Olympic National Park
Washington, May 2017
“Encompassing nearly a million acres, the park protects a vast wilderness, thousands of years of human history, and several distinctly different ecosystems, including glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rain forests, and over 70 miles of wild coastline.” – NPS
Trip Highlights: Rialto Beach * Hoh Rainforest * More Rialto Beach! * Kalaloch * Hurricane Ridge
Rialto Beach
It’s 4 am and Katie and I are packing the van. Memorial Day weekend is on the horizon and it is supposed to be sunny in Olympic National Park, where almost all the campsites are first-come, first-serve. There will no doubt be a mass exodus of people from Seattle today and that was plenty of incentive to get up at this ridiculous hour. The idea for the getaway only popped up within the last week and once we could smell National Park, we weren’t going to let crowds dissuade us! We took the kids straight from their beds to their car seats and pulled out of the driveway basically on time at 5:05 am.
The hour and a half non-stop drive south to Coupeville on Whidbey Island was relatively quiet and we arrived just over a half hour early for the 7:15 am ferry, as required to claim our reservations. I’m not sure if the ferry filled up but the rest of the day’s ferries would certainly be and the next sailing was about four hours later due to tides! It was a relief to catch this one.
While we waited in the van to board, we broke out donuts for breakfast, much to the delight of the kids. Unfortunately, Katie’s was undercooked. More food disappointments once on the ferry: Katie and Elizabeth’s yogurts were moldy! So, after the half hour ferry ride to Port Townsend, our first order of business was to get Katie breakfast.
We drove west for an hour and made it to the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles right after they opened at 9 am. We picked up a few things like stickers, a patch, and a park pass but they didn’t have any info on the availability of campsites and didn’t show much optimism either. That made us nervous. We got pictures at the park sign and hit the road again.
We were shooting for Mora Campground near La Push, which was another hour and a half west. If that was full, we would work south on Highway 101 toward the Hoh campground and take any site at any campground we could. The drive took us along the shores of Lake Crescent, which was beautiful and dead calm, but we didn’t want to take the time to stop.
We pressed on and prayed there would be some available sites. Annie did us one better and called God on the phone to ask for a site : )
The moment of truth – we rolled into the campground around 11 am . . . and found LOTS of sites available! The campground was maybe half full. Loop A was closed when we arrived but was opened up later. Most of the sites left were on the small side but we found a good sized one on Loop C. The campground didn’t fill up until well into the evening and we noticed throughout the weekend that the turnover seemed high – a lot of people seemed to stay for one night and then move on. Surprising! The site across the road from us had an extremely difficult time retaining campers. Over and over it would appear someone would claim it only for them never to return! Maybe it was us . . .
We cooked up lunch and just chillaxed at camp for the first half of the afternoon – reading, naps (sorta), hammocking, etc. For the remainder of the afternoon, we headed down the road to see the mighty Pacific Ocean at Rialto Beach! (The beach is close enough to the campground to be a nice bike ride but not all of us ride a bike yet) The road was closed all spring and early summer for repair work but fortunately they opened it just for this weekend.
It was sunny and clear and gorgeous! The beach turns into a spit jutting out into the water and ends at a cluster of islands / haystack rocks.
The big surf especially captivated the kids. Maggie was a little timid getting near the crashing waves at first but soon joined Elizabeth and Lucas in their dance with the surf. (Annie was content just watching : )
They spent the hour or so we were there taking a stand on the sand and waiting until the last possible moment before running to escape the incoming wave. It’s wonderful to see such simple things bring pure joy to their faces!
We had dinner back at camp and just playing around our site for the remainder of the evening. Katie and I even got some time together curled up in front of the fire, just the two of us, while the kids slept.
Hoh Rainforest
It was a lazy morning and we didn’t hit the road for the Hoh Rainforest until about 10:30am. The hour drive went quick but we hit a long, slow line of cars at the entrance station. It was slow as in Elizabeth left the van to use the nearby restroom and we only crept forward a few car lengths before she made it back. This translated into a parking lot that was packed and we ended up parking along the side of the road, but not too far from the visitor center really. No rain in the rainforest today but rather it was muggy and hot – we found some shade and threw out a blanket for a picnic lunch.
After lunch, we headed out on the Spruce Nature Trail, a flat mile loop through the trees.
Of course the vibrant green ferns, moss, and trees are beautiful in themselves but there were lots of fun points of interest.
We spent a long break at a large tree with lots of exposed roots to climb.
We saw the fungus known as bear’s bread, which Maggie insisted on calling bear’s toast : )
She was out to prove herself as a hiker today. I would be taking Elizabeth and Lucas on another overnight backpacking trip this summer and so today Maggie wanted to carry the backpack to show she was up for going with us next year. She did great!
Other fun spots included a stretch of trail that bordered the Hoh River and a fallen tree that was slit and turned into a bridge.
After a bathroom break back at the visitor center, we did the Hall of Mosses trail. It is similar, about a mile loop, but with its own fun features.
It crosses a creek and climbs a bit into the rainforest.
The moss is impressive – heavily draped over all the tree branches – and the trees are huge, many with voids in the roots for the kids to crawl in.
