Yoh! Hike to Twanoh State Park

Found this post on my personal blog and realized it never got published on the Yoh! blog.  We did this hike in mid-November of 2016. 

On Saturday 5 people & 2 dogs completed the short, but hilly, hike at Twanoh State Park. No matter how many times we do this hike, I never tire of watching the salmon heading upstream to spawn. After a very rainy night, we lucked out and only had a bit of drizzle.  Afterwards we walked over to the Hood Canal to watch the turbulent waters, then headed into Hoodsport to get some food and, of course, our favorite Olympic Mountain ice cream.

Scott is always the tree hugger!

I guess I was already obsessed with mushrooms back then!

L to R: Tammy w/Maya, Susan, Teresa w/Aspen & Stacey

Hike @ Mima Falls

After some back and forth about what day to hike due to the conflicting weather reports, we decided to hike this morning to Mima Falls in the Capital Forest.  Luckily, we had blue skies when we pulled into the parking lot.  The Yoh! group was good-sized consisting of 6 people and 3 dogs.  We started the hike at 9:35am and finished at 11:41am, covering 4.86 miles with a much more acceptable elevation gain of only 450 feet.  The trail was well maintained, but busy; we ran into quite a few other folks including trail runners, hikers & mountain bikers.  We spent a little time at the falls taking pictures after climbing down a little embankment.  The falls are small, but pretty; definitely worth doing if you're in the area.  There weren't as many mushrooms to be seen this time, but it was a beautiful trail with some huge trees. Another successful Yoh! hike. 

Scott--tree hugger #1

The falls--small, but pretty!

Michele & Scott

Bridge above the falls.

Michele--tree hugger #2

L to R: Pam, Michele, Teresa (w/Logan & Aspen), Tammy (w/Maya) and Scott

L to R: Susan, Michele, Teresa, Tammy & Scott

Hike @ Wallace Falls

I'd been toying with the idea of bringing back the Yoh! hiking group for a while, so I sent out the invites a couple of weeks ago to hike.  Luckily a few folks answered the call and yesterday 5 of us (plus 2 dogs) drove far north to Gold Bar to hike at Wallace Falls State Park.  Gabby & Ethan had hiked here the week before and told me that I could make it, so I accepted the challenge.  We headed up the trail at 10am.  Scott, Teresa and I hiked to the Middle Falls and back for a total of 4.36 miles, while Pam and Charlie extended their hike to the Upper Falls which added an extra 1.2 miles roundtrip.  The trail was pretty busy; we saw lots of people & dogs. However, that didn't detract from the fun too much.  We crossed many bridges, saw lots of mushrooms & the falls were just spectacular.  The hike was super hilly in spots; to the Middle falls & back was about 1,045 feet of elevation gain and around 1,500 feet to the Upper falls & back.  It stayed dry for us for most of the hike; we only got rained on the last 10 minutes. So glad we got to spend our day off work in the woods!  Another successful Yoh! hike in the books.

Charlie & Scott were the models for the day.

Teresa with Logan and Aspen.

Wallace River

Teresa and Pam

Scott was the designated tree hugger this time.

View of the lower falls.

Pam holding the dogs as they stared intently at their mom taking photos.

View from the middle falls.

This is where we split up and Charlie & Pam headed up to the upper falls.

View of the upper falls.

Stats from my Apple Watch of the hike to Middle Falls & back.