Washington – Page 5 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Rialto Beach, the Hoh Rain Forest fiasco & Beach 4, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (8-22-12)

Day 15 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

After breaking camp at the Klahowya campground on the Olympic Peninsula; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed SW on Hwy 101 to the town of Forks. There was a U.S. National Park Service Recreation Information Center in Forks, and SPHP wanted to stop in briefly to see if there was ANY place in Olympic National Park where Lupe could go on a trail.

As expected, the news wasn’t good. Dogs are not allowed on any trails in Olympic National Park. However, there was one place dogs could go, provided they were on a leash. Dogs were allowed on Rialto Beach, from the parking lot N about a mile to Ellen Creek. That sounded great! Since Rialto Beach wasn’t too far away; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP were on their way.

The Olympic Peninsula was turning out to be a far more dangerous place than SPHP had ever imagined. On the way to Rialto Beach, there were signs warning about vampires! Just yesterday, Lupe had battled Big Paw, and now vampires?!

No, vampires beyond this point!? Since when do vampires obey regulations?

If Lanis and SPHP were concerned, Lupe wasn’t. It was a bright and beautiful morning. Sundown wouldn’t be for many hours. Lanis and SPHP could just chill for the time being. Vampires never saunter around in broad daylight – everyone knows that!

Rialto Beach was wonderful! Lupe, Lanis and SPHP headed N along the shore. It was great to see the Pacific Ocean, see and hear the crashing waves, and smell the salty air. The white bleached trunks of huge dead trees were scattered along the high tide line, looking like the bones of dinosaurs. Lupe didn’t quite know what to make of it all. She had seen the ocean at Puget Sound just a couple of days ago, but this was the first time she had ever been right on the beach and seen the endless expanse of the open ocean.

Lupe and Lanis at Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park. Lupe had never seen the broad expanse of the open ocean before.

Near the high tide line were numerous dead tree trunks, bleached white by the sun and sea.

Lupe stayed up on the beach. She was a little afraid of the waves. Even though the waves were quite small for the ocean, they were bigger than any waves she had ever seen before. Lupe got close to the ocean, but she didn’t go in it at all. She retreated ahead of each incoming wave. She enjoyed trotting along the wet sand, and sniffing all the very strange scents. To Lupe, Rialto Beach was a very beautiful, but also a very strange and exotic place.

Lanis became engrossed with shells, rocks and creatures he was finding on the beach, or in tidal pools. Lupe and SPHP continued N alone, thoroughly enjoying the stroll next to the Pacific Ocean. Rialto Beach was the farthest W that Lupe had ever been. She had reached the North American continent’s edge. She could go no further W.

Lupe couldn’t go any farther N, either. As Lupe and SPHP approached a towering upright rock near the shore, suddenly a park ranger came running up. Lupe couldn’t be here. Lupe and SPHP had transgressed by crossing Ellen Creek. Lupe was almost all the way to Split Rock, which just wasn’t allowed.

As it turned out, Ellen Creek was just a little trickle of water coming out of the sand 10 feet from the ocean. Upstream, it had disappeared underground long before reaching the beach. The ranger wasn’t upset; she said Ellen Creek is 20 feet wide in the spring, but there was a drought going on. Now that it was late August, Ellen Creek had almost completely dried up. The ranger wasn’t surprised SPHP had missed it, but Lupe still had to go back.

Split Rock at Rialto Beach, where the park ranger said Lupe couldn't be. Lupe and SPHP had to turn back. — Split Rock at Rialto Beach, where the park ranger said Lupe couldn’t be. Lupe and SPHP had to turn back.

Reluctantly, Lupe and SPHP returned S looking for Lanis. Lanis was still busy looking at rocks and crab shells, but he was ready to go when Lupe found him. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP left Rialto Beach, and headed back to Forks for Subway sandwiches and ice cream bars. Lupe liked both, but clearly favored the ice cream.

SPHP thought it would be fun to take Lupe to the Hoh Rain Forest. SE of Forks, off Hwy 101, is a turn to the E on Upper Hoh Road. Upper Hoh Road enters Olympic National Park, and ends at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.

It made no sense, though, to pay the park entrance fee, just so Lupe could sit in the Element. SPHP came up with the bright idea of taking a different road to South Fork campground, instead. South Fork campground isn’t in Olympic National Park, but is pretty close to it. In fact, it’s not even very far from the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center. Lupe could probably experience the Hoh Rain Forest just as easily at South Fork, and avoid the dog restrictions.

