Olympic National Park - Let the Exploration Begin! (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

After picking up the West Coast National Parks Trip series of posts again in mid-May, I realized that I had forgotten to include the “day number” in the last two posts.  Our last day on the Oregon coast plus the time we spent at Mount Rainier National Park and our arrival at Salt Creek Recreation Area in Port Angeles, Washington, covered Days 25, 26, 27 and 28.  The two days we spent at Olympic National Park (the first of which is documented in today’s post) were Days 29 and 30.  It was hard to believe that we had been on the road for a full month already.  They say time flies when you’re having fun.  Well, it really flies when you’re having fun AND trying to jam as much as possible into each and every day.

Wildflowers in Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park encompasses over 900,000 acres (covering more than 1,400 square miles) and has a limited network of roads.  It’s best to allow plenty of time to visit this National Park and explore its three very diverse ecosystems.   The Hurricane Ridge area contains rugged hills and glacier-capped mountains; the Hoh Rain Forest is an old growth, temperate rain forest with a profusion of mosses and ferns; and the section along the Pacific coast offers numerous beaches rife with driftwood and tide pools full of marine life.  We didn’t have plenty of time, but we did have plenty of enthusiasm and a full tank of gas, so we headed out to Hurricane Ridge bright and early in the morning on Day 29.

Long vistas and snow-capped mountains on Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge offered impressive views which were a bit distorted by lingering smoke in the air from various wildfires. Even though we hadn’t planned any hikes in the area, Alan wanted to explore Obstruction Point Road, an unpaved road just off the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center parking lot which led to the Obstruction Point Trailhead.  I think he just liked the idea of taking a gravel road down the side of the mountain and further into the wilderness.  I admit that I put a quick end to that plan.  Almost as soon as we turned onto Obstruction Point Road, the gravel trail dipped so steeply that we could no longer see the road over the hood of the truck.  Yup, nope.  Not going down there, no way, no how.  A round of applause for Alan – he backed onto the regular road and we continued on our way, even though I know he really, really wanted to explore that gravel road.

Even through a filter of wildfire smoke, the views at Hurricane Ridge were amazing.

After a quick stop at Madison Falls (which required just a short walk, no hike), we continued on to Lake Crescent.  I absolutely loved this lake!  It was a perfect spot to take a quiet break in our busy day.  If we had our kayaks with us, I would have blissfully paddled around the entire morning and ignored the fact that we had other places to be and things to do.  I won’t make the same mistake twice.  If we return to Olympic National Park, I’ll build in extra time to enjoy Lake Crescent.

Lake Crescent on a clear, blue sky day must be extraordinary!

Next up was a hike to Sol Duc Falls.  The trail wasn’t much more than a mile, if that even, and it wasn’t a difficult hike.  The falls weren’t as high as Madison Falls, but they were lovely, and it was so very relaxing to walk among the tall, tall trees and abundant ferns.  In fact, it reminded me of Fern Canyon which we had visited earlier on this trip when we were at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  Green and quiet, except for the sound of the water tumbling over the rocks – what a delightful way to spend the day and enjoy nature at its finest.

Tall, tall trees!

The very popular Sol Duc Falls

We worked our way down to the small town of Forks (population 3,418), made famous by Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series, and enjoyed a late lunch there. We backtracked at a leisurely pace to our base camp, stopping near the docks in Port Angeles before returning to Salt Creek Recreation Area and sitting ourselves down for supper.   We wandered around the campground in the evening, enjoying the water views of the Strait and lusting after a couple of campsites with enviable views.  No one needed prodding to hit the hay that night.  We were tuckered out, and we knew we had another early start the next day.  Why?  The tide tables, my friends, the tide tables.

Instagram Update: Do you remember that I said in a previous post I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to continue blogging?  I’m still not sure, but I’ve been doing some research.  I’m not into social media, so I have no Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter (that sounds so much better than “X”) or Instagram accounts, but I started wondering if Instagram might be the answer to my dilemma.  After speaking with two of my technical support specialists (daughter Kyra and daughter-in-law Anya), Instagram emerged as a distinct possibility.  I had initially thought that Instagram was just for photos, but Kyra assured me that I’d have more than enough space for captions or short posts to accompany any pics I posted.  So, I opened an Instagram account and plan to use it concurrently with Blogger for now.  I’ll continue my blog posts at least until I conclude the West Coast National Parks trip series.  After that, I’ll need to decide where to go from there.  Meanwhile, I’ll play around with possibilities on Instagram to see if it really is a good alternative to blogging and a good fit for me, personally.  If you’d like to follow my foray into social media, you’re welcome to join me – even though it’s sure to be painful for all of us.  When I asked Kyra to check to see if “reflectionsaroundthecampfire” was available, she did, said it was, and told me to “hop to it.”  I did, and you can find me on Instagram @reflectionsaroundthecampfire.