I hiked Lake 22 years ago. I meant to do a write up – like I do for every hike – but for whatever reason, Lake 22 got swept under the rug. Because it is such a classic hike that is relatively close to me, I must have figured I’d have another go at it. It took me almost 6 years, but I finally did.
Thinking about it now, I’m pretty sure I was waiting to see it again in a different season. Maybe even show some comparison pics of winter and summer…I bet I was hoping to pose Lexi in a flower patch or something. Sadly that never happened, nor will it ever happen.
My beautiful girl back in the day
Even so, Lake 22 didn’t disappoint. It’s popular for a reason – not a bad pay off for a fairly easy 2.7 miles to the lake. So popular, in fact, that now there are “no parking” signs all along the highway where the overflow cars will often spill. We were surprised to find the lot still had several spaces available when we arrived around 10 am, and delighted to have the trail almost to ourselves for the majority of the upward trail.
Hard core Santa ;)
We suspected it wouldn’t last, and of course, we were right. So many people coming up as we were going down that it felt we spent more time stepping to the side than actually hiking. The majority of the adventurers seemed, in our humble opinions, not very well prepared for a slushy/slippery/icy trail. Though even those in tennis shoes (and in one case shorts) seemed to make do.
We were glad to have Yaktrax (a great option when you want traction but don’t want to mess with micro spikes) though I made the mistake of taking mine off once we were out of the heavy snow. If it wasn’t for my poles, I would have surely gone down on that slick as snot final bridge.
Getting snowier...
and snowier!
Even if I can’t take my Lexi with me (except in spirit) I might still try for those summertime shots someday. It may have to wait until I retire though, because I don’t think I have the patience to visit again on a holiday (this was Christmas Eve) or on the just as busy weekends. In the meantime, there are far too many other hikes I intend to write about first. Happy Trails and Happy New Year!
I thought I’d be doing the epic Shipwreck Coast when I hit this milestone. A group of us fool hikers had a shuttle company lined up for a thru hike, plus the weather was looking decent and the tides seemed to be in our favor…then I called the ranger peeps to ask about permits. She simply said, “You don’t know what we have going on here, do you?”
Apparently the tides were not just too high, but “king” high. I still don’t understand why the tide table I was looking at had it so wrong, but now I understand you really can’t depend on just one source. The ranger did say it looked like things would calm down by the time we did our hike, but when she described the current situation of “waves crashing into the parking lot,” it was an easy decision to try for the 20 miles between Ozette and Rialto another day. (Post of when we did do the Shipwreck Coast here.)
But it sure is hard not to hike when you are amped up for adventure. When the weekend weather did in fact turn out to be beautiful, our group of gals HAD to come up with a plan B. “Epic” was out of the picture – but maybe we could still get some beach walking in.
The stretch between Ebey State Park and Joseph Whidbey Park fit the bill perfectly. Not only would we get our seashore fix, but I could also check off eight more miles of PNT trail. (Putting me now at 103.3 ) With our group of four locals, it was easy to take two cars so we wouldn’t have to double back – so we dropped the first car off at Joseph Whidbey Park (never heard of it? Me either…it’s really not much more than a small parking lot with access to the beach) then piled in the other car and headed to Ebey to start our mini adventure.
The bunkers at Ebey are really fun
I’ll confess…I didn’t even check the tides. I suppose my confidence had been shot, and I figured if the beach looked too thin, we could just explore around Ebey instead.Thankfully Julie had a clearer mind and checked for us, and it was a real relief to know the tide was indeed going out. This stretch has very few “escape routes,” and there are parts you really don’t want to get stuck on with a rising tide. So be smart like Julie!
One of the escape options...or stupid photo shoot options ;)
Our real escape was at this boat launch a mile from our car. The road from here was much more appealing than the rocky beach with the tide now coming in. As you can see above, the king tides did their damage here too. The pics I saw of the Rialto Beach parking lot were WAY worse!
Not the official PNT, but I'm still counting that mile!
It may not have been epic, but the day was still perfect – filled with sun and laughter and even a seal! If there is anything this group has a talent for, it’s silly pictures and joking around. We all decided this poor tree (victimized by erosion and barely hanging on by a few roots) would make a great “if 2020 were a tree” meme.
2021 and still hanging on birches!
FORE! (Kelp makes a lousy club, BTW)
Though when I posted what I thought was a hysterical post on our beloved PNW Facebook page, I got more than one “Oh no! Has it really fallen? That is so sad!” comments…along with a slightly more threatening “quit fibbing” warning. Clearly, not everyone is skilled at humor.
