Dad and Daughters Go Camping...

by guest blogger Jason...

This weekend Dad, Lena, and Annika left Mom behind to brave the wilds of Olympic National Park. The objective was Deer Park, a remote campground in the north eastern corner of the park. The departure date arrived proving the weatherman right, clouds and drizzle. Not to be deterred we launched our trip. A little camping in the rain would be miserable, but what great stories, right? Thirty minutes into our trip the blue circle of sky that is the Sequim rain shadow appeared on the horizon. Spirits soared! As we headed west out of Sequim we were basking in sunshine. Ominous clouds engulfed the mountains and our destination to our south. What do you think girls, should we see if we can get a camping spot down here somewhere, or check out the mountains where the clouds are? "Check out the mountains!" came the response. How wise they were! After 17-mi on an ever dwindling road (one lane gravel for the last 10-miles), we climbed to 5,000 feet and arrived at Deer Park. Unexpectedly, we were above the clouds! The weather was cool, never topping 49 degrees, but we were treated to absolute mountain magnificence! Here is a peak at our trip....

Preparing the evening before, sometimes the most exhausting part of a camping trip.


After arriving and setting up camp, we headed one more mile up the one-lane road to the Rainshadow Trail Head. The 1/2 mile loop took us to the peak of Mt. Blue at 6,000 feet. I suspect it takes its name for the unusual color of the sky over this mountain.

Here are the girls at the summit, no sherpa required. While sitting on the summit, we learned the names of the peaks in the background. Tyler, Baldy, Grey Wolf Ridge, The Needles, and Deception. I may turn them into mountain nerds yet!

This is a shot of the weather we ascended from. To the left the clouds are covering the Puget Sound area, while the peaks, including us, were high and dry.

Back at camp and after dinner, it was time for a rousing game of UNO. The girls were united in their desire to defeat Dad by any means necessary.

And they were successful! They quickly developed a victory dance that was performed after three straight games.

Alright, that's enough girls, time for you to get to bed. But, before they did, what a magnificent star night. Mars was twinkling brightly and appeared as though it was throwing off red flares. Lena spotted what was the brightest satellite I've ever seen darting across the sky. I was treated to a shooting star arcing across the horizon just before lights out.

The next morning was 39 degrees and the deer of Deer Park had visited us in the night, leaving their tracks through our campsite. Warm beverage and a fire were a must to get the blood flowing!

One last hike before we head out of the mountains. The girls are "log surfing".

What a great trip! I miss the mountains and was so happy that the girls came out with me to enjoy them. Next up, a backpacking trip? Stay tuned!

P.S. We had neighbors up at Deer Park. I am always learning lessons about stereotypes, how often they are wrong. The girls and I returned from Mt. Blue and found this pick-up parked across the way. As we approached, what jumped out at me was that the pickup had been repainted as a replica of the General Lee, complete with "01" decals on the doors. I perused the stickers on the back and quickly jumped to the obvious stereotype at play here. We must be camping next to constitutional scholars / TV Land junkies! Maybe we could work in a civics lesson for the girls around the campfire and then relive some A-Team episodes after the kids went down. As stereotypes often are, I was way off.

My first clue was when one of the young ladies in the party loudly announced "I'm already buzzin' after only two beers!"

"Daddy.....are there bees over there?"

Things mellowed from there. Someone in the their group was a pretty good guitar player and singer. We had some nice live music in the background for dinner and UNO, really pleasant. But...they were still on the front end of a 50 qt. Coleman Cooler full of Miller. Come about bedtime, quite an academic discussion arose. Not on the intricacies of the second amendment and the federal governments continual assault on our right to bear arms like one would expect. No, it was on the flammability of flatulence. I think there were practical experiments going on, but I can't be sure about that.

"Daddy.....what's a blue dart?"

Then, after the girls had dozed off and I was flipping through a book, a heated, slurry, profanity laced debate took place. Not on how the existing tax structure stifles economic growth, taking money from the wealthy to repackage it into as social handouts.

"Bleep you.....that's B.S.....Don't tell me what I bleeping like. Being a bleeping Mustang fan doesn't make me a Ford fan."

This was the female participant of the debate.

Him.......condescending laughter "How can you be a bleeping Mussssstaaaaang fan and not be a bleeping Fooooord fan? Ford makes Mustang!"

Truer words have never been spoken.

Her......"So bleeping what? I can like bleeping Mustang. I like bleeping Roadrunners. I like bleeping Camaros. I had a bleeping Roadrunner. It had a coyote and roadrunner on the back of it!"

I can assure you, this debate was not easily settled. I dozed off just after another voice in their campsite, presumably someone trying to sleep screamed "Stop bleeping yelling!".

Later Lena woke me to go to the bathroom. All was quiet. When we returned to the tent, there were two people snoring in the neighboring site. Some of the loudest not to mention rapid paced snoring I have ever heard.

"What is that noise Daddy?"

"Snoring"

"Oh.......sounds like you."

"Thanks...good night sweetheart."