Had a lil honeymoonesque thing recently, went to a rental cabin in Port Angeles and drove to some sights in the area over a few days. First day we went to a little waterfall which was pretty cool, tho the nearest terlet was on some Silent Hill shit. The second waterfall was an unexpectedly long hike, which wore us out something fierce, but it was cool to be in the middle of some natural nature.
Second day we went to see a mountain view, where all you had to do is pull over, get out, and look. Simple enough. But then we were like, since we’re on this road, maybe let’s go all the way, and ended up a mile above sea level, walking up another steep path with need of frequent breaks.
I guess the environment would still be considered subalpine because trees could grow, though they were weirdly-shaped in order to survive. Lot of short branches. The grasses and shrubs were weirder too. My home boy who had come along to do the driving noticed strawberry plants and lupines that were not the sort of thing we expected. Saw some canada jays which wikipedia suggests would be the “obscurus” subspecies, vamping for treats but receiving none. We’d left the trail mix in the car.
The trail had no handrails, and a few feet and a slip could easily lead to death. The area is renowned for unpredictable weather and high winds, but wasn’t too bad. I mean, I’m here, so I must not have been blown off a mountaintop. Surprised my husband was willing to climb that high, given that he has a low key fear of heights that can even hit him looking at google satellite view.
Point is, it was very beautiful. I’d post photos but it’s slightly less easy than posting words, and they don’t do the thing justice anyway. They’re so flattening. When you’re up there and you can see how far down it all is, when fast-moving clouds are sliding along the mountainside below you, random shafts of sun hitting snow-flocked jagged peaks, and those beautiful golden shrubs and grasses, the long feathery moss on the trees, I dunno.
I’m not in favor of mountain climbing generally. That’s what got Julian Sands. But if you can drive most of the way and then just hike up a few hundred feet of steep path, well, go ahead. Less than an hour later, we went from having random snow sprayed in our face to having warm sun, down at a little park on the shore. Good times.
–