What part of "different version" is unclear?
No worries though, because my little tribe IS skilled at humor. Whatever adventures lie ahead with these gals – along with the challenges that are sure to arise as part of it – I’m confident they will be faced with some comedy. Happy "silly and joy filled" trails!!
Heidi is not actually under the gross water...that's why it is funny
AND DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY BOOK!!! Search "Kelly Beane" on Amazon...but only if you don't take yourself too seriously, because my book is supposed to be funny. If you can't laught at "the tree of barely hanging on," you for sure won't like my book.
I saw an article in my news feed the other day about how hiking helps boost the economy. I didn’t have to read it to know how true it is. After sticking a $50 in my day pack thinking it should be enough, I still owe my friend Heidi another $30 that I had to borrow because I boosted a little more than I expected!
My last post was about making new goals, one of them to do 500 miles on the Pacific Northwest Trail. Why? Well, why not. The great thing about this new goal is it motivates me to do trails I wouldn’t normally be inspired to do. This day’s Larry Scott Trail is a good example.
Gettin' er' done!
Admittedly, I can be a bit of a view snob. Living in Washington does that to you. There is just SO MUCH to see – why waste time on anything that doesn’t wow you when there is so much other stuff that will. If the Larry Scott Trail wasn’t marking off miles on the PNT for me, I most likely would have overlooked it.
But this day’s outing to Port Townsend wowed us in so many ways. First off, the view from the ferry ride (our first boost to the economy) is “wow” enough. Secondly, wearing Santa outfits (Heidi’s idea…I just love her) and singing carols (Julie brought the music…love her too!) and making folks laugh (Crystal’s specialty and why we all love her) is a special kind of “wow” for everyone around.
Walking past the marina is also a pretty cool “wow,” and seeing a tree filled with shoes was a confusing “wow.” Googling it later (because it seems we always come up with “things that make you go hummm” questions while hiking) it turns out “shoe trees” are a thing all around the world, though nobody quite knows why.
Beauty does not always come from nature
Can you see the shoes? About a dozen…I’m sure more will follow
Sometimes a field is as big a wow as a mountain
I must say the smell after passing the paper mill was a “WOW” we could have done without, but all in all the nine miles were very pleasant and easy – and even though it started to rain, it was still fun just being together.
P.U. up ahead! Though "Officer and a Gentleman" was filled there!
The boxed wine I bought from the gas station at the end of the trail was another economy boost (we needed something to do while we waited for our taxi) and the $20 we gave our driver once we were dropped off back in town was yet another.
The biggest boost – and maybe the biggest “wow” – was our late lunch at the “The Old Whiskey Mill.” YUMMM!!!!…and the warm drinks made sitting outside a little more cozy.
Food was tasty too!
Perfect timing got us back on the ferry without much of a wait to bring an end to a pretty perfect day. May your days be just as merry and bright, and your happy trails be filled with all kinds of wows. (And don’t forget lots of dollars to spread around too! 😉)
Everybody needs goals. Though most of these goals, if we are honest, are not all that important. In the grand scheme of things, does cleaning out my closet really matter? No. But if we can’t find some purpose in everyday existence, we can get swallowed up. Goals keep us moving forward. I do have my “organize the cupboard” checklist, but bigger goals are a little more exciting. I’ve already accomplished one major goal – 500 miles on the Appalachian Trail. (And then write a book! Which you can buy here. Sorry for the shameless plug, though making a couple bucks is always a goal, right?😜) But being that it's done, now what?
Make more hiking goals, of course! Except, this “goal” ideal creates a bit of a problem for me. I don’t want living (or hiking) to necessarily be about “accomplishing” something. Ego fulfillment is not living in the fullest, in my humble opinion. What a dilemma.
How do I reconcile these conflicting ideas? I surrender them to the universe. (What I call God…or because I believe that this mystery is entirely loving, I will boldly even name it “Father” at times.) It’s true that my goals are not that important, but they help me live…therefore, they do have importance. I embrace them with gratitude; but I don’t hold them too tightly. I remind myself they don’t give me value. Maybe I give THEM value, just by experiencing them? I don’t know. But I know one thing – I enjoy goals. So I’m okay with making more.
