Remember rain?
Over two months behind on these, but do not fear, I am not gone! In the dry days of august I believe it is a good time to share these moments of being miserably wet on my #1 rainiest backpacking trip ever. During a brief Luke visit back in June, we'd set our sights on the Enchanted Valley out in Olympic, and despite the formidably wet forecast, we couldn't bring ourselves to shift plans. I've hiked in some good showers plenty of times, so surely we can tough it out, right? So I thought. When the downpour is ceaseless and you're soaked through and you can feel the boot water squelching between your toes it's a good time to call it quits. We made it a little over halfway to our planned camp before we decided to pitch a tent and call it a day. The next morning we woke to marginally better conditions, but our hearts weren't in it and we were running low on dry socks (and dry everything else) so we decided to bail.
All this to say, I love rain, but sometimes a change of plans is warranted, and I needed a reminder that optimism does not supersede reality. But the green glow of a freshly wetted rainforest warms my heart (although not the rest of my body), and she needs the rain, so I can hardly be disappointed. I only hope I can convince Luke to come back again...
The camera was solidly stowed for the sodden trek in, but here is our makeshift shelter and an ineffective attempt at a clothesline.
Camped beside the South Fork Quinault River.
The real thing that soured my mood was the blight that is creeping buttercup. An invasive perennial weed that was thick alongside the trail and throughout the camp.
For a moment, we were relatively dry and starting to question our decision to leave.
Thankfully, the rain gods returned to reaffirm our decision.
But ain't she beautiful anyway.
And a shoutout to all the little guys who kept us going!
