Hike 10: Skokomish river North Fork

To carry us into the double-digits in our quest for 52 hikes, is the second dad to go hiking with us, and my friend since High School, Justin Wahlborg! Justin’s beautiful family was kind enough to invite us to Emily’s parent’s summer home on the Hood Canal! Your hospitality and crock-pot ribs are legendary!

Zack, Emily, Oliver, and Justin Wahlborg

Justin and I, unfortunately, have something in common: both of our dads passed away from cancer at an early age. In 2004, we lost Justin’s dad, Quentin Wahlborg, to lung cancer. This is yet another great friend that cancer has taken. Even more motivation to destroy this thing, and wreak vengeance on this Enemy. Quentin, this hike is dedicated to you, my friend.

For this hike, we did a 2 mile loop on the north fork of the Skokomish. This was an amazing trek that led us through a wonderful mossy area of the Olympic Peninsula, and actually took us into the snow line.

The Skokomish river with snow in the foothills

As you can see below, I am masked up…these are strange times we live in; Brook was exposed to COVID-19 in the hospital, so we are taking lots of precautions to make sure that our friends are not at risk. It was a very low risk exposure, but protecting our friends is a priority. We of course had conversations with them beforehand to make sure it was okay for us to still come over. Being forthcoming, honest, and transparent about potential exposure is critical in these times. Anyway, back to the fun stuff!

Brook and Patrick taking a maskless selfie, 6 feet away from our hiking buddies

The peninsula has always been my favorite mountain range; due to all the rainfall this peninsula gets, it looks like something out of Lord of the Rings, verdant with life, even in the winter.

The first thing we saw on the trail was a massive toppled tree, where the roots were exposed, and the tree itself is hollow; a perfect jungle gym for Justin and Emily’s kids, Zack and Oliver!

The path follows the river, with lots of turnouts for playing and fishing along the bank.

Zack and Ollie throwing rocks in the water on the riverbank

Eventually, we reach a beautiful bridge with stunning views of the snowy mountains, followed by a smaller bridge downriver.

Near the end of the hike, we reach a beautiful lookout, where the path comes to an abrupt edge. After taking a couple pictures, we realize just how precarious this position is, and back slowly away.

Finally, I have been looking for this picture for a while, and Justin was kind enough to scan and send this to me…this is our group of friends in 1997. That’s me on the left, followed by Steve, Sam (from Hike 8!), Bear, Justin, and Chad. In the background is a photoshopped picture of Eilean Donan Castle, which was the set for the Scottish portions of the movie Highlander. Someday I will get to that castle. This movie was, and is, one of our favorite movies of all time. It’s too bad they never made any sequels…hey, it’s my Truth, and I’m sticking to it!