Approaching Port Townsend on the ferry.
We drove around the north and west sides of Olympic National Park, entering the park three times to explore. * At the visitors' center we asked about ways to see the park and hikes to take. The ranger explained that at Olympic they chose not to have a road cross the park. That way the park's center is wilderness. The only way to explore it is on foot. There are roads that enter the park and extend 10 or 20 miles, and there are a few lodges, but civilization is on the edges.
We ate lunch at Lake Crescent.
A wall sconce in Lake Crescent Lodge.
I really liked Lake Crescent Lodge, which was built in 1915. It is smaller than the other national park lodges we've seen but charming and full of mission style furniture. There was a fire burning in the fireplace when we entered. I discovered this park too late in my planning to get a reservation for the night.
Our second stop was along the beach. (Beach trail #4) We parked and walked down a wooded trail to the Pacific Ocean. It was tricky to climb down to the sand but so worth it. Here are a few of the pictures from that spot:
super driftwood
Anemones in a tidal pool
I collected some of these flat stones.
Our final stop was in the Hoh Rain Forest at the July Creek picnic area. The air was light and
rich. The trees were giants. Limbs and trunks and the ground were moss covered.
A green world.
Just before 5:00 pm we arrived at our hotel in Aberdeen, Washington. We had a long day and still needed to do laundry. Our entertainment tonight was watching True Grit (the remake).
*A couple of quirky things happened as we drove on the 101 around the park's perimeter.
First, we drove through Forks, WA, which is where the Twilight books were set. We figured this out after seeing a handwritten note from Stephanie Meyer on the window of the ice cream shop. Also on the way to our first stop in the park, at least a dozen loaded logging trucks passed us.
Olympic Park is one of my very favorite's! The rain forest and beaches are wondrous!
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