Enchanted Valley Backpacking Day 1

We popped out of bed and I sipped on my birthday early morning Diet Coke while we threw bags in the car and ate Aaron's incredible birthday breakfast sandwiches and birthday smoothie.  Off we went on our 3.5 hour drive to Olympic National Park.

Did he make it 15 minutes before falling asleep?  You can decide.

He woke up to fill up on Brady water at the Brady station.

On the drive, it rained for the hour before we hit the trailhead--sometimes a downpour but always a constant stream.  With temperature forecasts in the 30s at night, we knew it would be chilly and hoped for the best from our new rain gear.  We also lowered our expectations for view and I lowered my expectations for fun.  Ha!  In addition to my fear of hunger is my fear of cold.

Enchanted Valley's nickname is "Valley of 10,000 Waterfalls."  As we passed the second waterfall heading to the trail, Coleman quipped, "2 of 10,000."  

We put on our rain flies, cinched up our jackets and threw on our layers, all under the fragrant compostable toilet overhang.  

Signs!  We were fooled by the 13.5 mile indicator. More on that...

Between harder rain showers, I snapped quick photos of our backpacks-of-many-colors.

Bridge crossings.  There were so many picturesque views, even with the misty clouds rolling through and obstructing visibility.  I cannot complain about rain, because the 12-14 feet of rain the Quinault area gets each year is the reason it is one of the only temperate rain forests in the United States.

This is one of my favorite photos of trip.  Lichen covered trees.  "Magical moss."  

One of the many little streams that tested our balance and the waterproof claims on our shoes.

So.  Hot.  Even when it is freezing outside.

Fungus in its shining element.

I'm 40!  I have a picture just like this hiking in Hanakapiai when I turned 30.

Signs.  Heart-eye emoji.

Almost every bridge had one slick railing and opened to the other side.  They were narrow and looked so high over the water, adding some heart-thumping moments to our day.

So much mud!  Almost every backpacker we passed made jokes about the mud clearing out "soon to never."

Rainforest selfie!  It was around this time that I realized I was going to be okay despite the painful joint.  Up to about mile 6, I was pretty concerned.  That was before the 3 ibuprofen kicked in.  The rest of the journey was wobbly but A-OK.  

Hollowed-out trees and exposed roots.

The couple that doesn't age.

The rest of our group learned their shoes were not waterproof.

Cousins!  (3rd, so distant, but we count it!)

Glop, glop, glop.

Around mile 13.5 when we were supposed to finish, we realized there was no valley in sight.  Aaron had printed maps and GPS coordinates, and we knew we still had a little ways to go.  After starting a hike at noon and trudging through mud all day, a "little" started to seem long.  At this bridge crossing (mile 14.something), Brady shouted, "YAY!  I see tents!"  We all scooted across on our exhausted legs and turned the corner to see the tents he was referring to--nearly a full mile away!

"This bridge is very high up for my shaky legs."

First bear sighting!  Aaron turned around in front of us, silently making his face and body look like a bear.  I exclaimed, "Oh!  A bear!"  Smacks forehead.

That day, we spotted herds of elk as well as 6 bears.  Yay for getting in at twilight!

As we approached the valley, we saw our first major waterfall.  We glanced at it, commenting on its beauty, when suddenly Julie cried, "The waterfall stretches to heaven!"  Simultaneously, we all looked up, up, and up as the clouds cleared and showed us a waterfall cascading three times further than any of us estimated at first glance.  It gave me head-to-toes chills.

We found the chalet, showed our permits, and spoke to the ranger.  The sites were very full (there were 120 people in the valley that night), so we wondered if we would find anything before full darkness.  A group of friendly girls said we could get creative and scoot together a bunch of the elk scat to make a soft sleeping surface.  I have absolutely no idea if they were kidding.  Surely they were joking (right!?!), but there really was nothing to choose from that we could see in the proximately.  

We walked further and at mile 15.9, found a great location for our group to settle in.  We hurriedly set up tents at 9pm, and added back all our layers.  We are lucky there was no rain while we set up our camp.  Mountain House meals never tasted so good.  

Brady emerged from behind the trees with a lit treat.  He asked Aaron to hit up the bakery and get an assortment to celebrate, and even the fancy cupcakes survived the long day packed carefully in tupperwear.  I maybe cried a little.  I'm a crier.

We got into our tent and noticed the rain was getting through and dripping onto our sleeping bags and clothes.  I have a fear of hunger, cold, AND wet clothes on backpacking trips.  This list keeps growing.   I was fearful my card wouldn't make it through the night and it was so perfect, with the little Karen drawn near the peaks.  Brady got out the backup tarp he thankfully packed and set it up to keep the rain out, and I panicked about my hair in a dreadful fist-sized knot.  Brady convinced me to leave it until morning after a 15 min struggle and at 1am, we settled in to freeze, I mean, sleep.  Our sleeping bags are intended for 50 degrees and up so the night air kissed us and the only way to stay warm was snuggling.  It was adorable and despite the discomfort, goes down as one of my favorite nights ever.