A Rainforest Hike and an Even Better Food Detour

With our days of leisure quickly coming to an end we decided to quit waiting for nice weather and just get out there and enjoy some more of our beautiful state.

Years before we became this "Foodie" driven kind of couple we've evolved into we actually were more of a nature loving kind of couple..hiking, back country camping.. they were part of our regular daily life adventures. The past few years not so much...being able to afford hotels and great food and wine may have started to overshadow those hobbies...who really knows why we stopped. But we do talk about getting back out into the mountains.

So we just decided to stopping talking and do it.

We drove about 2 hours Northwest to Port Townsend to enter the Olympic National Park, part of Washington's Rain forest.

We had researched a hike up to Lake Angeles..which sited was a 3.7 mile "moderate" leveled hike up to a scenic lake. We thought.."perfect."

We packed a light lunch, a few hiking essentials and arrived to the trail head around 12:30. Of course it was this time exactly that it decided rain a bit too.

I spotted the precautionary flyer's...(bears & cougars are always on my mind) and we started our trek through the rain forest.

We were both happy to be back to a hobby that used to be a much more frequent event in our lives. Our first wildlife spotting was the indigenous SLUG...

Yes, what a sight...YUCK.

Our trail was immediately uphill and not gradual. We were appealed to see that indeed this would be a workout and that was one of the enticements to our decision to hike today.

And it was gorgeous, if you're into the thick forest terrain, kind of beauty.

The path followed a stream that made

that tranquil "babbling" sound that can be music to your ears on a hike.

About a mile in I was starting to think silently to myself, "Wow, will this ever flatten out? I'm getting tired already."

But I wanted to be G's "hiking honey" that I used to be and not complain so early in.

But we kept climbing, up and up...finally G said "This is a never ending up hill isn't it...do you need a break?" and that was heaven to my ears. "Yes, I know... I can't believe how much elevation we've already climbed."

We had a quick water break and said, "We can do this!" We continued uphill. I tried my best

to be distracted by the massive fungus and lush vegetation you would

only find in the rain forest.

But we were starting to notice the fog was really starting to sock us in.

We wondered how many miles we had gone at this point. We were sure at least 2 or more. We also realized this lake must be at the very top of this hill or mountain because the trail still only appeared to go up.

We decided to keep going...but then

The ominous fog..G kept saying he felt like he was in a movie

the fog really started to get thick and it was 2:30...my bear & cougar fears kicked in a bit and we discussed that we didn't want to be walking back in the dark. At this point we both decided we had met our goals of doing a hike, getting into the forest and definitely breaking a sweat from the exercise the ascent provided us. Together we voiced, "Let's go back." And so we did. This time, down, down, down the mountain we went.

We appreciated that our heartbeats finally we're able to regulate but that down the mountain was pretty hard on our now 40ish + knees.

When we got back down and looked at the map we realized we were almost there, probably only a half mile from lake. "Bummer...but oh well" we said. We were starving so we ate our sandwich in the car and headed out of town.

G suggested stopping by the Olympic Cellars Winery that we had passed on our way into town.

And of course we had to stop. I mean hey, it's a winery we've never been to.

We've got to do a tasting. So we did. The tasting hostess shared that she had also climbed Lake Angeles trail before and that it, "... was treacherous. A steep never ending hill. Not worth it." She said. That made as feel a bit better about our decision.

Sadly none of their wines screamed, "We need a bottle of this."

So we headed back and went to the town of Port Townsend.

Port Townsend is historic seaport town known for it's artistic community

 and free thinking people.

Most of the shops were closed

by the time we rolled into town...

we were really there to find a dinner spot.

And what a great "FIND" we found.

We came across Sirens Pub.

We sat out on the deck to enjoy the view.

I started with a White Sangria, G an Elysian Porter.

I had the best grilled salmon sandwich ever. The salmon was cooked perfectly.

On this wonderfully rustic but soft roll with a great horseradish sauce. SOOOO Good. You will definitely be reading a future post of us recreating this one.

G had the Bacon Blue Cheese burger. He also thought it was great.

We enjoyed our dinner and it was a meal that we felt was well earned.

We enjoyed the views from the deck and an improvement in the weather. (Yes, this was an improvement. Our weather standards have definitely been lowered this summer.)

It's random days like this we miss during the school year..which makes them even more enjoyable when we take advantage of them during the summer.