To celebrate the Gemini birthdays, including my own, we took a handful of friends into the woods where we could get rowdy and enjoy the company of each other without the distractions of the city. Ian, Matt, Will, Anthony, and Jessy followed us on a journey through the foothills north of Mt. Rainier as we searched for the perfect camp spot.
We made camp under some big old Hemlock trees, on the shores of the beautiful Huckleberry Creek. It was nice falling asleep to the flowing sounds of the water and waking up to the warm sun peeking though the trees.
Saturday afternoon we took the boys to Federation Forest, one of the unique land features on our trusty road atlas. We weren't disappointed. Miles of wandering trails showed the contrasts in nature that typify the state of Washington - from the dry eastern deserts to the lush western peninsula. Gardens in front of the center highlight edible and poisonous native plants and plants from six of the nine biosystems of this state.
It's become tradition to camp along the far side of the Olympic Peninsula the weekend following Vantage. Last year we snuck away with our best buddy, Patrick, to Shi Shi Beach. This year Dusty and I made the long trek ourselves, but Patrick was there in spirit every step of the way! :)
We left work early Friday afternoon to catch the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston. From there we drove as far west as we could before nightfall. We ended up staying in the Olympic National Park that night. The campground is made up of several loops, but only 3 of them were open - the rest had been barricaded off. Proof of Dusty's amazing people skills, he convinced the camp hosts to let us (and nobody else) set up camp on one of the unused loops, far away from anyone else. We found a beautiful spot along the creek and settled in for the night.
Early the next morning we made our way to the Port Angeles ranger station. To camp along the ocean you need a back-country permit, a pass if you're staying on reservation land, and a bear canister for storing all your smelly-ables. About three hours later we made it to our trailhead at the north end of Lake Ozette. The loop trail is 9.2 miles: 3 miles to the Pacific Ocean, another 3 miles heading north along the beach up to Cape Alava, and the final 3 miles back to the car. This hike is great for hikers of all ages and abilities; both legs of the trail heading to and from the Ocean consist of well maintained boardwalks - complete with stairs, hand rails and bridges! Compared to our hike into Shi Shi, this was a breeze!
We passed centuries old petroglyphs and a rock formation called Hole in the Wall. At about the half way point we decided to set up camp and relax. We explored tide pools and more of the shore line before calling it a night.
The next morning we arose to a male mule deer sniffing around our camp. It's kind of nice waking up in such a peaceful environment, where a little deer will come a check you out. After chatting with the deer we eat breakfast and broke down camp.
It took us about 2 hours to make it back to the car, and then another 4 hours to drive home. But this hike was totally worth the drive. The Olympic Coast is truly a beautiful, magical region. Spending time in a place that has little touch to modern society is an amazing experiance. A complete disconnect, just the way we like it.
Every Memorial Day weekend our extended group of friends (that being every Washington gay we've ever met) convene on the banks of the Columbia River for a 4-day camping extravaganza. We call this wild and crazy rendezvous: VANTAGE!
So many things made this year's trip amazing. We had a nice mix of hot and cool weather; the group was inviting, fun, and relaxed; and hardly a minute went by we weren't busting up laughing. But one of the best parts for us was having Founder and Instigator of www.ScenicBoys.com along for this adventure. Yogen lives in London and happened to be in the US for a business trip. We were so excited when he told us he'd be coming along for the weekend! His plane landed and within an hour we were on I-90 heading east.
It takes just under 2 hours to drive from Seattle to Vantage - quality time to catch up with Yogen and set the tone for an awesome weekend ahead of us. We arrived first and claimed the very best spot in this huge camping area; 3/4 of a mile hike through the sand and briars to a nice flat area nestled against some tall trees and a fence that marks the campground boundary.
We added 4 new ScenicBoys to our growing group of friends (and fans) willing to be naked in front of our cameras... all in the name of Art, of course :) It didn't take much convincing for Yogen to run around nude with us. Lucien and Olivier are also two of our closest friends, though with our different schedules we don't see them nearly often enough. And Drew just couldn't wait to drop trow not only for the camera, but for the entire camp! Way to show 'um how it's done Drew. :)
