Enchanted Valley

It's safe to say that this weekend I took the most incredible camping trip of my life to the Enchanted Valley -- a spot tucked away among towering mountains far-off in the Olympic wilderness. 13 miles I hiked from Graves Creek campground to this wonderland, enjoying the sites and sounds afforded only by the solitude and tranquility of deep, undisturbed woodlands.

What started this whole thing was when Jen and I took a trip to REI way back last summer to get her a backpack... turned out the guy who helped her out used to work at Olypmic, and claimed the Enchanted Valley was his favorite spot in the whole park. Ever since then I'd been itchin' to go... I asked some others if they wanted to join, but they all had plans... so I thought, why not just go? And I did!

I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to experience, if for a moment, what Jack Kerouac had in his book The Dharma Bums. (Note on the right column the new feature on my blog) This dude was seminal to the Beat Generation, basically precursors to hippies, who hitchhiked, lived off the land, dabbled in eastern religions, and did other such heathenish activities. Now, don't worry Mom, I'm not gunna turn in to some beatnik, but I thought to myself why not take a rucksack, bottle of Port, and philosophy book to one of the purportedly most beautiful places on earth for the weekend, just to see what it was like?

Mom, I'm serious, I'm not becoming a beatnik.

Right off the bat you get to see some spectacular views. Most of the time the trail hugs neatly to the river, but sometimes dips in to the forest towards the foothills of the northern mountains, though you're never out of earshot of the roaring water.

All manner of bridges take you safely across tributaries and muddy snags.

Looks good for some fishin', eh?

OK, so picture this: I'm about 7 miles in, its around 11:00, and I'm leisurely strolling to the Valley... I turn a blind corner where a log is sticking out, lift my head, and let out an "oh, %*$#"... 10 yards away from me, literally, t-e-n yards away, is a black bear. Now, I've never seen a bear outside of a zoo, so you can imagine my racing heartbeat, gripping shock, and wet pants as this beast stares right at me. Instinctively, I roar at it. Looking back, its almost comical how much this bear didn't care. It stood up on its hind legs, and reached about my height. Very slowly, I bent down, picked up the nearest stick, and started to walk backwards, never for a second snapping out of my gape. Once safely back up the trail, maybe 50 yards, I waited... the bear didn't seem to mind me after our little unexpected meeting. Five minutes later he sauntered off, looking for his next meal among the grass.

That was the first of 4 bears I encountered that day.

Finally arriving...

Turns out that spring is the best time to come here, because the alpine snow melts and falls down the mountains in to the valley, creating all sorts of gorgeous cascades. When I got all settled in and finally got a chance to kick my feet up I tried to follow the water as it fell from the top reaches of the ridge all the way to the valley floor a couple thousand feet down. Gazing up, it almost looks like sand because so many of the water droplets are carried off by the wind. Its something like nature's hourglass, counting down to summer when the snow is gone and the waterfalls cease to flow. Must be the Port talking...

There's also a chalet in the middle of the campsites, reserved for park employees (a back country ranger told me I could have stayed there if I had asked -- pretty cool of him to say, but what would Jack think of that?) and rangers during the summer. It was built in the 30s and was available to the public for a couple bucks for a room... that offer extended until the 80s, when I guess there was just too much wear and tear -- maintenance is tough 13 miles in the woods.

One of the other bears. Crazy enough, you eventually get used to them.

So how do you avoid a bear eating your food and hassling you at night digging through your smelly stuff? You hang it up! Bear hangs are provided at some Olympic campsites, and luckily this is one of them.

A beautiful cedar...

These bears are everywhere!!

And I even got to see one rootin' around the river bank... they're always lookin' for somethin' to eat.

If you ever get to come to the peninsula, make this the place you go... by far the coolest experience I've had out here so far.