Damon Point & Ocean City State Park: 1/10-1/11

After making it through my whole three-day work week back at the regular job, next step was to make use of the large amount of spare time I'll have until April with a part-time temperature. Luckily enough, this free-time was also accompanied by a promising forecast of good ol' sunshine! 

I'd been creeping the past rainy days on the wonderful resource that is WTA.org's trip reports and one in particular caught my attention in particular Damon Point, in Ocean Shores. Not only would it be a welcome trip to the coast.. but what really sucked me in was the brilliant photos of snowy owls in every trip report.  Well duh.. as a member of the Harry Potter generation, how could I pass up the chance to see Hedwig out in the real world? The answer was.. I couldn't. 

The trip was going to be about a two-and-a-half hour drive from the Seattle area, so in a more impulsive decision, I packed up the car for a beach overnight complete with an insane amount of layers and sleeping bags. My destination for the evening would be Ocean City State Park. If making the trek to the coast in any situation, this state park has a good location. Just outside of Ocean Shores, it's also right off SR115 so it's both easy to find and easy to continue towards the owls from. Beware though, as with many winter coastal campsites, there was a large amount of standing water and flooding which made choosing an actual site a bit more challenging.

I managed to arrive just as the sun was setting and could put up the tent while it was still light. The tent I grabbed in the flurry of packing was a generic 2-3 'backpacking' size that we've had for a couple years. It's great with more people within, but was a bit of an access just for me. Also got quite a very double-takes setting up my tent among all the 5th-wheelers. With the tent set, dinner consisted of a cup-o-noodle and salmon jerky. My shameless plug at this point would be for my little Sterno stove. Heated up so incredibly quickly, the water boiled in a jiff, in fact before I could even get much into my book! A pleasant surprise to be sure, since as the light left the temperatures began to plummet.

Evening festivities.

I think the highlight of the evening was certainly polishing off an entire book from within not one..but two sleeping bags and the peek of some of the brightest stars I've seen in awhile. You head to the coast and you forget that the stars may be just as bright as the wilderness, but accompanied by even the crashing of the waves lulled me right to sleep, even in below freezing temperatures. 

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I awoke just before the sun to a little winter wonderland. My tent was covered in frost and everything outside crunched under my boots, makes sense as it was 28F. To keep warm and get a good start on the day I followed the park's beach access trail for a short walk to beach first thing out of the confines of the sleeping bag(s). It was a refreshing decision. Never had I been on frozen sand before, and the bright blues of the sky accompanied a soft layerings of pinks purples and yellows as the sun rose. I also was lucky enough to watch a Peregrine falcon catch it's breakfast.

I didn't bother with much of my own food to begin with; just the tried and true peanut butter sandwich with some instant coffee that was started as I packed up the campsite back into the trunk of the car. Owls awaited. 

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Took about ten minutes to get there, following the easy directions provided in the hiking guide for Damon Point. Parking was free (hooray!), and the descriptions of the RV park and deserted hotel were helpful in spotting the entrance. Heading east, the fog was just beginning to clear as I started down the beach. Chilly with the wind, the first bit of the hike is rather uneventful, the beach rocky and with driftwood, you can just see the more interesting, brushy area ahead so hang in there. (Or if you're lucky to catch a glimpse of the Olympics from across the bay).

As recommended by a previous trip report, I followed the beach rather than the old road and was rewarded almost instantly as I approached the brush. The trick for finding the owls if at first you don't see their bright white and grey fluffy bodies.. Look for the photographers with the telephoto lenses and where they're pointing. Now I may have looked a bit silly following up with my point and shoot camera, but half the time I was too flabbergasted to do much else. You see one of these gorgeous creatures fly and you can't help but play the Harry Potter theme song in your head. AND they are absolutely MASSIVE, also not something you realize until you're out there. 

If you're headed out there, I certainly advocate for a pair of binoculars or a camera to see these beauties up close, because while some owls were mellow and sedentary, others were fairly skittish. Normally found on and around the driftwood, I was most lucky when I made the trek back down the road and encountered some roosted in the tops of trees. Much less threatened from their higher perches, I got to enjoy the owls to myself and for a longer amount of time. Overall there were somewhere between 2 and 6 owls around while I spent an hour or two traipsing around, and it was well worth it. Next time I'll pack my earphones to play 'Hedwig's Theme' to make my life complete. 

