"...and sometimes we go hiking."

We don't only busy ourselves with rock climbing; in fact, sometimes we even seek out hiking as our weekend activity.

Over this past weekend (our weekend actually began on Thursday), Lindsay, Mabes and I drove 2 hours out to the Olympic National Forest for a few days of sunny weather, high altitude, hot springs and hiking. Our first foray into the wilderness of the Olympics found us atop Mount Townsend after 4 hours and 10.5 miles of steady uphillin' it. Graced with 360 degree vistas of Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Seattle and the Olympics, but bothered by hunger and heat, we hurriedly raced down the loose switchbacks in half the time in search of food.

That night, we camped out in quiet campground about a 5 miles within the National Forest boundary. Mabel was out like a light, but Lindsay and I seemed to be a little restless due to the gravel surface we were sleeping on, the heat Mabel was generating inside the tent, and the residual energy from the days hike.

The following day, we opted for a much shorter hike (5 miles) out an old logging road to the Olympic Hot springs. Before we knew it, our bodies were soaking in a 126 degree sulfur pool perched at the zenith of an old landslide. We ran into some nice folks that gave us the lowdown on the hot springs, fed us smoked gouda and oranges, as well as sharing the beta on the mother of all hot springs located in Death Valley.

Mabel, unfortunately, had to wait in the car for the few hours we were gone, which we feared would turn into a catastrophe. Nothing was eaten or ruined in the car when we got back, though...whew!

On Saturday, we did go rock climbing at a local spot called Amazonia. Covered by the canopy of the thick, old growth forest on the southern side of Mount Washington, this gently over-hanging crag was the perfect choice for a quiet day in the woods. By mid afternoon, we were getting hungry, so we safely sped back to town, got changed, and hit a local Irish pub for some shepherds pie and cornbeef sandwiches.

Check out the slideshow from the Olympics and check for updates this week! Ciao for now.