The first letterbox adventure that we went on was at Hurricane Ridge. And boy could we not have picked a worse one! We had looked at the hike and determined that it would be fine for our kids. In fact it was one of the hikes in our kids hiking book and it was rated easy. I don't know what those people were thinking if that was an easy hike. First off there were bugs EVERYWHERE. And I am not talking about your typical mosquitoes. I am talking about biting flies. I got bit within the first minute of getting out of the car. It was a good sign as to what the entire hike was going to be like. Also the hike was steep. It claimed to only have 700 feet of elevation gain which is probably true. It just went up 350 in less than a quarter of a mile. Not so hot with short legs.
Gwen LOVED her backpack. We got our Kelty when Andrew was a baby and it has been a great investment for hiking and other adventures where a stroller really isn't feasible.
The boys trudged up the hill and looked for clues. Zane was not so excited about the hiking. Andrew was a total trooper though and was far ahead of us for a LOT of the hike.
We saw a marmot eating some breakfast of flower buds. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Probably about a foot and half long. I was expecting something that looked more like a gerbil.
The end result of the hike is that in a grove of trees where I was attacked by deer flies Zane, Lucy and I turned around. Eric, Andrew and Gwen continued on and found the letterbox. I hear that the view from the top was amazing. You could see Victoria, BC from the lookout. I ended up carrying Lucy back most of the way. She was totally exhausted and whiny. Zane was better once he realized we were headed back to the car and lunch. Never again will I try that hike. At least not without a bee keeper outfit on. Those flies were terrible.
The visitor area was quite lovely and fly free. You could see a lot of the Olympic range which was stunning.
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