The turn to South Fork campground was a little farther S on Hwy 101, past the turn for Upper Hoh Road. The South Fork road wasn’t bad, although it was narrow and winding. After a while, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP found themselves high up on a mountainside. The little road went on and on. This couldn’t be right! South Fork campground was supposed to be down on the South Fork of the Hoh River, not up on a mountain.

Some miles back, the road had divided. SPHP must have told Lanis to take the wrong fork. There was nothing to do, but turn around. It wasn’t going to be easy up here. Lanis slowly, and very carefully, turned the Element around on the narrow road. Success! Lupe, Lanis and SPHP went back down the mountain the way they had come up.

This time, Lanis took the other fork in the road. Sure enough, it eventually led to South Fork campground, but the road went on even farther from there. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP went all the way to the end of the road. At the end was a place that looked like some kind of small defunct rock quarry.

Lanis and the Element at the sort of rock quarry place at the end of the road beyond South Fork campground. So, now what?

Lanis, Lupe and SPHP got out of the Element. Hmm. No one else was around. Was this a trailhead? There didn’t seem to be any trail. The rock quarry, if that was what it ever was, didn’t look too promising. It was surrounded by forest, but the forest didn’t look like anything special. The forest back at Klahowya campground, where Lupe had spent the previous evening, looked much more like a rain forest than this did.

SPHP didn’t give up. Looking around, SPHP spied what looked like an old abandoned road or trail heading into the forest. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP set off to explore it. They didn’t get far. A stream coming down the mountain had washed out, and completely exposed, a giant culvert. A 50-100 foot wide section of the mountainside had collapsed, too, taking the trail with it. The trail did continue beyond the huge gap, but there was no reasonable way forward to get to it.

So, that was it. The whole Hoh Rain Forest episode was just another of SPHP’s adventure fiascoes. A lot of time had been lost winding around on little roads to get nowhere. Even SPHP was ready to give up. Lupe came all this way to see the ocean, not a bunch of trees! There were trees back home, different types, but they were still trees. It was time to return to the Pacific Ocean!

Back at Hwy 101 again, Lanis turned S. Hwy 101 curved SW, and followed the Hoh River. At the coast, Hwy 101 curved S again. The highway was now at some height above the ocean, but not far from it. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP stopped at a parking lot for Beach 4. A trail led down a steep little hillside to the ocean.

This was what Lupe had come all the way to the West Coast for! Beach 4 was marvelous. Lanis, SPHP, and even Lupe went wading in the Pacific Ocean. For a few minutes, the cold water felt good. Then it was time to warm paws and feet up again on the dry sand. Back and forth, in and out of the sea, again and again. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP wandered N along the beach. Waves crashed against rocks sending spray from the collisions skyward. The sea, the sea, the beautiful sea!

At Beach 4, Lupe went wading in the Pacific Ocean for the very first time.

Full of deep meaning and profound significance, this what-cha-ma-call-it was at Beach 4. SPHP suspects it may have been built by a tribe of modern Lanis.

The Oregon coast has a reputation for the most beautiful scenery along the Pacific Ocean in the lower 48 states, but Washington state’s Beach 4, where she waded in the sea for the first time, was a place of wonder for Lupe. Lupe, Lanis, and SPHP lingered at Beach 4 enjoying the beauty of the ocean, as the sun began slipping from the sky.

And that’s where this post leaves them, until another post by and by.Links:

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Klahowya Campground, the Sol Duc River & the Battle with Big Paw, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (8-21-12)

Day 14 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Lupe’s day began uneventfully enough. She woke up on a soft bed at a motel in Tacoma. Before checking out, SPHP gave her a bath. Afterwards, Lupe and SPHP spent part of the morning at the same park where Lupe had played Frisbee the evening before. Next was a boring stop at a laundromat. When the clothes were all clean, the interesting part of the day began. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP left Tacoma on Hwy 16, and headed for the Olympic Peninsula.

It had been sunny and warm out in Tacoma, but by the time Lupe was crossing the Hood Canal on Hwy 104, the sky was overcast. After a while, a light mist began, but it was intermittent and didn’t amount to much. The Olympic Peninsula is mountainous, but between the clouds and the tall forest that lined both sides of the highway, there wasn’t much to be seen.

From the Port Angeles vicinity, there were views of the ocean off to the NE. SPHP had been looking forward to taking Hwy 112 W along the N shore of the Olympic Peninsula, but Hwy 112 was closed due to road construction. Instead, Hwy 101 took Lupe into the N end of Olympic National Park. After Yellowstone and Glacier, Lanis and SPHP now knew better than to bother stopping anywhere in a U.S. National Park. Dingoes just weren’t allowed in the backcountry.

