April 23, 2018

Green River Natural Area WA

I hope I don’t disappoint all of you who expressed excitement at wanting to read about our first RVenture in the new rig, but it’s going to be a little while yet. There are things we need to get done prior to more traveling and other life stuff taking up our time right now, so it may be July before we’re able to take our first real trip. Never fear! We will still be getting out and about and virtually dragging you with us. Your relief is immense, I would imagine.

Scrolling back through the blog, I see that we haven’t gotten our boots on the ground properly since our family trip to Oregon almost a month ago. Sure, the capybaras were well worth a hiking sacrifice, and buying an RV takes up a stupid amount of time, but Spring is actually springing around here, and it was high time to trek.

For some reason, many of us adventurer types get it into our heads that we have to go farther, faster, and higher for an outing to “count,” but when we constrain ourselves that way, we might miss great opportunities in our own backyards.

TBGuide sticks to the plan.

This place is only about 20 minutes from our house, yet we had never been there.

Chartreuse buds cover the trees.

The area is bisected by a wide gravel service road. It used to be three smaller park areas that are now all connected with several trails that meet up with this road. The trails were lined with beautiful Trillium and Bleeding Hearts. 
 
Pacific Wren
 
The songbirds filled the forest with their melodies.

TLGeneral gives marching orders.

The trails were well-signed and maintained. We encountered several horseback riders and a handful of other hikers, but everyone was pretty spread out, and it was far from crowded. There were tiny waterfalls, snails, and garter snakes, all signs of Spring for sure. 

We came upon a literal board game -- a checkers board carved onto the top of a tree stump with rocks as pieces. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to enhance it with a Festone, not one of my originals, but one that has traveled all the way from Surprize, AZ. Love wins!

The pathways offered a good mix of covered and more open sections, and it was not just a stroll but provided an overall gain of 1000’. Harbingers of the bears to come!

Green River

The name of the area isn’t kidding, and there are many places along the trails that either overlook or directly access the Green River. We made special note of this spot, which would make an awesome place for wading on a hot summer day.

Bridge #3

One of the trails is named Three Bridges, although it has four, and all of them are prettier than the one in this picture, so I’m not sure why this is the only bridge picture we took.

Unexpected!

The service road terminates at this delightful park area along the river, with at least one bench, picnic table, and Honeybucket.

Local Yokels.

We were very pleasantly surprised to find such a beautiful area so close to home, where we were able to log 7.39 miles.  Even so, there were a few spur trails we didn’t get to, and we will no doubt return over the summer.

Bonus Words! 

I have named the new RV, and I am so enthralled with my foresight and cleverness, that I must share it with you so that you can validate and praise me. Before I tell you what it is, though, I must say that I find the actual name of the RV “Dutch Star” quite lame. What does that even mean? Our other RV (which is for sale, by the way, if you’re in the market) a Chinook Destiny, we called Arvie, which is a little clever, kind of stupid, but she was our destiny. Dutch Star, though. Jeez.

I have a notebook in which I keep notes (duh) of all sorts of words and phrases and songs and every little thing that relates to our RV/hiking lifestyle. It includes a list of potential RV names because of course it does. Follow me now: We chase dirt i.e. we search it out. The RV is an engine-powered way to search out dirt. Ergo, it is a Search Engine, and I’ve had that name written down for a long time.

Search Engine = S.E. = Essie

And the name Essie just so happens to mean Star.

Boom.