<< Miss Shapely Loots The Safe

08/15/08 - Deer Lake Adventure

The high country is officially open, at least as far as we Kalebergs are concerned. We have returned to Deer Lake. This is always a hard climb, not because of the nearly 1600' ascent, but because the trail is rough going with rocks large and small and portions of the trail are a bit warm and humid. There are only one or two short smooth sections, but the rest of the trail is "watch your step". Mind you, it is a beautiful hike, and Deer Lake is a silken wonder, but it takes something to get up there.

It took us the better part of two hours to get from the Sol Duc trailhead to the little bridge at the head of the lake. We munched our sandwiches, ventresca tuna with roasted green peppers and sweet onions. Then we made our way back down.

Usually, our adventures end in the parking lot, but this time we had a way to go. Our car wouldn't start, or rather, it would start, but then turn off. Something was off with the anti-theft transponder. So, we got a ride with a Dutch tourist who was nearing the end of his drive from San Diego to Seattle. We called AAA, and we settled down to dinner at the Sol Duc resort. We had a few nice glasses of wine, planked salmon, crab cakes and a marionberry crisp. That put us in a better mood. We knew AAA wasn't going to make their one hour goal. We were at least a full hour's drive from the nearest station. Still, we had faith. There were no rooms at the inn.

Our tow truck driver was great, with a gentle hand and a big truck. We dropped the car off for repairs and tucked into bed late. This time we Kalebergs had a bit more adventure than we had bargained for.

Deer Lake under a cloudy sky

There was still some snow on the mountains. The park reports a foot or two of snow at the High Divide.

The bridge over the marsh

These guys had neat looking flowers

More great summer flowers

The canyon falls at 450 apl (above parking lot)

This may be the 10,000,000th photo of Sol Duc Falls, but we couldn't resist.

Keywords: deer lake, high country, sol duc, salmon, kale