ScenicBoys

Mount Rainier, August 2007

The second weekend in August, some buddies joined us for a camping adventure at the base of Mount Rainier.  George, Kyler and Will made GREAT camping buddies!

We left early Saturday morning and made our way to Mt. Rainier National Park. We really lucked out having such a clear day to see the mountain.  It's usually pretty socked in with rain clouds and fog.

It didn't take us long to find an incredible camping spot. Just outside the park boundary we found a partially washed out forest road and drove in about 7 miles.  We stumbled upon a leveled area right next to the road with fire wood already chopped and stacked.  All that good camping Karma seemed to have paid off!  The best part was the huge beautiful forest all around us.

Shenanigans!!! There were way more downed trees in this area than anywhere else we've seen this summer.  There was a HUGE storm that devastated the area last winter, but already you could tell the new vegetation had taken root and the healing process was well underway.

George takes a moment to rest...

... and daydream.  I love the lazy days of Summer.

He lost his clothes a few miles back. I think it's pretty natural for boys to feel comfortable naked when having fun in the woods! 

We had no idea there was an awesome waterfall 100 meters from our campsite.  It was noticeably colder near it, though.

But Dusty's no stranger to baring it all in cold mountain water.  Nice to have a shower out in the middle of nowhere. :)

More evidence of that storm damage, this foot bridge was closed to the public, but thankfully we had an engineer along to tell us this bridge was PERFECTLY safe.

The two trees behind us are over 1000 years old.  This part of the forest was pretty amazing.
We had a ton of fun that weekend. Felt so good to get away from the city and totally disconnect. I really think it's good for the soul. 

Next post will entail our latest trip to Sun Lakes State Park and Grand Coulee Dam.  We'll have that one up right after we get back from a 5 day trip to Central Idaho!  Check back soon!

Camping with the In-Laws, NE Olympic Peninsula

The last weekend in July, Dusty and I went camping with my “In-Laws” along Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula. 

Our group consisted of:
Me
Dusty
Dusty’s Brother – Delton
Dusty’s Brother’s Boyfriend – Gerardo
Dusty’s Brother’s Boyfriend’s Brother – Javier
Dusty’s Brother’s Boyfriend’s Brother’s Boyfriend – Kevin
Two sets of gay brothers and their boyfriends!  YIKES! :)  Delton and Gerardo left Ellensburg early Friday and made it to Seattle by 5pm.  We loaded up the car and headed for the downtown Seattle Ferry Terminal but after seeing how long the wait was, we turned around and headed up to the Kingston – Edmonds Ferry. 

That wait was still about an hour.  The sun was setting as we boarded the ferry with still an hour or more drive ahead of us.  I’m not a fan of finding camping spots in the middle of the night, and this time turned into a bit of a fiasco.  While the four of us were making our way across the Sound, Javier and Kevin were driving up the other side of the Canal from Tacoma.  They called every 20 minutes to let us know yet another campground was completely full.  I was getting worried we’d be sleeping by the side of the road that night!  At last we finally found an open campground around 1am and settled in for the night.

The next morning we drove up to the Dungeness Spit.  Dusty and I have been there once before, but everyone else yet to see it.  We hung around there for a couple hours and then decided to head south to find a remote camping spot in the Olympic Mountains.

We drove around most of the afternoon on back mountain roads looking for the perfect spot.  It seemed like the ScenicBoys’ awesome camping spot luck had run out.  There was nothing around that resembled the type of spot we would have preferred.  At last we found a wide spot at the end of an old logging road that we agreed would have to suffice.  No babbling stream nearby.  No beautiful view.  Just a rough gravel flat spot.  Alas we set up camp, drank some beers and played games throughout the night.  We made the best of it and learned a valuable lesson about researching our destinations a little better before leaving home!

Coming Soon: Awesome weekend camping trip with friends Will, George, and DJ Kyler!  Check back with us in a couple days! :)