The Times Hiking in the Olympic Mountains

When I became a teenager which isn’t the easy thing to do in this life I decided to join the boy scouts so I could hike. Looking back now was it a ridiculous thing to do maybe.

I am sure I joined the boy scouts because my older brother Dick was in scouts and some friends were in the scout troop as well. In fact several of my friends that were in scouts with me I played on the same little league baseball team as well. The scout master was the father of another classmate that I grew up with. I know some joined scouts so they could be an Eagle Scout and get many merit badges. Personally I didn’t care about either I wanted to go hiking.

Why I think it is ridiculous in a way is looking back to a long time ago. Actually it was my first hiking experience. Our troop took a trip to lower Lena Lake in the Olympic Mountains. I found the hike tough and exhausting along with the fact it rained a lot as well. Before going on the hike I bought a tube tent which is a one man tent; I thought it was such a great idea but the rain made the tent hard to sleep in and my sleeping bag got really wet. It may have been easy to give up hiking at this point; however, I decided to keep going on. The food we ate was not the most exciting thing in the world either. I believe if I lived somewhere else where there are no mountains I never would have gone hiking. The total experience was good despite having wet tent, terrible food, along with aches and pains especially in your feet. What made it really good was making an accomplishment through difficult times.

 Every year I was in scouts our troop went on a fifty mile hike all in the Olympic Mountains. We took ten days to complete the fifty miles; the main reason we took that many days was the rain. The plan was setup to hike seven or eight days with two or three days off where we would stay in same location. These days off were good to get healthy once again and really have a good time. When we were not cooking or making a fire we would play cards. I found this to be the best time of the hiking trip. The last day of the hike was shorter than some of the other days however it did feel long because it was coming to an end. I was so exhausted that I had to sit for at least a half an hour before getting in the car to go home. Though I enjoyed hiking the trip home was such a joy.

The funniest hike was to Enchanted Valley which is in the Olympics as well. I believe we hiked there at least twice. I think it was on our second trip to Enchanted Valley we heard from some other hikers that there was a bear at the chalet. Depending on the weather and how many hikers were around whether we would sleep inside or outside the chalet. Anyway on this trip the bear was outside the chalet looking for food. We saw our scout master get chased up a tree by that bear. The assistant scout master decided to go after the bear with an axe like it was really going to help. All of us in the scout troop thought it was funny though I am sure it was serious. The assistant scout master was able to chase off the bear and we never saw him again.

Besides having fun with the other scouts despite aches and pains was completing our accomplishment and the views. The Olympic Mountains have some of the greatest views you would ever see.  

After our scouting days were over my brothers and I took a hike to Hurricane Ridge which is also in the Olympic Mountains. It takes about forty-five minutes to get there from Port Angeles, Washington. The hike I remember was about seven miles long each way so we took a couple days to enjoy it. Also, it was not as difficult as the other hikes.

I believe hiking is much better now because the equipment is so much better; however, though I think the experience may have been ridiculous on one level I would do it over and over again.  Now I enjoy a day hike where I can return home the same day. The Olympics and the Cascades have wonderful day hikes where you can see beautiful views. If I were to go camping I would make sure the weather was nice where I would not have to deal with rain. I have to say rainy days are over for me. Made better for teenagers who don’t know any better.