Camping at Lake Quinault

We spent last weekend camping in the area that I grew up--beautiful Lake Quinault. This area is in a temperate rainforest, proven by the average of 12 feet of rain per year. It can get very depressing and many people struggle to live out there for this reason. And for those of you who are Twilight fans, it is only 70 miles south of the REAL Forks, WA. My parents still live in this area, and Dan and I lived out there for five years but decided to move when Kacie was 2. It is a remote area, and after going to the same school (K-12 in one building) for 12 years, then I taught there for 6 years, I was ready for a change. But, it's a gorgeous place to visit, and on top of it being a gorgeous weekend (you have to endure the rain to get the beautiful days!), there was an all school reunion and I got to reconnect with some old friends.

Here we are setting up our campsite. We got a sweet spot near a waterfall, and Kacie had so much fun climbing down the bank to the creek.

Kacie and Tyson at our camp site. My parents came to visit us both Thurs and Fri, and mom brought us a wonderful dinner on Friday night that we didn't expect, complete with chicken, potato salad, chips, watermelon, and lemonade. Thanks Mom!

The Quinault River, which flows into the lake. This site is where our friends used to live until the river changed course and literally took out the ground below their house. They had to relocate to the family barn (which is gorgeous...but still...it's a barn) until they could move their house to new property. The river literally flowed under their house!

I know it's a blurred pic, but here is a cow elk we saw on our ceremonious "drive around the lake". It's one of those hick things we used to do when bored, but honestly, it's an amazing drive into some beautiful old growth forests where you will usually see elk if you go early in the morning or just before dark. We went before dark, and we had already passed the normal places we see elk, but then I spotted about 7 of them in the forest, and we were able to pull over and enjoy them for about 5 minutes. Kacie thought it was amazing...Ty wouldn't stop talking and finally he scared them off. Oh well...

Most of the drive around the lake is gravel road. I love it!

A rare photo of me (I can't stand pictures of myself) and Ty having breakfast, made by Dan! He always cooks the breakfasts when we go camping.


As you can see, I grew up in a slice of heaven. You endure the gray skies and rain for days like these. For me, I live over an hour away...close enough to take advantage of those sunny days, and I certainly need to do it more often. It is a pleasure to share this area and these memories with my kids. I hope they will continue to visit the area when they grow older.

As for us...next stop is Idaho and Leavenworth coming soon!