Cold, Wet And Windy

I just got back from a "senior" CP staff retreat that was held at Forks, WA.  This small town sits on the northwest portion of the Olympic Peninsula and personally greets each Pacific storm as it comes on to Washington shores.  It is also the fictional home of a group of vampires and werewolves that were made famous in the Twilight movie series (although they never filmed any of the movies in Forks).  From what the folks we stayed with said, the author found their town on line when searching for the "wettest" city in the United States and came across their small community.  Apparently many of the landmarks mentioned in the book are actual places in the city, but none of the them were used for the film.  The director for the first movie came out and scouted the place but they chose areas around southwest Washington as stand ins for their town.  I think the director came out and found that it was too wet and there was no places for their cast (who probably had particular needs) to stay that would be suitable.  Regardless, the locals have definitely made the most of this small mention of stardom.

First, I am happy to say that no steel head or elk were harmed during our attempts to hunt and fish.  The first few days were cold but beautiful; one day had absolutely no clouds in the sky, however that ended quickly on Friday.  I was awoken by the sound of a downpour early that morning which really did not stop until late that afternoon.  The rain wasn't as bad until the wind starting sending the moisture to every uncovered part of your body.  Despite that, the countryside was beautiful and the days very relaxing.  I had a chance to reacquaint myself with the Queets, Hoh, Sol Duc and Bogachiel rivers.  The first few days they were crystal clear and running at the right height.  Unfortunately the rain changed all of that.  All in all the trip and discussions were quite good......the only problem was that we ate way too much each day.

During my youth, I used to camp quite a bit all around the Olympic Peninsula but stayed pretty much on the eastern side, closer to camp.  One of the hikes I always enjoyed that would deposit me on the west side was going over Anderson Pass and down into the Enchanted Valley.  It is a beautiful, down sloping hike that made the last day or two of an outing that much more enjoyable.  Hiking up the Hoh was the same way, a very nice hike with a gradual incline (mostly) through the rain forest.  That was when I remembered one of the reasons I stuck to the east side more........with a rain forest comes, yes, rain.  We probably should offer some hikes on that side of the peninsula however the drive time really puts you off.  It is about a two hour journey from camp to Forks plus the time needed to go up to the trail head.  That is a long round trip drive....even worse when you pick the crew up after they have been on a long, hot hike and have an aversion to bathing during their trip and you have the dubious pleasure of a two hour drive with them in your car.  Not for the faint hearted I will tell you.

When dusk came each day we would huddle around the campfire and tell bold lies.  One of the things we mentioned was that the dining hall planning has been so much of a distraction that we haven't really begun planning the 2012 season.  Applications will soon be mailed to previous staff, CIT's and those who legibly wrote their name on the info sheet.  Once again we are starting with a "clean slate" with only ideas of what we want and where.  There are a few "definites".........which may or may not involve personnel.  Regardless, it will be a good season once again given the individuals that I know will return.....regardless of what position they have. 

As the evening wore on so did the fire and eventually we did what we always do.....headed into Ken's cousin's entertainment room and watched football on a HD large screen TV.  Camping should always be this good.