Upper Dungeness River — Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017

My intention today was to hike to Royal Basin.  I did it about 25 years ago with my daughter and had always wanted to go back but no one wants to hike 14 miles with me.    However I had my dog with me today and had forgotten that Royal Basin was  in the Park.  So once I got on the trail I had to change destinations and went to Camp Handy instead.       I met two forest rangers going up to Camp Handy to put out a campfire that apparently needed some attention.   The sun came out shortly after I arrived, and it was a beautiful day.  The water is so crystal clear and it is fun that most of the way it follows the river.  When I arrived at Camp Handy no one was there and I had a nice lunch in the sun.  After lunch 4 people came and ate their lunch and I left.  I met quite a few people coming up the trail, most of them backpackers.  one couple had come from Bend, OR to escape the smoke.  They said the smoke was so bad they couldn't keep it out of their house with all the windows closed.  Some of their favorite hiking trails were closed and other places were just totally burned.  How sad.  There were about 20 cars in the big parking lot and 11 in the smaller parking area.  This is the most cars I have seen here.  I wonder if part of it has to do with the Labor Day weekend.  It was a lovely day and maybe sometime I will get to Royal Basin without my dog......