Lupe, though, knew this place was different. For here, in the towering old rain forests of the misty mountains, is the home of a creature from a forgotten age. Seldom spoken of by American Dingoes and Carolina Dogs, and even then just in low growls and whines, is a race of ancestral Dingoes known only as Big Paw! U.S. National Park or not, no human has ever been able to find, capture or record Big Paw.

Hwy 101 left Olympic National Park and entered the Olympic National Forest. In the national forest, Lupe would be less restricted. Lanis and SPHP started looking for a place to camp, and soon arrived at the Klahowya campground. Klahowya campground was in a forest full of ferns and moss. It had a real jungle look to it. There were plenty of open sites in the campground, too, some of them next to the Sol Duc river.

Lupe's campsite at the Klahowya campground in the Olympic National Forest looked like a real jungle. — Lupe’s campsite at the Klahowya campground in the Olympic National Forest looked like a real jungle.

Lanis and SPHP selected a site, and set up Lupe’s tiny house. Lupe was still sitting in the Honda Element. She wasn’t so sure about things. What if Big Paw was lurking somewhere out there?

Eventually, Lupe came out of the Element to inspect the campsite. Klahowya campground really was a very impressive place. Lupe’s tiny house was set up in a jungle setting unlike any place Lupe had ever camped before. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP took a short walk through the jungle down to the Sol Duc river.

From the size of the exposed rocky riverbed, it was easy to see that even though there was a fair amount of water in the Sol Duc now, normally it was a much larger river. However, a dry spell and the late August season meant the river was quite low. Lupe sniffed around in the bushes and young trees growing near the rocky riverbed. She was having a good time exploring.

Lupe's tiny house at Klahowya CG. — Lupe’s tiny house at Klahowya CG.

After spending a little time down along the Sol Duc river; Lupe, Lanis and SPHP returned to the campsite for a picnic. When the meal was done, Lanis and SPHP thought it might be fun to find a trail. Everyone got back into the Element. Lanis drove back to Hwy 101, and turned W. In just a few miles, there was a side road to the N that looked promising.

The side road wound around in the woods. It emerged from the forest at a large clearing where there were some old abandoned buildings. The road went past the buildings, and soon ended at a trailhead. No other vehicles were there. Lanis parked the Element. A very wide, level trail led Lupe, Lanis and SPHP into a dense forest. Perhaps 30 – 50 feet down a steep embankment to the right, flowed the Sol Duc river.

The wide level trail. It turned out this trail was an old roadbed mostly hidden beneath the leaves of the undergrowth on both sides of the apparent trail.

After a little while, SPHP realized the wide trail was actually an abandoned road. Under the leaves on the trail was a layer of pavement, occasionally exposed at the edges where the where the old road was starting to crumble away. From the left, small streams trickled down a mountainside. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP came to a single track trail that led up the mountain. A sign said it led to Snider Peak, elevation 3,055 ft.

Lupe, Lanis and SPHP took the single track trail, although how far it was to Snider Peak, no one knew. The trail switch-backed up the mountainside until it was out of view of the abandoned road below. Although the trail was in seemingly good condition, no one else at all appeared. Lupe was having fun exploring the forest, but Lanis and SPHP eventually decided Lupe had gone far enough. It was time to return.

Back down at the old abandoned road, it was still early enough out so Lupe, Lanis and SPHP continued farther along the abandoned road instead of returning to the Element. Through the trees were glimpses of the Sol Duc river down the embankment on the right, which was steeper and higher here than before. The river was now 50 – 100 feet below the road.

The river curved away from the old road, and the road began to climb through an exceptionally shady and gloomy portion of the forest. At the top of the rise, the road leveled out at the edge of a clearing. On the opposite side of the clearing was a decaying old mobile home, and some dilapidated outbuildings. No one was around, but a flag was flying – a black flag with the skull and crossbones on it. Lupe had come to a pirate hideout!

Lanis and SPHP didn’t think it wise to tangle with pirates, and retreated back through the gloomy forest down the wide trail to the bend in the Sol Duc river. There was no sign of pursuing pirates, but the hair on Lupe’s haunches was up. She was staring down the abandoned road ahead. On the side of the trail opposite the river, up on the mountainside, a dark form was moving at high speed through the trees – and coming closer.