Tempted?

Here's some helpful links:
Damon Point Hiking Guide
Ocean City State Park
Hedwig's Theme Song

First Outing: Flaming Geyser State Park 1/4/13

Flaming Geyser State Park is easily accessible and impressively named, hence the choice to sneak out there on a Friday afternoon as the sun managed to hold on to the day longer than expected.

Finding the park is pretty simple, just take State Route 18 take the Auburn-Black Diamond Road exit. Take a right at the bottom of the ramp, followed by an immediate right to turn onto SE Green Valley Road (this can sneak up on you, you've taken the wrong right turn if you manage to cross the river and head uphill.) Follow th SE Green Valley Road 7 miles to cross the Green River and an impressive white bridge where you'll find the entrance booth. Because it's currently the off season, it's not staffed. though you should plan on paying for either a Discover Pass beforehand ($30.00 from Washington State Parks), or $10.00 for the day as the rangers are out and about. Enter the Flaming Geyser State Park and drive towards the picnic area which will be to the right. 

The original plan was to take the river trail after checking out the infamously disappointing flaming geyser. Good  news, the flaming geyser was alive and well. Hot, firey and a whole 4 or 6 inches I'd bet you!

The Flaming Geyser Namesake!

Bad news, the river trail westward was either flooded or the crossing was out? It was pretty hard to distinguish which. So, thanks to the two flexible trail partners (one with two legs, one with four legs) who weren't really up for fjording the stream, we decided to take another unnamed trail off the corner of the lodge and ranger area. Turns out that's the aptly named 'Ridge Trail.' It was a great little trek with some good hills to keep you engaged and the heart pumping.

Hiking Buddies: Drew & Koda Bear on Ridge Trail

The Green River, full and cold. 

Was nice, really felt like we had the whole area to ourselves and could enjoy the fog that hadn't lifted and the sun's last appearance for awhile. Not really much of a distance hike but was good to get out in the nice chilly weather. We finished out the day with a quick stroll along the river edge, and even caught a glimpse of a kingfisher. Hopefully I'll be able to make a return trek there to check out more of the trails, maybe even find the elusive Bubbling Geyser or Green River Gorge. Just a nice convenient place to explore for South Puget Sounders.

Thinking of checking it out? Here's some more helpful details:
Flaming Geyser Park Map - WA State Parks
WTA - Flaming Geyser Hike Guide

First outing and first outing related blog post.. complete!
Suggestions, comments, questions? All welcome.

with love, LBB.

New Year

So this is the new year. Whenever I say that I instantly want to finish the Death Cab lyric, “..and I don’t feel any different.” Which is true. I don’t. And that’s why I’m here. Sitting at the kitchen counter and willing my fingers to move across the keyboard.

I’ve been looking for motive. As I approach 24 this year, I feel a bit lost. I’ve almost been tempted to use that ridiculous phrase “Quarter-Life Crisis” (which if you google, is hilarious in itself.) I’ve been out of college over a year, in an odd seasonal rotation of being employed and promised employment. Part is spent living out on an island in the Puget Sound where I work, the other spent crashing in my family home. I don’t have many complaints, it’s been grand, but I’m hitting a wall. I’m one of those twenty-somethings without much of a life plan to go on nor bright employment prospect at the moment..
… Which is how LittleBurroBackpacker comes into play.  

There is one undying thing I love, one solid found in chaos: the outdoors. I love hiking and camping and backpacking and trees and mud and rain and mountains and desert and backpack-weary shoulders. And I don’t engage in any of those things nearly enough, or nearly as much as I know I want to. LBB is my motivation. To engage myself. To engage others. I’m hoping to set tangible goals as well as to push myself with LBB being the driving force and documentation of either how well or how poorly I’m doing. Some good ol’ tangible accountability as I can either stare at a blank blog page or one that will be full of places traveled, miles logged and memories made and if all goes right, a resource for others.

This is really my first grown-up foray into this whole deal of blogging. We’ll see how it progresses, but I’m thinking good thoughts and putting fingers to the keyboard, so it’s a start.

Happy 2013 my friends, and here’s to much more content to follow,

LBB

Here's to 2013, let the good times roll.