Olympic National Park, WA

Olympic National Park, diverse with a capital D. Rainforest, Ocean, Mountains, Glaciers, Rivers and Lakes and we have been running around here for about 2 weeks.  

 This is my second visit to Olympic NP, the first was with my girlfriends in 2022 when we did out trip to the San Juan Islands.  Caroline, Ala Pink Fins 2022,  justed excited about the water and responsible for our SUP enthusiasm. 

 And now we returned to our favorite place Log Cabin Resort at Crescent Lake, spending a week here and meeting up with friends from Ridgecrest and our college days friend, Scott, who lives in Washington.  

The lake is clear and perfect sized for Stand Up Paddling Even when ducks jump on your SUP, and the campground is only about 30 spaces in one loop. 

Although small and RV Park like, the easy access to the water and a big field area right on the water make the living area seem much bigger.

  There is a delightful lodge and café that is totally glass enclosed affording lake views.  

Wi-fi is there, but not really, and we were able to successfully set up our booster to go to two bars and use minimal internet.  

This time we daytripped to the Crescent Lake Lodge (Marymerre Water Fall Hike from here) across the Lake and they too have nice access and an early 30’s lodge and eating area overlooking the lake.  

Seemed a bit less windy than the Log Cabin resort side of the lake,  the beach slope much more gradual but they had no camping.  I guess there is a Fairholme Lodge to be discovered for next time.  Our Log Cabin Resort had all kinds of boat rentals too and there is the nice “Railroad Trail” – looks like you could mountain bike it if you want, but we walked with Gloria, Ryan and Toddy, their adorable new Romanian puppy 

 The Lake can get windy and when going out the waves can make paddling a bit rough, so we didn’t paddle everyday.  

 The fire ban was lifted our last night we so enjoyed the warmth and ambience after  a lovely paddle across the lake to the Punch Bowl

A fairy tale day in our lives is a long hike followed by a relaxing event (no breweries in sight so not our usual option) but Sol Duc Hot Springs was.

Unfortunately, our long hike had to be curtailed because the Lover’s Lane portion of the loop hike had bridge repair work and was closed.  

So the 7 mile turned to more like 5 miles, but the hike was easy and beautiful through the rain forest with plenty of old moss covered trees. 

We got back in time for quick dinner and hit our 6pm, hour and a half Hot Spring reservation time.  We stayed our entire slot talking to a young couple who were traveling and worked as horse stable hands in various locations.  I enjoyed plunging into the unheated swimming pool, and after being so warmed through from the hot springs, stayed in for much longer than I would normally under such conditions.  We felt like our skin was softer than usual and I even slept until 930 the next morning, so I guess the whole hot spring relaxation thing was in deed a thing.  

FYI The above photo is not the hot springs but a fish hatchery exhibit. The hot springs were circular cement pool not nearly as picturesque is the pool for fish.   

Just a bit of clarification, the Sol Duc Hotspring Resort maintains the pool area and there is a small lodge/store for food.  The RV area is a gravel parking lot with electricity and water at each site that is a 150 yard path to the Pool area.  There is another Sol Duc campground about ½ mile from the pool area that has rainforest thick wooded large camping spots, much nicer than our gravel parking lot area, but I think we may have become a bit nippy if we would have walked back to a campsite.  Trade offs – for us since we were only an overnight, it was fine.  They seemed to have several very warn looking cabins in a field  around the hot spring pool area too, not inviting at all. 

I just thought I heard a cow mooh and the next thing I Look up and there is a heard of 10 black cattle running across the Rainforest Resort here at Quinault Lake. Luckily I wa sipping coffee in the van and not in their path.  Hmmm,  it’s interesting the dynamic between the National Park Lands, private and tribal lands. 

I had chosen the Resort because I though we were in need of some electricity as we had been several days on the coast with National Park  basics.  Handily, a resort usually has laundry facilities; we have already done two loads and been here less than 24 hours.  And then across the field, Salmon Restaurant was top notch and we had dinner there two nights in a row because the salmon was that good and we have been seriously behind in our Omega 3’s.  All advantages of the private sector because the contracted Armark hospitality of many NP are run of the mill, and suffering from the “help wanted” signs.  Each of these evenings we dined with a different delightful couple  who we met at the campground. Barbara and Kurt who gave us the book “Lessons in Chemistry” and Vicki and Mike who live in Hilo.

