Keith and I were sitting in the apartment talking about heading south to Astoria when Ramsey came in and said he thought it would be cool to go to the Olympic Peninsula and see the rainforests. So we started checking ferry schedules and loading things into the car, and added Jacob and Anthony to the passenger list. After stopping for groceries and getting across the ferry it was already evening and all of the information centers about the park were closed. We did find one with some maps available outside the door and decided that a hot springs sounded nice so we headed to the spot labeled Sol Duc Hot springs on the map.After making camp and eating some dinner we went to the hot springs to see if we could get in. The hot spring was surrounded by a resort which was closed for the night. But there were some people coming out of the building and they invited us to come along to a bonfire that they were going to make on the gravel bar on the river. So we got some fire wood and some alcohol and went down to the river. After sitting around the fire for a while one of the girls there said she could sneak us in to the hot springs so we went back to the resort and tip toed down a hall where many of the workers stayed and came out by the tiled tubs and pool that were filled by the springs.
After a cold night sleeping in a tent we got up and went for a hike. The campground was in old growth rainforest with large moss covered trees. We went up to Deer Lake. Along the way we got up into some patchy snow and beyond we sank into the snow up to our knees.
We considered another night camping, those who had warm sleeping bags were in favor, I was against, so we decided that it would be better to make the evening drive and arrive late back in Seattle. It is a little frustrating when I have the right gear but it is all in the wrong place.
