Mountains, Rain Forests, Beaches: The Amazing Variety of Olympic National Park

You're going on a hike ... Mountains or Beaches ... what would you choose?

Let's add another option ... Rain Forest. What would be your choice?? 

They all look fun ... Are you having trouble deciding?? Well then, may I suggest a visit to Olympic National Park, a biologically diverse park located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Each day treated us to an amazing variety of beautiful sights!

First Up: Hurricane Ridge

 

From our campground at Salt Creek Recreational Area, we drove to Port Angeles and up the mountain roads to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. As we are finding out when we visit more national parks, it is best for a larger vehicle like ours to plan on arriving before 9 am. We then are able to snag a parking spot and enjoy a gorgeous view along with our morning coffee. The parking lots and trails usually fill up by 11 am, so it is good (especially now) to be ahead of the crowds.

Mornings in the mountains can also be a bit chilly, but it is nice to be able to pull out our down jackets and for a moment just pretend that we are heading for the ski hills. There were a few short trails around the Visitor Center that gave us ''international views'' as we looked across the water towards Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

After it warmed up, we walked up the road to find the Hurricane Hill Trail. This is a 1.5 mile out and back paved trail that gave us wonderful views of Mount Olympus on one side ...

... and the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canada on the other side. 

Because this trail is paved, I enjoyed the bonus benefit of being able to take in all the gorgeous vistas that surrounded us on the way up and down without worrying about rocks or tree roots ready to trip me up.

No hiking stick or careful navigation of the trail needed today ... Just enjoy the views!

Next Up: Railto Beach and Mora Campground

The next day we continued our journey along ''the 101'' to the beaches that line the western border of Olympic National Park. At first sight, I was a bit surprised by all the driftwood that lies on the beach for as far as I could see. Not just small pieces, but HUGE trees that have toppled down to become a favorite piece of art on the beach.

We enjoyed a long walk down the beach,

...past magnificent sea stacks rising from the ocean waters,

... to the Hole-in-the-Rock, a popular cave to explore ... if you get there before high tide. Unfortunately for us, the water was coming up quickly, so we didn't want to risk getting trapped on the other side. Save that RVenture for the next time around.

After enjoying sunset over the Pacific, we headed three miles down the road where we were able to get a site at Mora, a popular national park campground.

Next Up: Hoh Rain Forest

The next morning we drove an hour up towards the interior of the park to Hoh Rain Forest which is one of the largest temperate rain forests in the United States. This area of the Olympic peninsula receives an average of twelve feet of rain a year which supports the growth of the lush rain forest flora. Ferns, mosses, and lichens adorn the tall maple, cedar and pine trees and provide a spectacular hiking and camping experience.

Because this is a very popular destination for day visitors, we tried to avoid the crowds by doing a less popular out and back hike on the Hoh River Trail that afternoon. For the hardy hiker, this trail stretches 17 miles up to the glacier fields of the park. We were happy to hike the relatively flat first few miles along the Hoh River. Each step treated us to more rain forest surprises.

In the evening, the crowds thinned down considerably, so we were able to take our time to explore the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Nature Trail. These loop trails led us under more towering trees and past interesting rain forest formations that seemed to enjoy their ''intermingling''.

This past winter, while in Colombia, I struck up a conversation with a young man who was pursuing his doctorate in fern biology. He was traveling the world to study some of the 10,000+ different types of ferns. At that time, I had a hard time understanding his enthusiasm. But after discovering the unique beauty of just a few varieties of ferns that surrounded us on our visit to the rain forest, I am beginning to understand his passion for ferns. Do you like my new art decor for Baby Beest?

Next Up: Back to the Beach

You have to get there early to snag a ''first come'' site at South Beach Campground. Located on a ridge overlooking a long stretch of deserted beach, it is even more popular this year as more people are turning to camping as their end-of-summer vacation choice. Walking along the beach we found more wooden sculptures that happily doubled as climbing toys,

... including our largest fallen tree encounter up to this point. See Doug up near the top?

Another sunset over the ocean ended our varied journey through Olympic National Park.

In a time when some parts of the park (like Sol Duc Hot Springs) remain closed, there is still a variety of natural beauty to discover at Olympic National Park. What would you choose ... Mountains, Rain Forests, or Beaches??? I am grateful that we didn't have to decide!

From North Cascades to the Islands of Western Washington

After our epic hike near North Cascades National Park, we continued our drive along the Cascade Loop (Highway 20) heading west. We passed and briefly admired some of the other popular sites in this national park. Along the way we ...

... enjoyed the devilish green-blue color of
Diablo Lake,

... hiked under the towering forest
on the Trail of the Cedars.

...stopped for a picture of Gorge Creek
Falls for our waterfall fan, Dave,

... picked the wild blackberries
that are so invasive in the area
that no one bothers to harvest them
(except us),

...and followed the Skagit River as it winds
its way out of the park and
heads towards the Pacific Ocean.

Along with the river, we too found our way to the northern Pacific Ocean as we explored a few of the islands that dot the western coast of Washington State. Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands treated us to beautiful sunsets, great hiking trails, and an up close view of the unique ecosystem of tide pools.

One of the Washington state parks that often makes the ''best of'' lists is Deception Pass State Park. It lies right between these two islands, and I was hopeful to be able to visit it as we passed through. Much to my delight, Doug managed to reserve a campsite (not an easy feat during these last busy days of summer), so we were able to spend a couple of days checking out the natural features that make this park one of the ''best''!

Deception Pass got its ''downer'' of a name from the explorer George Vancouver who felt deceived that the body of water between the two islands was merely a narrow passageway and not a large port like he had hoped it would be. But happily, exploring the park was anything but a downer for us.

We were able to park our ''home'' at the beach area during the day and wait for low tide so that we could walk the beach.

During high tide the water would be well over my head, 

...but during low tide, the water recedes to reveal a wide beach filled with colorful stones that keep both amateur and professional rock collectors busy. We talked with two women who come here often during low tide to sift through the pebbles in search of sea glass that they use to make jewelry. I like to look for heart-shaped stones, but I have to work on finding smaller ones.

Lovely color but just a little too big for my van.

During a park hike to Rosario Beach, we came upon a first for this mid-western girl ... a tide pool. I had to think waaaay back to middle school science class to recall learning about tide pools. And I have to admit that it is a lot more fun to re-learn by experiencing it in person. Tide pools form when rocky areas of shore are exposed during low tide ... revealing a treasure of hardy ocean plants and animals.

Walking along the yellow rope path (shown in the middle of the picture above) helped protect the surrounding area and also allowed us to see anemones, snails, and sea lettuce ... salad, any one?? A state park intern saw us observing the pool and provided us with a wealth of information about the special beauty of these tide pool organisms. In a year when all the informative park ranger programs have been canceled, it was great to be able to learn about the uniqueness of this natural setting ... one-on-one, six feet apart, and with our masks on, of course!  

Nearby, we came upon this future marine biologist. I could have spent hours watching this young fellow bait his homemade trap, catch a crab, play with it for a while, and release it back into the water.  

After driving to the south end of Whidbey Island, Baby Beest took her first ferry ride across the Puget Sound to the cute coastal town of Port Townsend, Washington.
 

Here beach walks and light houses continued to give us some ''island vibes'', 

... and an overnight campsite near the ocean at Salt Creek Recreation Area gave us another ''tide pool'' observation opportunity.

During our time at the park, the sight of ferns and moss growing out of dead tree limbs and mountains rising in the distance gave us a hint that we would soon be in for a change in landscape.

We enjoyed our island time,

 but the mountains, and rain forests, and beaches of Olympic National Park are calling!