Memorial Weekend. Rained on Saturday, so worked on cleaning my studio. Sunday 5/26, drove out to Quinault Lodge, had lunch on their lawn chairs. The lodge was fully booked this weekend. Beautiful property on the south shore of Quinault Lake. Pleasant scenery.
The hike starts at the Graves Creek campground. A lot of cars parked along the road. The ranger who issued permit told us that there were 150 cars parked last night (Saturday)! It's long: 13 miles one way. Lots of small ups and downs, mostly follow the Quinault River. 
Trees are big and mossy. The trail is in excellent condition. A few muddy spots. Saw one bear in a meadow a couple of miles before reaching Enchanted Valley. Along the way, there were a couple of camping areas. 
At Enchanted Valley, there were many tents. Totally different from 9 years ago, when we visited this valley, saw maybe 2 tents. Quite of few sites had fire going. I'm not a fan of smoke. The only time I'd bother with a campfire is when it's cold. The ranger, who was cooking her dinner, comfortably sitting on her chair, checked our permit and my bear can.Thanks to one camper, we found a more or less secluded spot further down the trail (closer to TH, away from most of the smoke), with the view of the waterfalls across the river. A beautiful place to call home for just one night.
Bright stars at night on the narrow slice of the sky.5/27, Monday. Sunny turned to cloudy. Hiking out was straightforward. Didn't see the bear of yesterday. Maybe half of the cars of yesterday. Woodland flowers like bunchberry, yellow violet are prolific. Vanilla leaf were flowering. Some columbine, Scouler's corydalis, only ~5 trillium.
Driving back had 1 hour of delay due to accident around Olympia.
