lauralh | hiking: got wet

The rain forest is like, really rainy and shit. I forgot rain pants and rain hat, so that was kind of bad.

We got up early and took the 8:45am Bremerton ferry. In Port Angeles it started raining, so we got new windshield wipers, and I bought a cheap hat at Rite-Aid. (It worked surprisingly well.) It cleared up a bit by the time we parked by the trailhead, at least. Annoyance: people in SUVs who go really slowly around corners or on dirt roads. Die. Also, old people who drive -10mph consistently under speed limits, especially when they look like Hans Moleman.

Anyway, we parked and set up our clothing and packs. It was raining a little so I put a garbage bag over my pack, but eventually all I needed were sunglasses. Johnny and Wendy had been up at Olympic Hot Springs in February, so they kept commenting on how different everything was. It's a short easy hike, in that relative sense, so Reg and I were doing ok with the keeping pace and all.

The NO CAMPING IN HOT SPRINGS AREA sign apparently had been hidden by snow in winter, so we set up camp a little bit late, in the official camping area. It was sort of a cross between car camping and backpacking, I guess - there were people everywhere but not as many as with car camping. (Apparently the other "real" campsites were completely packed.) So we set up camp, ate some snacks, and went to the hot springs.

Reg has trouble with hot water situations (he tends to pass out easily) so he stayed behind to rig up a tarp and such. So it was the rest of us who went to the far hot spring that they had camped near during the winter. There were some naked hippies, but I am not so hippie, so I left my undies on, and so did Wendy. Anyway they left soon, but then some older dude who was clearly drunk came up for his fourth trip to the springs. He wouldn't shut up, but he didn't get in till we were nearly sprungout.

I hadn't brought any spare underwear to the springs, so I wore my wet ones back to camp and changed there. I was rather overheated from the walk back, and it was raining consistently by this point. So I was in a t-shirt for 20 minutes before I started freezing again. Weather kind of sucks. But Reg's tarp was nice, and we got to have dinner in the dry. It was all a bit of novelty but I didn't want to return to the springs in the dark, so I stayed with Reg and we read till it was quite late. Got ready for bed right when J&W returned.

And then it rained and rained and rained. We put our shoes under a garbage bag, but I kept having to pee and put shoes on, and yeah well you know. My sandals got really gross. Next morning we didn't bother with breakfast for real, just had bars and stuff, then packed up and walked out. The rain died down a bit on the way out, but someone's cat was still wet lookin'. Yeah, someone brought their cat to hike. It was amusing. Also, some other group used a hand truck to move beer and a cooler to their campsite. Why not, the place used to be a commercial site and is still paved.

After about 5 minutes of driving it was sunny and stayed that way the rest of the day. Gah. We stopped at the Highway 101 diner in Sequim for brunch, it was as good as Reg and I remembered. And then back to Bremerton and then Ferry with Weirdos and then Seattle. More jackasses on the road pissing us off, especially the guy in front of us on the ferry. He got lost in Bremerton (as did we) and was going like 15mph. I guess he had a spare on but jesus.

I had a pretty good time though - the company always helps, but I do despise being cold and wet. Of course I also hate being hot so what can you do. And it was nice to hike through the rain and get into a hot spring, even if I did fart sulphur the next few hours. Reg and I are just in shape enough that we are kinda sore today after, you know, WALKING 3 MILES A DAY. Taking a rest today but going to definitely push it tomorrow.