Lupe growled deeply. Suddenly, out of the forest and onto the abandoned road ahead, leaped the approaching menace.

It was huge, as tall as either Lanis or SPHP! Its long, shaggy fur was mostly dark gray with silver streaks, but where Lupe sports a beautiful white vest on her chest, the creature had a vest of ebony. A huge curly tail arched high over its back. The creature’s large soft ears were flattened against its head. Its gray eyes glowed with a distinctly reddish hue. Saliva dripped from its fangs and gigantic pink tongue. Big Paw!

With a low, snarling growl, Big Paw bounded to the attack! There was no escape. Lanis and SPHP faced certain doom. A brown and white flash streaked toward Big Paw. It was Lupe, barking wildly! Big Paw paused to consider this noisy, tiny Carolina Dog for only a moment. Big Paw lunged at Lupe, but she was too fast.

Lupe circled around and around Big Paw, biting his heels and harassing him. Big Paw snapped at her again and again. At times Lupe dashed into the trees to get away, with Big Paw hot on her tail. Lupe barely escaped. Once, Big Paw was so close, his slavering jaws snapped shut on the upper end of her tail, ripping her fur there away.

Lupe darted between the trees like lightning. Big Paw crashed into several of them trying to catch her. Finally, Big Paw hit one of the trees so hard, it leaned and then plummeted down to the Sol Duc river below. As its roots tore away from under the old abandoned road, a big chunk of the road gave way. It too, went crashing down into the Sol Duc river. Lupe and Big Paw almost fell with it, but both managed to scramble back away from the crumbling bank.

Lupe was panting hard. She had put up a valiant fight, but Big Paw was too fast and strong. Only Lupe’s agility was saving her, but her energy was fading with each daring escape from Big Paw’s jaws. Finally Big Paw had her cornered. He snarled and lunged, but Lupe lunged first. Her fangs sank into Big Paw’s neck. She clamped her jaws shut, and hung on tightly.

Blood streaked Big Paw’s fur. He howled with rage and pain. Big Paw shook his head violently, but the little Carolina Dog dangling from his neck refused to let go. Big Paw couldn’t shake himself free of Lupe!

Big Paw took off into the forest, retreating back up Snider Peak, howling in pain the entire time. Lupe hung on. For how long she didn’t know. It seemed like an eternity, but may have been for just a minute or two, if that. Big Paw made a mighty leap over a giant old tree trunk laying horizontal on the forest floor. As he did, Lupe crashed into the tree trunk, smashed between Big Paw and giant tree. She lost her grip and fell dazed to the ground.

When Lupe woke up, Big Paw was gone. She was alone in the terrifying forest. Big Paw might return hunting her at any moment! Suddenly, she heard voices rising faintly up the mountainside. Lanis and SPHP were calling her, and looking for her. Lupe staggered to her paws, and took off running down the mountain.

Soon Lupe was back with Lanis and SPHP. Both shouted with joy at seeing her alive. They petted her, and hugged her, and kept congratulating her on her most stupendous victory ever in all of American Dingo or Carolina Dog history! SPHP promised her endless treats, steak and ice cream. Lanis said he had captured her entire battle with Big Paw on film. She was going to be rich and famous!

Hmm? Did I doze off? Was I dreaming? Uh, yeah guys, you just go ahead and sleep in the tiny house without me. Think I want to stay here in the Honda Element tonight. Mind locking the doors for me, Lanis, before you turn in? In fact, leave me the keys if you would, please! And maybe pull the blankie back over my head before you go?

It doesn’t happen often in that distant land of mist, but on the night of the full moon, when the wind is right and blows the clouds clear away from the mountains, as the pale light filters through the ancient rain forest, if you go to the old abandoned road above the bank of the Sol Duc river, and follow it to the start of the single track trail to Snider Peak, then there the Dingoes say, you can still hear Big Paw howling with rage far up the mountain.

And, if you continue on in the moonlight, on the abandoned old road, you will come to a wide open view of a curve in the Sol Duc river where the road and forested bank caved in during the Battle of Big Paw. But unless you are looking for trouble, don’t continue on the road up to the pirate hideout, or worse yet, go up the single track trail to Snider Peak.

And, if you ever meet Lupe, the American Dingo, you will know why the fur on the top of the tip of her curly tail is missing to this day.Links:

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Seattle & Puget Sound, Washington (8-20-12)

Day 13 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Today, Lupe was going to see the ocean for the first time ever! Well, not the broad expanse of the open sea, but she was at least going to see Puget Sound in Seattle. Lupe was nearly to Seattle already!

