On The Road Again: Olympic National Park and the Peninsula

Our trip up the Olympic Peninsula took us to a very nice park in Port Angeles on the northern side of the area. Well, nice if no phone service, tv, or good wi-fi is part of the deal. The location was good.

The mural is of Port Angeles a long time ago. It hasn't changed much, but it is the gateway to Vancouver Island and Victoria. Lots of people make it a day trip.

Ed finally got a chance to get up close to one of the logging trucks that have fascinated him through two states. We saw them on the highway often. These are log carriers. The back part of the truck is taken down and towed and the truck is filled with logs. We saw what we initially thought was a weighing station, but it is actually a grading station. Full trucks pull in, the wood is graded, and down the road they go to the mills.

Port Angeles is also home to the Olympic National Park Visitor Center. We stopped there, learned what we could about the park and then hit the road to drive the 18 miles to Hurricane Ridge - our first stop in the park.

A twisting road with the first stop being this view of the Olympic Mountains.

Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center

Mountains all the way around, deer grazing and ignoring the humans who were not ignoring them. There must have been thousands of photos taken. The glacial caps are slowly melting .

Ed is standing at the top of the viewing area. It wasn't very cold but the snow was everywhere.

More deer and mountains.

Lots of fawns - some still spotted. What a beautiful place.

June 22nd. Ed's Birthday

We headed out to the West side of the peninsula and the Hoh Rain Forest - another national park site. It's about a 2 hour drive from Port Angeles. We stopped at Lake Crescent Lodge - also a Park site - just to look it over. Charming.

Pretty charming inside too.

Ed was really surprised when everyone (staff and guests) began wishing him a Happy Birthday. They even sang to him and gave all sorts of good wishes. Can't imagine how they all found out...

Overlooking the lake...

So charming and peaceful.

Olympic Peninsula has it's own eco system that includes multiple climates. The mountains create a barrier that holds the weather systems. The West side is very wet, cold, and gets 100 to 180 inches of rain a year. The East side averages 15 to 18 inches of rain a year. It's warmer and drier on the East side.

We spent a little time in the Hoh Visitor Center before embarking on the Spruce Nature Trail through the rain forest. It was raining - maybe it was extra pretty seeing it in the rain.

As we came out of the Visitor Center we were greeted by Roosevelt elk. There's a large herd living in the immediate area. We watched them, kept the required distance (25 ft.) and they pretty much ignored us too.

I've had a difficult time trying to select photos from the whole bunch we took. We thought we had been in a rain forest before - this one was way over the top. And so incredibly beautiful and lush.

We've been in so much rain during this trip that sometimes I feel like the backs of my knees, and armpits look like the stumps and rocks in the Hoh.

A very nice couple from Southern California came along and we chatted for awhile. They have just discovered the National Parks so we compared some notes. They took this photo to prove that we are traveling together and not solo. Don't we look like a pair of bumble bees in our jackets? They have kept us warm AND dry.

Moss and more moss everywhere.

Trees do weird things in a rain forest.

So does moss.

The trail was right between two fallen trees.

We enjoyed seeing Olympic National Park. There are other areas to visit very far from our location.

The last day in this area we went to two Saturday markets - Port Angeles was great. We bought some local honey and vegies. In Sequim we walked around and took in the atmosphere.

Sequim is all about lavender and known as the Lavender Capital of North America. There are many farms, both commercial and boutique and some are open to the public. We stopped at one to look around. I never knew as much about lavender as I do now! The festival is coming up in July. Now the lavender is just beginning to bloom. The owners - this one is a boutique operation - make everything themselves. We learned all about culinary lavender while others are used for soaps, oils, candles, and such. We had a great time visiting with her and she took us around the farm.