Day 13, You Can't Rain on Our Hike

Any of you who know Denis, knows that he can be particular about how some things are done. One of those is coffee. This means grinding the beans after the water is ready. This usually works since we travel with the coffee grinder but this morning, we were without electric power and I had forgotten to pre-grind the beans when we left the last campsite (this is permissible). So, that meant we’d be having coffee out in Joyce.

Before breakfast, Denis wanted to explore the area so we drove part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca Scenic Highway that we hadn't seen yet. It was lovely. We found a park that is geaed toward off road vehicles and 4x4s with a number of approved trails

We went to Blackberry Cafe, a small local breakfast and lunch place. Right now, it is especially nice to patronize small establishments that have managed to remain open despite the challenges. We were one of only a few occupied tables. Hopefully, they are busier on weekends. Denis had homemade biscuits and gravy. His southern upbringing makes this a favorite when he sees it on the menu and this version met his approval.

From there, we went to one of only a handful of places in Joyce, the Joyce General Store. We'd read that it has pretty much everything. We can attest to that. We spent a some time wondering how often they sell some of the items but I guess if there isn't another store close by, it is great to have this one here.

The rain played hide and seek with us all day and we finally decided we weren't in to trying to wait it out, besides we'd brought raingear so we headed to the Olympic National Forest and the Spruce Railroad Trail. The especially nice thing in this weather is the rail trail is paved. It is a 11.5 mile out and back. The local library sponsors Poetry Walks at five of the Olympic National Forest trails. This is one of them with a number of poems in the first mile. It was raining a bit harder on the way out so we only stopped to read a few, but caught up on the way back.

We went out a little over 2 miles before the wet and cold were enough to turn us around. There is a dirt path along the lake for part of the route that we took on the way back.