We are so lucky. The weather report for the Olympic Rain Forest area was…wait for it…rain! We were reconciled to chilly, rainy weather. It never happened. Friday was driving day and it wasn’t that far to our next spot, but saying goodbye to all the Lazy Dazers took quite a while. There were several at the dump station (where you dump your undesired products after you’ve been dry camping), so we were kind of late starting out. Then there’s stopping for gas and groceries because we’ll be dry camping again. Friday afternoon is not a great time to find a good beachside campsite and we didn’t. But it was nice to hear the ocean and there is easy access to the broad Kalaloch (CLAY-lock) Beach.
We scored a better, but not great campsite on Saturday morning. There were a few showers during the night, and we expected more as we drove the 40 miles to the Hoh Rain Forest, but the clouds kept their water to themselves. We were entranced with the Hoh River Trail right away. The trees were skirted and shawled with moss; there was luminescent orange fungi tucked away here and there. The light kept changing and the sun even broke through the clouds for minutes at a time. No rain or even showers. We started looking for banana slugs and found a couple as well as the invasive black slugs. A volunteer ranger told us that the black slugs are a quarter-of-an-inch faster than the banana slugs (over what distance, I don’t know) and that it adds up to an advantage over time. We hiked next to the Hoh River for a while. The quietness of the trails in this area is marvelous. It is rare to hear even an airplane once you’re hiking. We went 4 of the 17 miles until we reached the Cougar Cedar Grove (nice, but not spectacular), turned around and trudged back.
Sunday, we lurked around the campground as people pulled out, and scored the best beachside campsite we have ever found. Once installed, we reluctantly left it to return south on US-101 to Lake Quinault, another accessible temperate rain forest. The sky was again cloudy without rain. It had showered several times during the night, so the greenery was wet and sparkly. Perfect. This hike was only 3.5 miles and went through mossy trees once again. We ate lunch at the Cedar Bog, watching people push their strollers and walk their dogs on the easy trail. It was fun photographing, but not great, until we reached a bridge over Willaby Creek. We were looking down at maples in front of the dark waters of the creek. After coming off that part of the trail, we finished the hike along the shore of Lake Quinault, passing private homes and the Lake Quinault Lodge. I wouldn’t mind staying at that place for a couple of days. I’m a sucker for any room that has an outside deck or porch with a chair on it.
We returned once again to our perfect campsite and enjoyed the view with a fire, potato chips and Cuba Libres. Oh man, this is living. I’ve been surprised at how warm it is here. Usually I’m freezing, but I’ve been hiking in short-sleeved shirts. The cloud cover and humidity keep it warmer, I guess. This morning, Dave got up early to photograph, so I popped up and we went for a walk down the beach. It was so great that we’ve decided to stay another night here. This campsite is too good to give up.
The next morning was misty and we walked down Kalaloch Beach, enjoying the mystery that fog imparts to the landscape.
Later in the afternoon, we visited the Kalaloch Lodge, a cute seaside place with cabins that have nice ocean views and Adirondack chairs to view them from. I had pulled a great picture of a rocky beach that supposedly was next to the Lodge. No such luck. We found it ten miles north, Ruby Beach. Ruby Beach was named for the sand composed of crushed garnets. After some careful perusing, I did find a few spots with reddish sands. As we were leaving the beach, we spotted a downed tree trunk covered with balanced rocks. It always amazes me that someone will take the time to select and balance hundreds of rocks. It looked great, an on-the-spot art piece.
Your shots of your visit to Hoh Rain Forest and beyond are exquisite. As I have been trying to sell this as our next destination spot for a while, your blog entries will come in very handy. Love the chillin image!