Day 5: Olympic National Park

Today started with the age old chore of laundry. It’s only been five days, and here we were with a full laundry bag! I drove a few blocks away and got it started while Steve got the kids going. I had the easier job! Once things were in the dryer, I headed back to the motel to help pack and leave. The front office offered a free “continental breakfast.” It was continental only in that the coffee was from Brazil, and the oatmeal was from the Quakers.

After our fabulous breakfast treat, we headed up to Hurricane Ridge. It is a 17 mile drive straight up into the Olympic Mountains. Once there, we were able to see Mt. Olympus as well as many of the others. It was a beautiful day for viewing them. We had a brief stop in the gift shop before we were on our way back down.

Out of Port Angeles, we followed Route 101 around the northern part of the mountains. We occasionally dipped back outside the park, but for the most part we stayed on National Park land. We passed Lake Crescent which was an AMAZING color of blue! I am not sure the camera captured the colors very well. It was also crystal clear straight down to the bottom. It was really beautiful. We stopped part way along the lake and dipped our toes into the water. It was quite cold, as I suspected it would be. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to hike up to Marymere Falls (it would have taken 1 ½ hours) as we still had to get to Forks and La Push and it was almost noon!

After sandwiches in the car, we found ourselves all the way to the Pacific Ocean at La Push. Immortalized in the Twilight series books, we took a walk on the beach, saw a group of Indians playing baseball (this is also the Quinault Indian Reservation) and took a photo of Emily in front of a sign that said “No Vampires Past This Point.” We were also behind a “Twilight Tours” bus for part of our drive.

Heading back east, we had to go through Forks, which is also featured prominently in the Twilight books. There we found bookstores with Twilight posters advertising them, as well as a Motel with a sign that read “Edward did not sleep here.” We drove past the house that the people of Forks have decided was Bella’s house, and there is a sign in front that says “Home of the Swans.” We also got a photo of Emily in front of a replica of Bella’s car outside the visitor’s center. They have really embraced the books!

After Forks, we headed back into Olympic National Park to see the Hoh Rainforest. We took the Spruce Nature Trail and the Hall of Mosses Trail. We decided just one probably would have been enough. We did see amazing spruce, hemlock and alder trees, some covered with moss because this is a rainforest. There were signs warning us of the dangers of Roosevelt Elk, but we saw none in the area. Not that I wanted to be charged by an Elk, but I thought it would have been cool to see one.

After the hikes, we headed onto the campsite. I had originally planned to eat at Kalaloch Lodge, which is right next to the campground, but when I found out it was run by Aramark (the same company which makes the food at the Tinley Park Amphitheater Concession area), I decided it would probably be overpriced, and not very good. So after a family meeting, we decided to get mac and cheese, and hot dogs from the grocer at the camp store. What a feast! And at $30, it was a bargain!

Emily and I started dinner while Steve and Andy started to set up the campsite. It felt like we were in a wind tunnel as our campsite was right next to the ocean. A wall of bushes had been planted, and initially I was sorry that they blocked our view. After five minutes at the site, I was so grateful for them for blocking the wind!! However, it wasn’t enough, and at one point, the tent started to literally fly away after Steve had walked away for a moment to find a hammer to nail in the stakes. We all ran after it, and fortunately it didn’t get damaged.

After the tent was staked, we made our feast and ate it as quickly as we could. Not only was it windy, it was cold!! We cleaned up the site and walked down to the beach. The huge driftwood logs were incredible. The tide was coming in, and Emily tried to find as many treasures as she could. (a broken shell and a crab’s leg and back were her big finds) We didn’t last long because of the wind and so headed back quickly to the campsite. Andy and Emily decided to hike the driftwood for awhile.

Back at the campsite, Steve got a campfire going (which can be tough to do in intense wind), and the children sat at the top of a point watching the sunset. After awhile, the kids decided the sun was setting too slow and headed back to the campsite. We made some s’mores, but it was just too cold to hang out for long. I could see my breath! As Steve and I put things away, the kids disappeared into the tent. They were in their sleeping bags before the sky was dark and that was that. I guess it’s good they went to sleep so early because we have to break camp and get to Portland, so we have to start early!