First camping trip as a family of three is complete. This past Monday and Tuesday we traveled West to
Olympic National Park to tent camp one night. Since we moved to Seattle we have seen the Olympic Mountains from the shore in Seattle or while on the ferry. They have been so beautiful from a far that we wanted to make a trip over to get up close and personal. Below is Leighton at Golden Gardens, a park in Seattle that has a pretty view of the Olympics.
We set out Monday morning with everything except camping chairs for Wes and I and pillows (we forgot them!) and headed downtown to catch the ferry to Bainbridge Island. From there we drove to Port Angeles (pit stopped at Walmart) and then headed into the park.
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| Ferry Ride = Windy |
After getting a little information at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, the Moores set up camp at the Heart O' Hills Campground.
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| Helping Daddy with the tent |
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| Exploring the old growth/mossy woods behind our site |
Monday afternoon, we drove about 30 min to Lake Crescent to do some hiking. We did a few short walks to Madison Falls on the Elwha River and also to Marymere Falls.
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| Elwha River |
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| Madison Falls |
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| Madison Falls |
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| Candy, look at the size of the ferns! |
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| Got to love a stream... |
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| Hike to Marymere Falls |
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| The trees were HUGE! |
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| At Marymere Falls |
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| Baby girl napping |
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| Lake Crescent |
After enjoying some pretty scenery we went back to camp and Wes grilled chicken and veggies on the fire. Leighton enjoyed being outside all day but was very tired by 8pm. Since it doesnt get dark till 10pm, Wes and I weren't ready for bed. We tried putting her in the tent alone but she only wanted to crawl out, so we actually put her in her car seat and sat it in the tent. She fell right asleep (dont judge us) :) We moved her onto the air mattress with us when we went to bed after some s'mores.
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| Cheese! |
Tuesday morning we drove up Hurricane Ridge to the visitor center to enjoy some of the best views you can drive to in the entire park. We were about 5200 ft high and looked out to the mountain range that is between 5900-7900 ft, including Mount Olympus (the highest point).
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| 65 degrees at the top and still snow leftover from the winter |
Overall I would count the trip a success. We still think only camping one night at a time works for us due to Leighton (and us) needing a good night's rest and so we dont have to take days off work :) There are plenty of 2 day camping destinations close by so I think we will tackle them before staying anywhere a week. The only wildlife we saw were black tailed deer, no cougars or bears. We are already planning our next trip to Olympic National Park to either the coastal beach or the rainforest or both! It is pretty cool that one park has three ecosystems (mountains/old growth forrest, rainforest, and the beach). Till the next exploration!
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| the deer were not phased by us being close |
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| Wes caught a great pic of these young bucks by Lake Crescent in a meadow |
After enjoying some pretty scenery we went back to camp and Wes grilled chicken and veggies on the fire. Leighton enjoyed being outside all day but was very tired by 8pm. Since it doesnt get dark till 10pm, Wes and I weren't ready for bed. We tried putting her in the tent alone but she only wanted to crawl out, so we actually put her in her car seat and sat it in the tent. She fell right asleep (dont judge us) :) We moved her onto the air mattress with us when we went to bed after some s'mores. 
so cool! That looks like an amazing trip! I love how leighton is just cheesing for the cameras! Looks like she had a good time!
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