We inquired about launching our SUP into the lake, and need to pay an extra $20 to the First Nations for vessel inspection and permit..all administered at the our resort.   The resort is basic, friendly, nice general store, and charming and has the worlds biggest Sitka Spruce adjoining the property.  

Half of the clothes dryers are out of order as usual (not at the Whistler Resort $5 a load; however,  compared to $1.75 here).  No SUP,  but had two of the best hikes through the rain forest which started conveniently at out resort.  We did  2 miles on the first day to  Gallup Falls, perfect for the 60 minute dryer cycle which started right from resort laundromat, then went back for several more miles afterward. 

 The next day, set out on a longer loop that brought us back down to the Quinault Lodge, a beautiful 1930’s style interior and we broke up our 7 mile hike with a libation on the back patio overlooking the lake.  Quinault Lodge is fancy shmancy compared to our Rainforest Resort with a restaurant, and patio seating where there is a beautifully manicured  green field overlooking the lake, but no campsites. 

When I think about all the rain forests we have been in so far this one has been most beautiful. 

The downed logs and trees are beautifully carpeted with moss and there are these large oversized clover plants that grow among the ferns and remind me of how lucky I am. 

There is enough of the green hanging moss which I have come to associate with the definition of rainforest although not sure. 

When I went to the Hoh Rainforest in 2022 there was tons moss everywhere, so perhaps this is my association. 

 I think the stuff is a bit creepy and gives you the impression of being haunted, not such a big fan. 

As far as Hoh Rainforest goes, I don’t plan on ever going back. First it is off the main road about 20 miles of slow driving, then when you get start getting close the traffic stops and there are signs along the road that say you are 20, 40, 60 …. Minutes from being allowed get into the parking area, and you’ve just driven over 45minutes down the road to get here. The hikes are relatively short and swarming with people, all be it in high season August, but none the less late about 5:30 pm and was still a huge wait. I remember relatively few freshly cut down trees compared to the Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, but had the same feel and you didn’t need to spend half a day to get the experience.  Ok, enough Hoh whining. The rainforest hike in Sol Duc was quite nice and had that dark woods feeling and a waterfall not to mention the hot spring afterward, but the rainforest here at our Rainforest Resort at Quinault Lake is the most beautiful and peaceful. 

 Add to it, the Quinault Lodge libation/restaurant luxury and our Salmon restaurant basically on property, this is a high recommendation from me if you want to do the rainforest.

 Of course, I sit here and it is supposed to rain for the next 4 days, but after all it is the rainforest. 

As I mentioned above,  we had two days of no electricity along the coast.  First, we stayed a Mora Campground which again beautiful deep dark forest sites not right on the ocean.  So as the rain stopped briefly, we sprinted up the road 1.5 miles to Rialto Beach so we could get back before night fall in this land of darkness where the clouds and canopy made 7:40 required headlamp usage.  

Saw the timber strewn driftwood trees that we now associate with Washington Seashore because subsequent visits to both Ruby Beach and our campground at Kalaloch Beach had similar huge logs and tree that bordered the shore right along the bluffs above. 

 Evidently a few fall off the bluffs, but most are a result of storms that down trees upstream depositing them finally into the ocean to be swirled about and finally end up on shore. Kalaloch Campground has some nice sunnier on bluff camping, but we were one of the many spots that were deep in the dark forest canopy. 

 After the first day of rain, we were very happy to walk the beach at Kalaloch at the most perfect enjoyable temperature, but were bummed out to have no firewood to be found as they just lifted the ban in the National Parks.

As to be complete about the Olympic NP experience I need to add in Hurricane Ridge, which reminds me of the being in the Austrian Alps.  

John and I did not visit here, but I went in summer of 2022 shortly before the Visitor’s Center burned down.  One can actually drive quite far up and hike along the ridge overlooking the snow capped mountains.  This year they limited the number of cars through permits, so we didn’t venture there, but I would highly recommend it .

Cape Flattery, Neah Bay and the Makah Tribal land is another incredible daytrip that I did in 2022 with the Radlers.

It is quite a drive to the end of the Olympic Peninsula, but the views of cliffs with crashing churning sea is just incredibly beautiful. 

We were on a bit of a cloudy day and saw relatively few people and also stopped at the Makah Museum which had excellent exhibits, and I am not even such a museum type.   I believe one can even arrange to see the authentic village, but it was closed on our visit.  This is not so far from the Ozette Lake Area (seems big and would have coastal winds for SUP) but they offer a variety of boating possibilities according to our NP newspaper.