Dosewallips, day 3, Ranger Hole Trail

September, 2017

Just more of the same old trees and ferns and rotting logs and stuff like that.

I love ’em!  Don’t you?

After exploring the area around the Interrorem Ranger Cabin in the last post, I set off on my hike on the Ranger Hole Trail out to the Ranger Hole fishing spot on the Duckabush River.

 

There was lots of evidence of logging in former years, so this isn’t old growth forest, but it sure was gorgeous.

Don’t miss seeing the moss on the trees … on dead trees and on living trees … on branches and on trunks.

 

What a funny stump this was.  It looked like it was having a bad hair day.

At this point in the trail (above), I stopped dead in my tracks.  That sure looked like a tunnel ahead, or a cave, but there was no mention of one on any of the maps or descriptions of this hike.  Was I on the wrong trail?  Was it a trap?  Did I dare enter the deep dark unknown?

Well, I got a little closer and finally realized that deep, dark cave was actually the bottom of a root system of a tree that had uprooted and fallen over.  Hey, I wasn’t really scared … oh no, not me!

 

It took me a little over an hour to get from the cabin to the river.  It would take an avid hiker much less time, but I’m not an avid hiker.  I like to stop along the way and take photographs.  And I like to stop and look at things in detail or simply gaze around me.

Most of the hike out to the river was level or slightly uphill.  The last ten minutes or so of the hike to the river was quite a downhill path, tho nothing treacherous.  The river was getting louder and louder.  I kept thinking it was just around the next bend, but I kept going around bend after bend in the trail and still the river didn’t appear.

Ah, but then suddenly the trees opened up and the river was right in front of me!  And it was loud!  From the rock on which I was standing, there was a sharp and significant drop-off down to the rapids and rocks below.  It was beautiful.

 

 

The photos are deceiving.  It was probably 15 feet straight down to the rushing water.  The rock was slippery and there were no handholds or railings.  Afraid of heights, I couldn’t get close to the edge, so I lay down on the rock and held the camera out as far as I could at arm’s length and just snapped a whole bunch of pictures.

And then I noticed (above), when I looked at the photos on my camera, that the rock I was on was actually under-cut by the raging river.  At that point it was closer to 20 feet straight down.  I moved gingerly back away from the edge.

But then, looking to the left … the fishing hole.  It was so serene and placid.  There was no path down to the fishing hole because huge trees were too close to the edge.  The internet leads me to believe that people would shimmy along the edge of the rock cliff and eventually be able to slide down and get to the shore of the fishing hole.  I bet the Rangers in the early 1900’s had a better trail to the edge of the fishing hole.

 

 

Heading back up the trail (above), back towards the Interrorem Cabin and my big white truck.

 

I could hear lots of birds and lots of scurrying around in the shrubbery, although I didn’t see very many birds or ground animals.

Oh my gosh, but this Giant Hoary Heffalump did raise its ugly head and snort at me.  Remember the one who charged at me when I was camping at Kanaskat State Park this past spring?  Must have been related.  I picked up my pace!

Oh my, I didn’t like this one bit.  In between two trees (above), the devil was obviously watching and waiting.  I hurried on!  How far can it be to my truck?!

Two great big black squinty eyes and a long, long mustache and beard.  The old man of the forest.  He waits for you in the deep dark forest, and the tentacles of that stump may just reach out and grab an unwary lone hiker.

Whew!  Was I relieved when I got back to the Interrorem Cabin and my big white truck, and then hit the road back to Dosewallips State Park.  I cruised back into the campground and happily climbed back into my trailer.

It was going to be a hot afternoon, so I extended the awning to keep the sun-side of the trailer in shade.

With most of the campsites empty all three days I’d been here so far, I had already been wondering why almost everyone parked their trailer or motorhome so their door faced north.  This was why!  If the side of your rig with the door faces south, then you’ve got the hot afternoon sun blasting away in the area where you would ordinarily sit right outside your door.  If you park with the door on the north side, then you can sit outside in the shade. 🙂  Lesson learned.

But right then it was lunchtime and not too hot, so I took my lunch out to my campsite’s picnic table and had a couple of neighbors stop by for a chit-chat.  You meet the nicest people out in the world. 🙂