We briefly spotted a deer at the end but he quickly hid before any of us got a good look.
Back to Rialto Beach
Back in camp, we had dinner and debated whether we should get the kids to bed or go play some more. We opted for the latter and headed back to Rialto Beach.
We were sure glad we did – the evening was gorgeous! There was a beautiful layer of fog around the haystack rocks and we stayed until well after the sunset.
Again, the kids spent the whole time racing the surf.
Kalaloch
Today is our day to see the beaches to the south . . . and one tree in particular. We left mid/late morning and got to the day use parking lot at the Kalaloch campground an hour later.
As the drive approached the coast, the weather changed drastically from sunny clear skies to cloudy and breezy. It was bizarre – a ranger we spoke to explained that the geography for that stretch of beach creates its own microclimate.
There are steps down to the beach from the parking lot and less than a hundred yards to the north was the crazy tree we were looking for.
The windswept tree sits up on the embankment but the earth directly below it has been eroded away and it is left clinging for dear life by the ends of its roots.
The resulting cave is quite big, maybe 20’ square, and the roof is the underside of the tree. So cool!
It was cool on the beach but not uncomfortable. After pictures with the tree, we had a picnic lunch and just goofed off. 
The kids played in the surf more and we even broke out our kite, which flew easily in the steady wind.
On the drive back to camp, we briefly stopped at Ruby Beach. We had our fill of the beach for the day but it’s a popular spot and I just wanted to check it out. In fact, it’s a VERY popular spot and was extremely busy. Katie and the kids stayed in the car while I scoped things out from up on the bluff. It was a bit of a hike down to the beach, which I didn’t bother to do, but what I could see was very beautiful. Looks like a cool place if you don’t mind the crowds. We had also wanted to hike down to Second Beach near La Push but just ran out of time and energy!
We were back in camp for dinnertime. We did the usual camp activities like chopping wood . . . and a few unusual camp activities like an exercise class led by Elizabeth!
We went back to Rialto Beach once again to get our “feet picture”. We didn’t stay long – we wanted the kids to get a good night sleep and it was cloudy and chilly. We were super glad we had gone the night before!
Hurricane Ridge
Memorial Day – we’d like to extend a sincere thank you to all those who are serving our country in the armed forces. In particular, on this day we remember the sacrifice of all those who have died doing so and for that, we have the upmost gratitude. You are not forgotten – we are forever in your debt!
We’re headed home today but have a couple fun stops planned. We were hoping to do a waterfall hike in the morning but got a bit of a late start and had to drop that from our plans. After an hour’s drive, we stopped for an early lunch on Crescent Lake.
We tried the Marymere Falls parking lot but it was full and ended up parking at the Crescent Lake Lodge nearby. (It seemed like parking for visitors and not just guests but we weren’t totally sure.)
Katie and I helped ourselves to a couple of Adirondack chairs on the beach and laid the picnic blanket out for the kids. We ate lunch in the sun (Maggie felt the need to improve the presentation of her meal) and watched the ducks and people playing in the water. Very relaxing!
After a bathroom break back at the Marymere Falls lot, we hit the road again for the stop we really didn’t want to miss, Hurricane Ridge. It was about an hour away but halfway through the mountain drive, the park rangers had the road closed – the parking lot at the top was full! We parked in the pulloff with dozens of other cars and weighed our options. We had reservations for an early evening ferry and if we didn’t make that one, we’d be getting home VERY late. The wait ended up being no more than a half hour and we decided to go for it.
The windy road carved into the mountain made for some nervous passengers but up at the top, the weather and views were gorgeous – sunny with snowcapped mountains all around reminding us of Juneau (the mountains, that is, not the sun : ) Hurricane Ridge is at about 5200 feet and there was still plenty of snow. Time for some spring sledding!
We got snow pants on (It was so hot out we decided to forgo jackets!) and trudged up the hill on the north side of the parking lot. Our van was so packed full that we didn’t have room to bring an actual sled so instead we brought an old inflatable mattress (frivolous gear is a nice perk of roadtripping!). It had a slight hole in it and the slope of the hill was pretty mild which combined made for pretty tame sledding but that didn’t diminish the fun. We were all smiles for the afternoon!
To top it off, Elizabeth found a $20 bill at our sledding spot! Probably the highlight of her trip!
Eventually we had to call it quits on account of catching the ferry and made a stop at the lodge before leaving. In retrospect we probably should have checked out the viewpoint to the north but we still got our fill of awesome views. We were even treated to some deer before we left.
The drive to the ferry terminal took an hour and a half and was uneventful but had me stressing we’d miss the ferry. We were NOT early enough to claim our reservations (which kept my stress level up) but thankfully early enough to still make it on. Back on Whidbey Island, we stopped for a late dinner at the Oak Harbor McD’s and then cruised the rest of the way home in the dark.
Having grown up in Juneau, this was a park that really resonated with Katie and me. This visit wasn’t necessarily an experience of something radically new or unfamiliar but rather one amid beautiful scenery that echoed our beautiful hometown, of which we are so fond. There are lots of spots in the park that we would still like to see in addition to those places we had planned for this trip but just ran out of time. We are fortunate to live relatively close, though, so we’ll just have to come back!