Forest and Fish in Friendly Schafer State Park, WA

We spent four fun days in Schafer State Park, near Elma, WA.  It is a small park on the Satsop River (middle fork), with five water and electric (50 amp), reservable sites. There are a dozen dry camp sites that will accommodate from 25-35 foot rigs, and about the same number for tents. A large, well laid out, group site backs up to private property in the very back of the campground. There is one bathhouse (the rock walls are very cool) with two toilet and one shower (quarters) stalls for each gender. Wifi worked most of the time - the hookup sites are next to the office.

Several decent size sites, this is #17

We had #U3 in the trees

It was a big site, that's our fire ring and table

The entrance signs on both sides of the street are confusing and I made a left when the campground was on the right. Made the mistake of unhooking the Jeep there as we had to hook it up again to drive into the campground without paying $10 for a second vehicle. Rules are rules.

Oops

I chose the location for access to the river and was disappointed when I saw the water was very low. Fortunately Bill had a successful fishing day and I was immediately happy with my choice! Of course maybe it was because I stayed home that day and reorganized cupboards and found a few things I had been "looking for" - sometimes fishing is better done solitary :-).

The camp hosts were very friendly, nearly always available to answer questions or just for a chat. There were a couple rigs that looked like they were set up for a lengthy stay with two very cute kids. Seeing them running around in the evening - one in bare feet and the other in footed-pajamas - made me smile at how lucky they are to be playing in the wilderness. Other folks came and went, always with a smile and a warm hello. You got the feeling that many of them come here often, and love it.

But the real draw is the setting. The forest is beautiful, full of tall pines and big trees that looked like maples but are probably something else. I should have asked the host, but never remembered.  Lots of nearly-ripe berries lined every path and the sides of the river.  The sound of the low river running over the rocks was magical, I loved walking along the banks just to listen. No wildlife other than a few crow and the visiting bee who wanted to stowaway on departure day.

I loved the trail beside the river

Thick moss grows on many of the trees

I loved the blue peaking through the canopy over our patio

Perfect for after-dinner walks

Although we loved it at Schafer we decided to change our plans at the last minute and head into Shelton for one night before continuing to Hoodsport where we had our next reservations. Figured we could do some stock-up shopping and maybe try fishing in Lake Isabella. It was Thursday, surely the little casino RV park would have an opening, we don't need to worry about calling.

Uh,huh. Nope.

As others have experienced, Plan C is often better than B, and that was the case today. When the casino had no place for us I called to see if we could arrive a day early in Hoodsport. Of course! Nobody in our site, come on up :-) We can drive back to Shelton for groceries if necessary.

We're at Glen Ayr Resort with another OMG view, this time of Hood Canal.  Tomorrow we will go see what we can see :-)

From our front window, Hoodsport, WA