Green Mountain.

This is how we do things.

Last night, after the kids went to bed, but before, obviously, we went to bed, Sarah says she wants to do something today.  It was past time for a hike.


So, she selected one from her previously researched file and we went to Green Mountain today.

OK, so she may have mentioned wanting to do this hike before, but we hadn't done it yet for one reason or another.  Anyway, today was the day.

Green Mountain is the second highest mountain on the Kitsap Peninsula, according to the website we found.

WTA very useful.

They list the hike as 5 miles with 1000 feet of elevation gain.  Not too shabby for the kids.  I printed out the above linked page and we took it with us.  Good thing too.  While the trails are marked, there are several of them winding through the area and it is easy to get crossed up.  We decided to follow the guide and take the Gold Creek trail up and the Plummer Trail/Beaver pond back down.

We started out in the parking lot and hiked through a relatively flat tunnel of berries in various stages of ripe.  We stuck to the salmon berries and the occasional huckle berry.  Tart, but tasty.  The thimbleberries aren't quite there yet.  We will return.  This whole area is just coated in edible berries.  And the flowers...they are awesome.

The berries were a bit picked over, but still plentiful

 

Foxglove I believe.

 

There was plenty of wildlife on hand as well.  Our first character of the day was a red headed woodpecker straight out of the cartoons.

Hu hu hu ha ha.

Yo!

Then we crossed over this nice little bridge and started our ascent in earnest. 

Backpacker Max

Even Satchel got in on the action.

During the climb we ran across these little guys.  Pretty cute.

Oh, Hi!

Please don't eat the snail.

or the huge slug

Another little cutie.

The flowers and plants were still there too.

Michael informed us these were Pine Sap.

None of us knew what these were.

Pretty stinking cool though.

It was mostly forested area, but every once in a while we got a glimpse of some of the scenery through the trees.

The Brothers shrouded in clouds.

Tehouya lake, or something like that.

After a few hours we reached the top.

For the record, I am skipping over much of the frustration of hiking with a couple of kids and a dog.  Satchel is great off leash.  He listens and goes where you want him to.  As soon as the leash is on though, he thinks it is the Iditarod and starts pulling.  I've taught him all sorts of things, but I can't break him of this.

And the kids...as soon as the berries fell behind, they started getting grumpy.  There were 10 or 15 thousand things they would rather be doing.

Tough.

But, we made it to the top.  And it only took a couple of hours.

Pretty clear day.

I think those are Canadian mountains

Look close and you can see a shiny little superbowl trophy.

Then, after a snack and some water, we headed back down the mountain.  We were making really good time until Sarah hurt her ankle and I had to selflessly carry her two miles down the mountain. 


OK, so that last part might have been a slight over dramatization of what really happened.  Maybe.

The way down, we took another trail which promised better views of the Olympic Mountains.

Yet another awesome little as yet unidentified flower.

Mt. Elinore peeking out from the clouds.

The uncertain trail marking left us wondering more than once if we were on the right trail, but we managed to find our way back down in good time.  The kids and dog were pretty beat, but none the worse for wear.  Sarah's ankle improved enough that she was back in form before too long.  It was a good enjoyable hike.

Trees are so awesome.

The trail continues.