First things first, though. Lupe’s day started with a visit to a dog park along the Cedar River in Renton, WA just to get some exercise and sniff the morning air. The dog park turned out to be long and narrow, as it followed the Cedar River. There wasn’t any access to the river itself, which flowed down in a steep narrow gorge. A bike path went through the park. Lupe had to be careful. Bikers whizzed silently by with some frequency.

Even though the dog park was in the city, it was cool, shady and not too crowded. Trees and blackberry bushes grew along the bike path. There were grassy areas where Lupe could run. Lupe searched the trees for squirrels with some success. In the meantime, Lanis and SPHP discussed where to go next. Lanis was interested in seeing the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.

Seattle, WA - a different type of wilderness than Lupe is used to. — Seattle, WA – a different type of wilderness than Lupe is used to.

The Washington Park Arboretum covers 230 acres. A wide variety of trees, bushes, flowers and plants of all types were growing in great profusion. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP wandered the pathways looking at the displays. It wasn’t long before SPHP noticed that Lupe was stopping frequently to lick her left front paw. On examination, there was a little round circle on her biggest pad. Lupe had stepped on a blackberry thorn back at the dog park in Renton.

The Washington Park Arboretum had many beautiful plants and flowers. — The Washington Park Arboretum features many beautiful plants and flowers.

Lupe’s sore paw put an end to touring the Washington Park Arboretum. Lupe needed help getting that blackberry thorn out of her paw! At a Safeway store, SPHP bought tweezers and a set of needles. SPHP operated on Lupe’s paw. Lupe was very cooperative. She clearly understood that SPHP was trying to help her. Unfortunately, at first SPHP didn’t seem to be making any progress removing the thorn.

Suddenly, with a little flick of the needle, the blackberry thorn popped out. It came out all in one piece, leaving a small round hole in Lupe’s pad. Her paw wasn’t sore anymore. She quit licking it, and forgot all about it. A few days later, when SPHP examined her paw, there was no sign of the hole where the thorn had been.

Once the painful blackberry thorn was removed, it was time to go see Puget Sound. Lupe saw the ocean for the first time at Golden Gardens Park.

There was a nice beach at Golden Gardens Park, but no dogs were allowed on it. Lupe saw the ocean, but she didn't get to swim or wade in it, or even run along the beach. — There was a nice beach at Golden Gardens Park, but no dogs were allowed on it. Lupe saw the ocean, but she didn’t get to swim or wade in it, or even run along the beach.

Ravens were flying around looking for tidbits on the lawn near the parking area where the Element was parked. Lanis became interested in feeding them. The ravens seemed to like graham crackers. Lanis’ flock of ravens grew rapidly. Seagulls noticed the action and started joining in.

Ravens and seagulls wander the lawn near Lanis' Honda Element looking for tidbits. — Ravens and seagulls wander the lawn near Lanis’ Honda Element looking for tidbits.

Lanis started feeding the ravens graham crackers.

Lanis' flock started growing rapidly. — Lanis’ flock started growing rapidly.

The decimation of Lanis’ graham cracker supply led to a loss of interest by his flock of followers, which soon abandoned him. Although Lupe hadn’t been allowed on the beach, she had at least seen the ocean. Lupe had to be content with that for the time being. Maybe it was time to check out the Space Needle?

Lupe saw the Space Needle, but there wasn’t any open parking nearby. Lanis was ambivalent about paying to go up in the Space Needle, anyway. Carolina Dogs aren’t generally that interested architecture, although Lupe would have liked the view from the top. SPHP was pretty certain the view would have been fabulous. However, since Lupe probably would have been prohibited from going, and there didn’t seem to be any place to park the Element, Lanis drove on.

It had been 5 days since Lupe’s first experience with the luxury of motel life back in Bozeman, MT. Lanis and SPHP both needed to get cleaned up, and were looking forward to soft beds again. Lupe certainly wasn’t going to object! Soon Lupe was checked into a motel in Tacoma. Now that she had a better idea what to expect, Lupe acted like living in a motel was the most natural thing in the world.

In the evening, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP went to a park. There was a big pond, trees fully equipped with squirrels, and a very spacious lawn for Lupe to race around on. The park was a popular place. Lots of people and other dogs were around. Lupe played Frisbee with Lanis and SPHP. Sometimes Lupe invited herself to play Frisbee with other people when their Frisbees strayed conveniently close. The sun set. It grew dark. Time to head back to the motel for a long luxurious snooze.

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