My Visit to Forks

After I decided to move, I put in my two weeks notice and planned another trip to Washington to spend some time with Jake. 

I flew into Seattle and spent the afternoon with Steph (my bike riding buddy). We had clam chowder, walked through Pikes Place and spent some quality time together in the city. 

Clam Chowder!

Gum wall at Pike's Place

I then took 3 buses to finally meet up with Jake in Port Townsend, about a two hour drive from Forks. I was so exhausted that night and it was raining so badly that I just called it a night. Jake had to work the next couple days so I just spent some time seeing Forks and applying for jobs.
That evening we went out to first beach (It's in the twilight books). It's a beautiful place on the Quileute (kway-lute) Reservation. 

First Beach

Twilight Central. This is a real place.

The City of Forks DOES welcome me! Such a small place, but beautiful!

Building a sand castle on First Beach

We spent the 4th of July on First Beach with some of Jake's friends from Portland. We barbequed and watched the longest firework show of my life. The next morning we headed to the Hoh River to Third Beach Backpacking Trail.

Hoh River meets the Pacific Ocean.

This trip was amazing. It was 17 strenuous miles on the Pacific Coast. We waded through mud for miles, were soaking wet but had beautiful weather. I've never hiked anywhere like it. 

We had numerous overland passes where we had to either climb muddy cliff faces or skid down dirt paths. It was really hard, but amazing!

Our campsites had incredible views. Our second night was spend right by these sweet tide pools and sea caves. We saw all kinds of cool creatures including anemones and sea stars.

We had awesome fires, great food and great company. This backpacking trip may have made it into my top 10 trips! 

After the trip we got back to Forks and Jake had to go back to work. I spent time hanging around the city and applying for jobs. It was a great vacation and I'm really glad I got to go up there this summer.