Lake Crescent & More

Thursday morning we enjoy a quiet wake up from our cabin on Lake Crescent. Mother Nature turned on her charm for us as we sipped our coffee.

We took a short walk to the lobby to continue to enjoy the morning sun. The lake is always clear and even clearer when the sun is shining perfectly for the right reflection. Our cabin is the second from the right.

After watching the beautiful sunrise, we assembled our hiking stuff and work our way to the Elwha River area. We stopped on our way to Forks early in the trip, to view Madison Falls. Perfectly lovely.

Back to the hike at hand… our hike to the view point was lovely and full of ferns and mossy trees.

As we ascended, I might have been crushing on some Dwyer calves. I mean… leg day!

We’ve all had these hikes. Seems like a good idea… but, yeah. Lots to look at along the way but no real view at the “top”. But, a 6 mile round trip hike is a delight in cool weather and more than we would see in Florida.

Another fun fact about the ONP is that they use mules to haul materials etc up the mountain to repair trails. No vehicles are permitted. Here are said mules.

After our morning hike, we relaxed for a bit. And then met up with Jennifer to hike to the Devil’s Punch Bowl.

And like a good girlfriend does… Jenn had prepared me that we should jump into the Devil’s Punch Bowl. Ok. Yes. But. Back it up. Lake Crescent averages 50-60 degrees. It’s so cold and nitrogen deficient algae doesn’t grow. Some places it’s 600+ feet deep. So, please respect- it was cold. And we jumped in. Twice. And the water was spectacular. I now have a new blue. Lake Crescent blue.