September, 2025
Even when I’m staying in a campground that I’ve been to before, during the first day or two of my visit, I always take a walk through the campground, just to see what’s what, and who’s who, and keep my eyes peeled for a wonderful campsite for future use.
I love the Wynoochee campground. I love the trees and the moss and the birds and understory plants of the Pacific Northwest. The air here smells so rich and fresh.
There are paths throughout this campground (and surrounding it as well), but sometimes I just had to venture off the path (I know … I’m not supposed to do that!), but sometimes I just had to. In the photo below, I was simply taking a photo of the area, but then I noticed the end of a log in about the middle of the photo. What are those white dots on it?
So, yes, I sneaked off the path walked most of the way over to that log. Those white dots are some sort of fungus or mold? Do any of you readers know?
Then I scurried back to the path! Oh my word it’s so beautiful here. And so quiet. Yes, I could hear some little bits of noise from other campers, but not much. The forest in these photos is inside the campground, in a forested area that is in between the campsites. The National Forest Service did such a glorious job of creating a campground AND leaving the wildness intact.
Ah, but do you see the stump in the photo above, right in the middle? Ok, that drew me off the path again, just to get the photo below. But this time I stopped about half way to the stump and just zoomed in for the photo below.
More little beings, portions of life, lichen, algae, fungi?
I got back on the paved path, and this time I stayed on it! No more straying!
Eventually that path led all the way through the forest (it was a long path) inside the campground, and eventually it ended at a spot where it connected with the blacktop campground road, and then I just walked around the roadway perimeter of the campground. I like to see how other people camp, though I don’t take many photos of that because it might be intrusive. I’m also looking for future campsites. And gosh did I find some on this walk-about! Let me show you photos of my favorites … private, wooded, quiet campsites all of them. Each photo below is of a different campsite. I would (or wood) be happy to be camped in any of them.
Starting with the campsite above, this one above and the ones below all have a bit of view through the trees to Lake Wynoochee.
Just after I walked past the campsite above, with the fiberglass Oliver brand trailer in it (very similar to my Escape fiberglass trailer), I happened to turn my head to the left to stretch my neck and … whoa, who’s that through the trees over there? Why that’s Towhee the Trailer and the big white truck. 🙂
And then I kept walking around the blacktop road circle.
The campsite below, #34, is my absolute favorite. I’ve tried to reserve it, but I never find it empty for a full 5 or 6 days in a row. Everyone else loves it too. You can see why. It’s private, and it has a gorgeous view of the lake.
Besides the view down to the lake, this campsite has a view to the north, to the mountains, up into a bit of the Olympic Mountains.
I left that campsite and continued walking. Here below is a 5-minute video of my walk from that campsite in the photo above and then on around the last of that northern most part of the campground. Turn your sound on so you can hear the squirrels and the birds. 🙂
And then I was back home at my campsite.
By that point, it was late in the afternoon and I figured my day was done. It was not! The last two photos below will give you a clue of what transpired right outside my trailer door. I’ll show you more in a future blog post. This fellow was an acrobat!
What a great walk. With our energy alongside you, the next time you log in and try to reserve that favorite campsite, you will! 🙂
Thanks Judy! 🙂
Looks like white fungus to me, those white blobs. But those other things on the other tree don’t look the same. Thanks for walking off the path to get those photos. You will be forgiven. 🙂
White fungus, cool. And thank you for the forgiveness. 🙂
I’ve hiked that country in the southern Olympic Mountains lots of times. It is beautiful. You’ve been there twice, late in the summer. I’d suggest you go in spring when the rivers are running and the lakes are full. I don’t have a clue what the white dot things are or the other things on that other stump are. You have a kayak, right? Get out on that Wynoochee lake in the spring, you’ll love it.
You words are well said, Steve. You will see in my next blog post that I thought about kayaking on Lake Wynoochee and decided that would not be good. Here’s to a spring camping trip to Wynoochee, just as you suggest. Thank you!
Here in New Mexico we have lots of campgrounds too, but they aren’t forested like yours are. And so there is not much privacy between campsites here. The campground where you are is so lucious, so gorgeous, so rich.
Well, you sure do have forests in New Mexico, but maybe not the billions of acres of them that we have here with all of the understory plants here that you can’t even walk through because they are so thick. Still, I’d love to see new Mexico. Thanks Shawn. 🙂
Great campsites! Best we’ve ever seen for privacy and natural beauty. Looking forward to that little fellow’s shenanigans.
Shenanigans will be forthcoming. 🙂
Checkin’ out the neighbors, how cool. 🙂 I bet lots of people envy your rig, your trailer and your truck, when they walk around the campground. It’s handsome and you obviously take really good care of it.
Thank you Greg. What a nice comment. I’d like to think that other camper folk appreciate my rig, but I never thought about them having “envy” for my rig. But maybe they do. 🙂 Makes me smile.
Campsite #34 is yours! Next time you want it, it will be available. Every one of us here will create the open availability for it in your universe. We are powerful. 🙂
Oh my, I’m impressed with your power June, all of you! And grateful. Thank you June. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂
Looking forward to the adventures of that squirrel. It’s a Douglas Squirrel yes? We see them up here in BC, Canada, too. And, no, we STILL have not been to the Coho Campground on Lake Wynoochee, but we sure do need to go there. Maybe we’ll be in campsite #36, right next to you. 🙂
Jim
Douglas Squirrel, yes! And I’d love to have you folks as my camping neighbors, any time, just as we are neighbors across the border. Let’s make it a “kind” border, yes? My best to you and Janey.
The camp spots are so cosy, very special. We enjoyed your walk. It is such a nice thing we look forward to at Sunday evening. Many thanks.
Henry, your comments are always so kind and so much fun. You are welcome here always, you and your pals.
Looking forward to that squirrel story. 🙂
Lovely campsites.
Squirrel story will be coming soon, stay posted! 🙂 Thanks Lisa.
Oh, you’ve got me day-dreaming about the places we’ve camped, and wanting to dp sp again! But I can’t recall a campground with such spread out campsites, and such mature forest.
Thinking back and remembering are great aren’t they? One of the reasons I produce this blog is so that I can read back and remember my own trips later in life, which is coming up one of these days, I’m 77. And yes, those campsites were spectacularly arranged by someone who obviously was a camper. Here’s to good memories, FG, always. 🙂