Becoming a “thru hiker” would be the pinnacle of my hiking dreams, though it’s a commitment that doesn’t fit into my life. Even finishing the entirety of a long distance trail (bit by bit) feels more than my realistic self can envision. Completing all of the PCT would be so amazing…but reading thru hiker accounts of what this actually entails has brought a harsh reality check to what this requires in real life.
So instead of finishing any one trail, I’ve decided experiencing several is better. Why not finish 500 miles of more than just the Appalachian Trail?
Abandoned Elwha Ranger Station. Very apocalyptic!
I’m just 30-ish miles shy of finishing all of Washington’s PCT, which is just over 500 miles. (Update: finished ) So once that is done, that makes 500 miles completed on two major thru hikes.
I’ve discovered I’ve already done almost 100 miles of the Pacific Northwest Trail without realizing it. Do 400 more, much of it within a few hours of my house, and I've done three! Then I could start working on Arizona's trail because my brother just moved there and can be my Trail Angel. (Mary too! 2026 update of my last trip there is here - which got me to 151.5 miles on the AZT so far.) If I can get in 500 miles on all four of those major hikes, then I can make a nice clean “500 Miles on 5 of America’s National Trails” by doing the Colorado Trail, which is just over 500 miles total. Saving the grand finale for my one and only thru hike means I'm still hoping to call myself a thru hiker at some point. Sounds good, doesn’t it? If nothing else, it will keep me moving…and keep "FarOut" in business. (A must have trail app I was too cheap to pay for on the AT, until I finally caved; and now I can’t give them enough of my money 😆)
Thank you, FarOut! (Formerly Guthooks)
So, back to the Pacific Northwest Trail. The pictures on this post are from a Thanksgiving trip I took to the Olympic Hot Springs. Some quick things to mention about this hike are:
It’s on the PNT, of course.
The road is washed out, so what used to be a quick couple miles is now a ten mile hike mostly on pavement. It is 3 miles from the parking area at Madison Fall TH to the abandoned Ranger Station (very cool!) where you connect to the PNT, then it’s another 5 or so miles of road walking to the abandoned Olympic Hot Springs parking, then the 2 relatively easy actual trail miles to the hot springs.
Embracing this hike for what it is makes it fun. I loved listening to my audio book as I walked on the lonely, desolate feeling road.
You are not supposed to camp by the hot springs. I did anyway. BUT I didn’t make a fire, poop anywhere in the area, and I even picked up trash around my site. I would have never camped there in the summer, but there was nobody there so I was naughty. Sorry.
The hot springs are kinda gross IMO. Not anything like the idealized fantasy I had in my head. The sliminess and smell are hard to get past – and though the above pic looks like your own private hot tub, it was a dirty lukewarm bathtub at best.
You’ll need the Olympic National Park pass so why not drive up to Hurricane Ridge on your way home? You can even hike there from that abandoned Ranger Station I mentioned if you wanted to extend your trip.(I wouldn't attempt it in the winter, though.) Of course I drove, and got an extra mile on the PNT by just ambling through the parking lot with a little snow trail walking.
Below you’ll find all my completed PNT miles along with my future hopeful miles. Every time I finish one, I’ll move it to the “completed” list. Happy Trails and happy goal making everyone!
Anacortes and Skagit Valley: (Most of the 60ish miles I've done close to my home in Mount Vernon I did not write about. Everything I did write about was before I new much about the PNT) Oyster DomeLizard LakeChuckanut AreaPadilla BayHeart Lake Area
Montana: (I know I say in the story I didn't actually get to 500 miles, but I did finish off the rest with a road section close to my house. Actually I walked to the Old Edison Tavern, a bar right on trail, and got a little drunk. It was a fun celebration I never wrote about.) Bowman-Kintla Loop
I used to number my “hard earned hiking lessons learned” throughout all my previous posts. Why did I stop? I haven’t brought any new lessons – practical or philosophical – since my final #55 before leaving on my Appalachian Trail adventure. (This is where I must put my book plug in😝Buy it here!) Why did I stop? Maybe because now there is just one ongoing lesson I’m trying to learn and live…let the Spirit guide. Of course, that idea is far too complex (or maybe too simple?) to explain, so I’ll just tell my story.
In life, we plan. Of course we do. There is nothing I enjoy more than planning a hike; it’s half the fun. I write it all down, rethink it when something changes, rework the details, rewrite the agenda…prepare. It’s all good. But life (and the trail) often asks you to let it go. Don’t get stuck in your plan. Let things flow.
