This is the campsite at Lena Creek Campground, where we spent four days camping with the family - Rue and Annie, Daisy, Taraz and Megan, Ruhiyyih and her friend Brynn. George acquired it Thursday, thinking that there would be overflowing crowds. But, the place was almost empty, except for four other campers, all of whom were quite a distance away from us. So, we had a wonderful deep forest experience - the huge old growth cedars, the calls of the Swainson's thrush, and the darkest nights imaginable. Our campsite was quite large, comfortably accommodating our 5 tents and the canopy over the cooking table.
We'd counted on rain - intermittent and light, with sunbreaks. Fortunately, during our cooking, meals, and hikes it didn't rain, and we were able to do some serious exploring.
We got in a 7 mile hike, round trip, up to Lena Lake, and took the trail around Hama Hama Creek.
The Olympic National Forest is a rain forest, with big boulders and cedars, moss and lichens in the high alpine reaches, and rainfall up to 240 inches a year. Summertime temps from 65 - 75 degrees. Recreationists are warned about rapid weather changes, and are warned to know the signs of hypothermia: rapid body heat loss with progressive mental and physical collapse accompanying the chilling of the body's inner core. It is the #1 killer of outdoor recreationists and is caused by exposure to cold, aggravated by wet, wind and exhaustion. On our hike up to Lena Lake, I needed only a T-shirt with the hard physical exertion of the climb, but on the way down I wore 2 shirts, a sweater, and jacket. When we got down to camp I was so tired, that when I made dinner (hamburgers), I saw the dill pickle jar out of reach by two feet, and I figured 'these feet are not walking over there to get them!'
Here is a photo of our oldest son, Rue, making coffee with a Melitta filter system. It is the easiest and quickest way to get it done, with styro-espresso cups to hold in the heat.This is our son preparing chicken over the campfire. He offered this several evenings, and it was incredibly good, with fresh lemon juice, garlic and pepper.
He and I took turns cooking for the crowd, that way it was kept simple....and, he is the better cook when it comes to camping. Rue put potatoes, carrots and onions in tinfoil, and roasted them in the coals, and that was served with the chicken.
This is Daisy waiting for mealtime - she's got a Game Boy here.
This is the firepit. Just look at those muddy shoes. Mud was the key word here - we woke up to it, cooked in it, hiked in it .....and it covered every bin and container we placed on the ground. It will take me days to clean everything, to air the bedding, to wash and organize our gear once again.
Rue brought lots of board games - Scrabble being the favorite. Daisy jumped in with all of us...and I was amused at some of the words: doom, brat, quiet, corny, dam, loan, boats,jaw, axed. George won most of these games, until he disclosed his strategy, then Annie won.
We had family coming and going on this trip - some could stay the night, and some couldn't. I spent a good part of the time video-taping, rather than taking snapshots, so Annie's (Earthen Vessel) blog will contain more photos. Ruhiyyih (Ruhiyyih's Reflections) will probably post a few too, when she arrives back in Virginia. 
She sent me a few last night, so I'll post a few of hers here, Taraz and Megan with Daisy and me; a very contemplative Taraz; 
and Ruhiyyih, looking quite squeaky clean...something we all envied.I've got some appreciative words for my son Rue. He taught me some good cooking techniques, and was so swift with support and consideration. I was always deeply touched that with every meal he cooked, he would bring the first plateful to me, then to George, then serve his family.
I appreciated his quick response with an icebag for a slight burn. And he knew how to make the trip enjoyable ('sparklers anyone?'...it's been years since we've used fireworks.) George says his fondest memory is laying in our tent at night, while listening to all the youth and their friends laughing, storytelling, and recalling their memories growing up.
Taraz and Megan brought two birthday cakes - a carrot cake and a German chocolate cake, and we opened gifts and celebrated 6 birthdays in May.
Ruhiyyih brought a bag of balloons, and fortunately no one camped near us as we inflated them and played volleyball - over the campfire. Everyone of those eventually popped in the fire, with a scattering of sparks and ashes. And leave it up to someone, Rue.....he inserted a tiny firecracker in the last one, warned everyone to step back, and the evening ended with a loud 'bang'.
And, this last photo is of me, videotaping the balloon fragments in the fire, all of which had to be picked up, so we left the campsite clean - as we found it. Not a bottlecap, twist-tie, sparkler wire, or piece of food was left at our site - I raked it clean.
