OCT 30, 2015 – I visited my friend Sonia in Seattle for a few days. We went hiking on the Olympic Peninsula for three days, and were relatively lucky with the weather – it was raining less than half of the time. At the end of a two-day loop hike near Elwha, leading us to Happy Lake and Boulder Lake, we came to a group of hot springs. Taking a bath in the natural stone pools was a great reward, and it felt special to walk around in the autumn landscape in a swimsuit to look for more hot ponds along the trail. We then drove to a campground near Forks and hiked along Bogachiel River the following day. The forest there was much more humid and full of chanterelle mushrooms, of which we picked a pound – luckily this area is not part of the National Park. On the way back to Seattle, we visited Port Townsend, a hippie town along the coast with a nice historical center. I then spent the last three days in Seattle and went to visit Marisa and Sam, whom I hadn’t seen since my last US trip. Today I am heading to Sandpoint, Idaho, where I will do more hiking with my friend Ryan. I probably won’t have any Internet access in the next ten days, so please be patient for the next update!