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One morning in late December, while the kids were on winter break from school, we got a group of friends together for a hiking adventure. I was feeling like exploring a new place, so I searched on the internet for some ideas. A place near Florence called the Enchanted Valley, caught my imagination. I was familiar with the Enchanted Valley up the Quinault River in the Olympic National Park near where I grew up, and knew that to be a spectacular place. This hike sounded very mellow and well suited for the younger children we had along, plus there was promise of abundant wildlife viewing as reports from other hikers included elk, coyote and black bear. All that aside, any place with such a name must be worth exploring, so we shared a hearty breakfast at my house and set off.
From Florence we drove up the road beyond Mercer lake and pulled into a turnaround at a gate across the road at the edge of a grassy valley with a creek meandering through the middle. The trail followed an old dirt road along the edge of the valley with a series of footbridges crossing the small streams flowing through. Already we saw elk tracks and scat everywhere and the children got out their pocket track ID books and confirmed their recent presence.
After walking for a while, we came to a larger footbridge crossing the creek and the path moved to another grassy road in the forest along the North edge of the Valley. Aside from one house perched atop the ridgeline back by the parking area, there were no other signs of development. The old road itself, the bridges, some planted trees and riparian restoration plantings were the only indications we were not actually out in the wilderness. I had read that this was a small settlement of homesteads long ago, and we observed some old gnarled fruit trees in the little fingers of valley that we crossed as they reached up into the hills. We hiked through mossy maples, Douglas-fir, Sitka spruce and bracken fern following a smaller stream along the edge of the Enchanted Valley, and saw red bellied newts in the little pools of water that collected from the rains. One of our friends found several owl pellets under a great spruce tree, much to the excitement of the children. Because we had little ones along, our pace was very slow and relaxed, and the downpour after our picnic lunch out in the meadow sent us heading back home.
I was still curious about following this valley to it's end, so our family returned a few weeks later to see where the path might lead. We hiked along observing birds nests in the bare salmonberry branches and saw several pairs of mating newts. About 2 miles in the valley came to a head at a beautiful little gravelly bar by Bailey creek, where we saw a great blue heron fly off, and found succulent green miner's lettuce and chickweed growing along the bank which we happily snacked on. The road continued here up along the hillside above the creek, and we followed it a ways, but decided to save it for another day. We were feeling intrigued about the side valleys and streams for future explorations as well.
I was impressed with this place as a lovely, serene, year-round hike that is very accessible and easy for young children. It would be a good place to come and spend an entire day exploring, picnicking, and playing outside. It's an invigorating feeling to find a place outside that intrigues you, promising hidden and mysterious places to explore, and giving your imagination somewhere to wander in times of boredom, washing dishes or doing a mundane task. It's a feeling reminiscent of childhood, when you and your friends planned to go on a great adventure, exploring a creek bottom or maybe a vacant overgrown lot in town. I'm delighted to see that same spark in my children's eyes as they shout gleefully and run up a little side valley to see where that little stream is coming from. Does it go on forever? What may be found at it's headwaters? The vastness of forests and the wilds is an important awareness in a child's consciousness. Given the sense that there are these vast places to be explored, the imagination may open to horizons and cultivate dreams that carry us far in the world.
For directions and more information on this hike, here is the link to the hiking page I came across: www.localhikes.com/Hikes/EnchantedValley_2400.asp
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