Fish Lake Remount Station

Remount Station buildings

Back in November I visited the Fish Lake Remount Station with my brother while we were out hiking Crescent Mountain and Echo Basin.  As soon as I got home I went online and grabbed a winter weekend here.  It was forecast to be very wet and nasty, but Maria and I were looking forward to a quiet couple of days in a cabin in the snow.  We got the cabin in the snow, but the rain did not materialize.  It was a very relaxing weekend only an hour from home.

Unexpected sunshine!

Fish Lake

The cabins 

Trying out our new homemade pulk

Storm Weekend 2: The Olympic Peninsula

Lake Ozette

I flew to Seattle and was picked up by a friend for a weekend out on the Olympic Peninsula.  This was a full-on storm weekend with king tides, 28 foot swells, rain, and even a little snow.  We enjoyed the outing to Lake Ozette (finally made it out there after all these years), Neah Bay, and La Push.  The Bogachiel River was much higher than when I was there last at the end of November.  Good to see the rain forest in its normal form.

Rialto Beach

Marina at La Push

Astoria-Megler Bridge

It was Will's 20th birthday weekend and he wanted to go to the coast, so we chose Astoria and spent three fun-filled days exploring and eating our way around the lower Columbia River area.  While I have visited all of these places many times in the past, it has been quite a while since I've been back to Astoria.  The town is thriving, largely due to Portland money I suspect, with brew pubs, restaurants, and new condos springing up up all over the place.  Makes me wonder what the long time residents think.  But it is progress of a sort, I suppose, and I enjoyed the visit.

Fort Clatsop

Hike along the Lewis and Clark River

Peter Iredale 

Coast Guard Station, Cape Disappointment

View of Astoria from Astor Column