Deer Lake

 Quite a bit had transpired in the last few weeks. We had finished as much packing as possible until the truck trailer arrived. Once it showed up. my dad and I busily began packing. We did an excellent job if I do say so myself putting in 12 hour days in the hot Utah sun. We barely had everything out of the house and the rooms all cleaned before we were off upon our way and the new owners were tearing out the basketball court to put in a pool. So long Southern Utah, we were heading north. We said goodbye to my dad, but it would not be long before we were back hanging out with him. The plan was to stay at his house in Port Angeles until the vacation rental was available near the school in Blue River. That meant that for nearly a month of our summer vacation, we would be spending it as house guests. We were very grateful to him for the invite as we tended to invade a space. The road trip up was good. We camped along the way and in only a couple of days, we were in the McKenzie area. The goal was to find a house. We went and visited the house that we had looked at before we left the last time and we decided that we wanted to put in an offer. It was a monstrous house that was going to be an expensive project to take care of, but it was really one of our only choices. They accepted our offer on the condition that we waited until after Labor Day. 

We were reluctant to do that because it meant moving during the school year, but the housing market was just so difficult. We decided to do that, so with that all settled, we headed up to Port Angeles. What a breath of fresh air it was being in Port Angeles. The high temperatures were in the 60s instead of in the 100s. We were all thrilled about that. I felt like I could run forever without getting tired. We took walks down to the beach and enjoyed the cool breezes coming off the Strait of Juan de Fuca. My dad and I hiked up to Halfway Rock which was his monthly hiking spot. We were loving the cool weather. We finally were able to get out for a family hike after a few days of hanging out. The trail we decided upon was the Deer Lake trail that left from the Sol Duc area.

Driving up to Sol Duc, you feel like you are the only car on the road. It is so quiet and then when we got to the trailhead, it was challenging just to find a parking spot. We were surprised right away by the fact that nearly every person on the trail was wearing a mask. That was so much different than when we were out in Utah where even inside a building, no one was wearing a mask. I guess we had to assume we were in the middle of a pandemic still, so it makes sense. But outside really seemed like overkill and I was reluctant to get on board. Jacqueline quickly realized that she needed to fit in with the local culture, so after this hike, she began wearing a mask even when we were outside. The trail was rather busy, but still. The reason it was so busy was that the majority of the people were hiking the one mile or so out to Sol Duc Falls. I could see why. Even being so close to the trailhead, Sol Duc Falls was pretty remarkable. There was a large bridge right in front of it also, which made it even more dramatic. There were lots of different photo spots and I really do believe it is one of my top ten favorite waterfalls which is quite an honor given how many waterfalls I had experienced. We continued up the trail which now our trail branched off. The crowds definitely dwindled after this as the trail became much steeper.

It would only be 8 miles roundtrip to the lake, but the threat of rain was all around us. At times it was even drizzly and some of us even wore long sleeves. We all enjoyed the greenery of the Pacific Northwest. There were big trees and big leaves. The plants did not seem like they were struggling to thrive, but competing with each other. There were flowers out and their petals dotted the hillside. Mostly, though, it was uphill hiking and we enjoyed the company. We soon were beside a stream that led to a lake. Most of the time in July, it is so exciting to get to a lake. I usually take the opportunity to take a dip and cool off after the hike. This day was not that day. On this day, I needed to stay warm as we huddled around each other to eat some lunch.

The low clouds hung around the lake obscuring the views of the hills and peaks beyond. The lake was very quiet as we only saw one other group at the lake. I guess it just wasn't the day that most people went to visit Deer Lake. We enjoyed it for what it was worth, but after lunch it was time to head back down. The trail moved along much faster with gravity on our side and soon we were back to Sol Duc Falls where it was impossible to pass without taking a picture. There were not many berries around, yet, but the kids found all of the ones that had ripened by this point. The novelty of eating the forest while we hiked was not going to wear off for a while. We made it back to the car after an enjoyable day. We were looking forward to all the hikes we were going to take in the next few months on the Olympic Peninsula.