So I threw up my hands. Bad forecast, roads closed, two car key swap idea out the window…oh well. My painstakingly thought out agenda was tossed to the wind. Though, I was still going! Because, who needs a plan?😉
Except there was ONE important part of my original plan we needed to keep – stay in the Crystal Lodge’s walk in only bunk room so we could get an early start on finishing those 38 miles I skipped last time. (The connector trail that would take us to the PCT starts steps from their parking lot.) From there our anticipated daily miles and camps would be a mystery. Let the Spirit decide. But first things first – we needed to drop a car at White Pass where we would be finishing.
Though when we FINALLY arrived in Packwood to eat dinner (road closures, remember?) we were DONE driving. Then the Spirit whispered in my ear, “Why not just stay here in Packwood and do the rest of the driving tomorrow?” Why not indeed!
We can't recommend the food at the Packwood Brewing Co. The spirit clearly led us here just for the beer 😜
And because we listened and went with the flow, we got to listen to the rain pounding down outside the window at our cozy room at the Crest Trail Lodge - instead of being camped in a dark and abandoned parking lot at the Crystal Resort. Turns out I had a huge oversight in my original plan; that being the Crystal Resort totally shuts down in September. Good thing that itinerary was in the dumpster.
The rest of the trip was more of the same. It evolved and changed as we went along, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. For details you can see the non-plan below. Happy "Spirit led" trails!
TRAIL LOG:
DAY ONE: 11.5 Miles to Dewey Lake
Had to go up the connector trail for my second time from the Crystal Mountain Resort parking lot. (See first time here.) I was told this is called “Bear Gap” but you will find no signs calling it that. You head toward Henskin Lake until you see signs pointing you toward the PCT – it’s a tough 3 miles! Finally up on the PCT, we went SOBO another 8.4 miles to Dewey Lake.
NOT Dewey Lake. Just a pic I like 😊
Unfortunately, my friends had misunderstood that the resort was not directly on the trail at Chinook Pass (thinking we were simply doing the “White Pass to Chinook Pass” hike as described on WTA) so those added 5.4 miles to Hwy 410 were a “bonus” for them.
Finally on the PCT! Though we still have 2.5 miles before Chinook Pass
Okay, now we can "start" ha ha. Fun overpass though!
Brutally windy/rainy night at Dewey Lake but the elks bugling in the distance made it magical. We also had a lost hiker visit us in the middle of the night, which was not so magical.
DAY TWO: 12.4 Miles to Bumping River
Morning clearing at Dewey gave us hope for better weather. You can never trust a forecast!
We were wanting to get a couple more miles in this day so we wouldn’t have to do 14 the last day, but the Spirit said to stop. (Okay, maybe it was my feet, ha ha!) Considering the stream here was looking a bit daunting, waiting until morning to go across seemed like another good reason to call it a day. And besides, it was a lovely camp.
A festive last night
DAY THREE: 14 Miles to White Pass
Julie's first ever ford to start off the day👍
We were all concerned 14 miles were going to make for a really long, tough day – but they were pretty easy and we crushed them in seven and a half hours! That is light speed for me! And thank God, because we had the same LONG detour drive home, since Hwy 410 was still closed. But it was SO worth it (I can’t thank Heidi and Julie enough for supporting me and helping me get these miles in!) and now I only have those last 30 left from Harts Pass to the border (hopefully THAT won’t still be closed next summer) to finally finish all of Washington’s PCT miles! HOORAY! (Update: The border is still closed. Permanently, as of 2025. I still did it though as an up and back. Story here. )
The only time we got lost was the third of a mile from this sign to the highway! VERY confusing (because you are in a campground) and there’s a good chance we would have wandered around for a long time if not for Guthooks. But all in all, we rocked it!! Love you gals 🙂
P.S. Answers to our “Google it when we get home” questions along the way: 1) Bears go into hibernation pregnant and give birth while sleeping. 2) The difference between a lake and pond is mostly depth. To be a pond it must be shallow enough for sunlight to hit the bottom. 3) Roads used during this excursion were 1-5/ I-405/WA 167/WA 512/WA 161/WA 7/ US 12/WA 410/ NF 52 (the WORST!)
) With our group of four locals, it was easy to take two cars so we wouldn’t have to double back – so we dropped the first car off at Joseph Whidbey Park (never heard of it? Me either…it’s really not much more than a small parking lot with access to the beach) then piled in the other car and headed to Ebey to start our mini adventure.
