During a recent trip to Washington, my husband and I were lucky enough to hike a small part of the Olympic National Forest. We each brought day backpacks that we had preloaded with many of the items on our checklist including a compass, flashlight, maps, matches, sunscreen, a trash bag, rain poncho and wet wipes. Other items were packed in our suitcase for the trip and these items, which included our camera, binoculars, pocketknife and hats, were transferred over to the packs. We brought our checklist with us so that we didn’t forget anything. After stopping at the visitor’s center we headed out with the Olympic Hot Springs as a goal. Our hike took us over 2 miles into the forest arriving at the hot springs in time for lunch, which we enjoyed while soaking our feet in the toasty mineral springs.