Olympic National Park Part I

We left Portland early afternoon on Sunday after visiting the Apple Store, Best Buy, and Five Guys. Luca and Salpa both wanted to get new computers, iPads, iPhones, etc., and the exchange rate makes it a lot cheaper to purchase here. By the time we left Portland, our little rental car had 3 computers, 2 GoPros, 2 DSLRs, and a handful of iPhones, iPods, and iPads. Thank goodness no one tried to steal our car!

We stopped at Five Guys on our way to Cannon Beach, which was a compromise between McDonalds and a salad. For some strange reason, Luca and Salpa like McDonalds here, which I gave them crap for pretty much the entire trip. Every time they would say something like, “The chicken nuggets taste better here!” I would yell back “It’s not even real chicken!”

The drive to Cannon Beach was pretty and uneventful. It started raining as we approached the coast, and was raining pretty hard by the time we got to Cannon Beach. I had never seen or been in the Pacific Ocean, so I was determined to get out and go down to the water. Growing up near Lake Michigan, I’m used to beaches and bodies of water where you can’t see the other side, but this beach was unlike any beach I’ve ever visited. Haystack Rock, a 72-meter sea stack, sits adjacent to the beach and is reachable at low tide.  When we got back to the car, we were completely drenched (the one raincoat and one umbrella we brought on the trip proved to be inadequate for my Cannon Beach adventure), but it was worth it.

Futile attempts at staying dry.

The weather restricted photo taking. Best shot of Haystack Rock we got. :(

We had booked a room at Quinault River Inn on Lake Quinault for Sunday night. Lake Quinault is the first major attraction/landmark in the southwest portion of Olympic National Park. Most of the drive from Cannon Beach to Lake Quinault was in sparsely populated areas, so when we saw the sign for Artic Tavern, we jumped at the chance for dinner. This was the definition of a local place. The entire bar/restaurant stared at the three of us when we walked in the door. We agreed that it reminded us of Merlotte’s from True Blood, but with less people and (hopefully) no vampires. Then again, we weren’t too far away from Twilight areas, so who knows...

Artic Tavern aka Washington's Merlotte's

We arrived at our hotel around 10ish, so we didn't see Lake Quinault until morning. It was beautiful! I wish that we had had more time to spend there, but we had booked an apartment in Port Angeles for the next two nights, and had a lot of the park to see before we got there. Luca and I went for a run around a section of the lake in the morning before we left, part of which included the Quinault Rain Forest. So now I can cross "go for a run in a rain forest" off the bucket list :] I got a chance to speak with the owner of the hotel while the boys were finishing packing and loading the car. He gave us some suggestions of places to stop along the way to Port Angeles, asked where we were from, where we were heading, the typical traveling small talk. Then I mentioned how I had recently read this incredible book about the University of Washington's 8+ that went to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. "The Boys in the Boat," he said, "we love that book out here!" That's the funny thing about the sport. One second you think you're talking to someone who doesn't know the difference between a coxswain and stroke seat, and the next second you realize that you both speak "rowing." It's like slipping into dialect when you meet someone new and find out that you're from the same region. I told him that I rowed on the club team while I was at State. He then told me that he owns a house on Lake Quinault, and that his neighbor's daughter has won two Olympic gold medals. There is definitely something in the water on the Olympic Peninsula.

We left Lake Quinault around noon and headed for the Hoh Rain Forest. The owner of the hotel mentioned that there was a nice place to stop for breakfast (err... lunch) about 20 miles away. 4G coverage was non-existent, so I was a little concerned about not being able to find it or going to the wrong place. Kalaloch Lodge was the only thing around for miles, though, so I clearly didn't need to worry about that one. We had clam chowder with a great view of the Pacific. The weather gods were on our side again that day, and when we had finished our molten lava cake, the sun was poking out from behind the clouds. I was all for going down to the water, and Luca and Salpa were more willing to join now that it wasn't pouring outside. This beach was neat, too, though different from Cannon Beach. The part of the beach furthest away from the water contains piles of tree trunks, which we were told came from the rain forest. We had fun jumping off the trees (Luca and Salpa) and playing I'm a bird in the waves (Megan where were you!?) before hitting the road again.

Kalaloch  Beach

Our next stop of the day was the Hoh Rain Forest. The entrance to the park wasn't too far from Kalaloch Lodge, but we had to drive a good 45 minutes into the park to go to the rain forest. I've never seen so much green in my life. Every inch of every tree was covered in moss, often inches thick. Branches bent from the weight of the moss on the trees, and the foliage was so thick that we stayed dry even when it started pouring. Which was a good thing considering we only had one umbrella ;]

We hadn't gotten gas since Portland and had less than a hundred miles left in the tank when we got to the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center. We didn't know exactly how far away the next town was, and our phones didn't have service either. Why does it always seem like you don't have service at the times when you really need a cell phone the most?! Thankfully, we made it to Forks without any trouble and stopped at the first gas station we saw. It was pretty obvious from all of the "Twilight" signs that the town has embraced it's stardom from the books and movies. None of us are Twilight fans, but I had seen pictures of La Push Beach, and it looked beautiful. We decided to drive out to Second Beach, which just happened to look like the prettiest beach on Google Images. The beach is about a mile walk through the woods from where you have to park, but the path is pretty and the beach itself is more than worth the walk. The sky was so blue that I had trouble believing La Push and Forks are (according to the book) rainy and foggy year round.

Hoh Rain Forest

Hoh Rain Forest

La Push - Second Beach

Found a new friend on our way back to the car.

We spent awhile on Second Beach enjoying the beautiful sun, waves, and salt water air, so we decided to save Lake Crescent for the next day (and the next blog post). Thankfully, our drive to Port Angeles was a straight shot from Forks, and didn't take too long. We couldn't pass up stopping on the side of the road to admire the sun as it set on Lake Crescent. Such a beautiful end to the day!

Lake Crescent at sunset