on ahead to see the lakes in order to get back before Karen started worrying! Here’s a view from the top.

Over the top of Asgaard Pass (7800 feet), it’s a different world: few trees, snow- and ice-bound much of the year and just moss, marmots and mountain goats for company.

Oh, and some fairly intense scenery – dozens of mirror-calm lakes, babbling brooks, gushing waterfalls and stern granite peaks.

Enchantments – the way up

Last weekend – just before the heatwave kicked in – we planned to head up for probably the Northwest’s most famous hike: The Enchantment Lakes in the Cascade mountains. It’s a 3-night/4-day back-country hike through some stunning scenery and we were really looking forward to it, right up until Karen was on the receiving end of a tough sideways tackle at her five-a-side game the Sunday before. Ouch!

Karen is not someone to let a little thing like a torn ligament ruin a holiday, though, so she strapped on a knee brace and we set off bright and early from Leavenworth on Thursday morning.

Cue a comedy of errors that included forgetting bug spray, leaving the topo map on the roof of the car and us getting split up from Trika and Jenny on a single lane road, and the omens were not good.

Luckily, that was about it for disasters and we were soon hiking up through some lovely pine forest. It took most of the day but we set up camp on a great site overlooking Lake Colchuck.

In the evening, we enjoyed the soon-to-be-famous campfire pizza courtesy of Trika, and had a first night party.

We must have been doing something right (or wrong) as we had some cute gate-crashers – here’s one of them – a very healthy-sized chipmunk golden-mantled ground squirrel (thanks Simon!). I think he was just after our ‘gorp’ (aka trail mix).

Kiss me Karen

She’s not a shrew, of course. And frankly, watching Will’s comedy in these enlightened times is more cringe-worthy than an episode of ‘The Office’. Still, the performers made a great crack at ‘Taming of The Shrew’ – and the venue, at the Fremont Troll under Aurora Bridge, was inspired. A good laugh for a Sunday lunchtime.

Mark and Karen’s Summer Olympics #6

On Saturday, we drove down to Kalaloch Lodge for a final lunch with Ginger and Kurt. More great old-school tourism…

Then Karen and I hit the dirt roads again to head up to Queets for our 4th of July celebration. We were expected a packed campsite bursting at the seams. We found a half-empty ground with a sweet spot right by the river.

Around the site, probably the most serene, welcoming and simply beautiful trail we’d been on all week.

On the way home from Queets on Sunday, we had our best wildlife sighting – a black bear cub loping across the Forest Service road in front of us. We hung around for a while (in the car!) but there was no sign of the mother. Karen persuaded me that we probably couldn’t take it home. Spoilsport.

Finally, home for our first shower in a week – and a shave for me. Karen insisted that I leave a moustache on to see if she liked it. Foolish words.

Mark and Karen’s Summer Olympics #5

More water sports the next day, with a rafting trip along the Hoh river in the heart of the rainforest.

Scorching sun meant we took the opportunity to cool off in the river – floating gently past the trees was superb. Karen even managed to colour-coordinate her outfit – now that’s style. 

The next day, we breezed through the Twilight town of Forks – where I picked up some Fang Floss, Bella’s SPF15 lip balm (eh?) and my favourite merchandise tat – Dr Cullen’s Hand Sanitiser. Hilarious.

Then straight on to Third Beach on the Pacific Ocean – a rough camp this on the beach itself, requiring a 1.5-mile walk with all our stuff  (including our precious duvet!).

It seems the walk tired some of us out…

The sleeping bag was necessary because of a slight meteorological miscalculation: burning sun inland + cold ocean + no winds = heavy mist. That didn’t stop me taking a dip, of course.

And it certainly gave the beach an eerie atmosphere. In the end, it was just too damp to stay two nights.

Mark and Karen’s Summer Olympics #4

We stayed the next two nights at Altair campground on the Elwha river – a beautiful spot right next to freezing cold babbling water, and just a handful of miles from Olympic hot springs.

A gentle hike up an old road to a long abandoned resort brought us up to the springs themselves – luxurious spring-fed pools nestled among trees and above the river. Cue Mark leaping from the sulfurous hot pools down to the chilly river to cool down, then running back again! No pictures of that, you’ll be pleased to hear.

In the afternoon, we drove up to Hurricane Ridge for clear panoramas of the entire park – and more deer.

 

We enjoyed a cuppa among the wildlife and the general splendour.

Mark and Karen’s Summer Olympics #3

Now the activities really started – an early morning kayak in the Straits from Freshwater Bay, courtesy of AT Kayaking. Somewhere in this picture there’s Kurt, Ginger, and a very lazy bald eagle.

We also saw seals, raccoons, various sea birds – but sadly no otters. Here’s Karen working hard…

In the afternoon, we leapt on mountain bikes and rode a tricky 6-mile descent along a brand new bike trail – built by a good, old-fashioned chain gang from the county jail.

Some hairy bits and I think we fell off at least once – but there were delicious salmonberries to enjoy on the way down (a bit little raspberries but bright yellow). That’s Tammi, our guide.

 

Mark and Karen’s Summer Olympics #2

We met up with Ginger and Kurt on Tuesday, taking a walk along Dungeness Spit – a 6-mile finger of beach reaching out into the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Wind, seagulls and driftwood galore…

That night, we stayed at Lake Crescent Lodge, a quaint old (1919) hunting lodge alongside a deep blue lake, fringed by tree-lined hills – the perfect place to enjoy a beer as the sun went down.

Check out the kitsch!

Mark and Karen’s Summer Olympics #1

Last week, we headed over the Sound to the Olympic Peninsula – home to the Olympic mountains, the Olympic National Park, a bunch of wildlife, a few rednecks, gangs of Twilight fans – and not a lot else. This is the last picture of us you’ll see where we’re clean.

First stop was Deer Park in the National Park – 10 miles up a winding dirt road to a sub-Alpine meadow. The view from our site wasn’t bad – mountains in the distance, birds chirping and beautiful calm.

I guess this is why they call it Deer Park!

The next day we headed out on a big hike – 15 miles over to Obstruction Peak. There was an easy start through trees and pastures, but it rapidly became ‘scenic’.

A stunning spread of avalanche lilies – we couldn’t help speculating how they got their name. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time of year to walk this trail?

Here was a really scary bit – loose shale and flint above an extremely long drop. It was worse on the way back with nothing to look at but distant trees and waterfalls!