HWY 12 | Love, Laughter, and Life

July 22, 2023
by Angie 10 Comments

Well. That Road Didn’t End Up Where We Thought It Would.

Last week my honey took me rock hunting. I have a thing about rocks. We thought we would explore a dirt road up in the mountains, one that required the 4×4. Packed a picnic lunch and off we went. According to what we “thought” our daughter had said (a regular off-roader), the road ended up in Cowiche.

It was a hot but gorgeous day. So very dry everywhere (except where the wildland firefighters had just finished putting out a fire-we met them on their way back down the one-lane dirt road!). The desert needs some rain!

We stopped off for our picnic lunch in the shade of huge pine trees. We “thought” we were well on our way to the other end of this road. Hahahahahaha The joke was on us!

The dirt road, complete with rocks, potholes, and 4×4 climbing options, kept going up. We’d hit the top of a hill, think we were as high as we were going, have beautiful views across the top of the hill, dip down for 100 feet, then head straight back up. When we saw Mt. Rainier off in the distance, we knew our expectations were not correct.

So. Maybe the road ended up out in Tampico, way out west from where we live. But there was no sign of any going down. Just up, up, west, up, up, up. We resigned ourselves to get home really late.

Regardless of the long distance, heat, and dust, we had exceptional views. For a hot day in July, I was amazed at how many wildflowers were still in bloom.

And good thing for us, there were two cell towers! Way out in the middle of nothing. I finally decided to just call the daughter. “Where are we going to come out? Where are we?”

And after some thinking, she finally figured it out-just as we pulled off to look out over a valley with what we suspected was Rimrock lake, AND Mt. Rainier, she said, “Oh, that’s probably Jump Off Joe. There should be an old building you can go in.”

I looked right, and there it was, a bit further up the road on a different rock spur. Wow! Jump Off Joe (named for obviously sad reasons) is an old fire lookout tower. Pretty creaky if you go inside, and I was walking careful! But the views are fantastic!

Note: I googled this once we got home, and it is listed as Jumpoff Lookout. You can find it here: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/jumpoff-joe-lookout

Also. We did not hike it. We thought we were driving a through road. Nope. We had to turn around and drive back down, between 12-13 miles from Highway 12. The hike is only 10 miles RT, but also. You have to work it to finish that hike! The only other people we saw were the firefighters, dirt bikers, and a group of 8 women driving their 8 Subarus on adventure (the guest book signature said that). We figured it out as they flew past us kicking up clouds of fine dust.

Look at that view, both the handsome guy and Mt. Rainier. Just beyond the lookout is a very steep drop-off. Definitely keep track of small children in this area.

Rimrock Lake and Mt. Rainier. No wonder the mountain kept getting so close! This is not Cowiche OR Tampico.

It took us about an hour and a half to drive back down the road, using first and second gear. But we stopped at the Tieton River so I could stand in the cool water. Ahhhh.

Next time we go rock hunting, I will talk with Chelsie first. Just to make sure.

April 10, 2022
by Angie 2 Comments

Sunday Inspiration

Photo by Angie Quantrell

Tieton River Nature Trail, Pacific Northwest

April 4, 2022
by Angie Leave a comment

Hiking: Tieton River Nature Trail

After church on Sunday, we dug out our hiking boots, backpack, and hats and drove up to the Tieton River Nature Trail. From Yakima, it’s a pretty quick drive, just a few miles up Highway 12 after the road splits into Hwy 410 and Hwy 12. We parked across from the Oak Creek Feeding Station (Discover Pass required).

For a first time out hiking this year, it was excellent. Not too much elevation gain, and the trail was mostly smooth but quite dusty. There are rocks and roots to watch for in a few sections, but overall the trail is in great shape. The canyon scenery was gorgeous, with the Tieton River rocking and rolling, and blue skies interspersed with puffy white clouds.

Now is the time to go! Spring wildflowers are peeking out! And, my personal favorite, the grass is barely greening and shooting up, so there is less tall grass to rub up against my legs and give me ticks! Cheatgrass is not an issue if you stay on the trail. Yuck.

Sunblock was a necessity, as usual. I’m not a huge fan of hiking into the wind, but it kept us cool. When the wind died down on certain sections due to canyon topography and stands of trees, it was quite warm.

We did not do the entire hike since we started out later in the day. We hiked over the first bridge near the feeding station and walked the trail past the quonset hut (it’s visible across the river) to the foot bridge. Whee! That was fun. I’m definitely a two-hands-holding-on type of person. And a one-person-at-a-time hiker. Lots of swinging and swaying. The metal bridge is pretty slippery on the southern end just as you get on, so beware that section.

We found a beaver-gnawed tree, saw and heard squabbling blue jays, watched an eagle soar up above the canyon walls, marveled at a group of rock climbers, enjoyed a tiny nut hutch scrambling up a tree (best guess), and wondered who left the plentiful berry-filled scat (and watched carefully in case we found the culprit). One bumblebee and a few flying insects rounded out our wildlife sightings.