We picked him up from the Portland airport and had a fun time exploring Cascade Locks, a town we will be passing through on the Pacific Crest Trail in early August. We also went to Multunomah Falls which was a huge tourist trap.
We made it to the town of Quinault, Washington where I foud a piano to play in an old historic lodge and then we drove far up a dirt road. We found ourselves in the Olympic rainforest, the wettest spot on the continent. Its very green and lush. They have ferns everywhere, and enormous Sitka Spruce trees and Hemlock trees, very similar to the redwoods.
We found a spot to camp towards the top of a forested mountain, the road switchbacked up and up. The trees and ferns were closing in as we drove up and finally the road became completely unpassable. That's where we stopped to camp. It was a rather lousy spot.
The next day we hiked into the Hoh Rainforest. "Into the HO!" We kept saying. "We brought no bearspray so we're going into the Hoh with no protection!!!"
What a place it was, we prepared our gear and in we went. It wasn't raining but everything was slightly wet. The moss dripped from the trees with the look like it was raining, moss pouring down from everything, the foliage of the hemlock trees look like they are melting.
The brown green moss blanketed everything in sight, clover and ferns popping out of them. The place was so vibrantly colored, the green so stiriking, we wandered slowly, finding something new to marvel at around each corner.
We passed a couple nice waterfalls and then we eventually got into hiking mode. It started raining on us and everything was soaked. We hiked 11 miles to Lewis Meadow and setup camp under a mossy tree. I made a fire in the rain with just wet material I had and my lighter, and cooked our food no problem in the wettest spot on the continent. We slept pretty well that night and stayed very dry.
The hike back kicked our asses a little bit, my dad hasn't hiked these long distances in a while, but it was all very enjoyable.
We drove through the vampire infested town of Forks, WA, where the Twilight series takes place and had a great time joking about that. And we drove up to Cape Flattery at the northwest corner of the Olympic peninsula. It was staying light out till 10 o'clock now. We found ourselves on a beaten up Indian reservation, but with nice welcoming people, and made our way to a campgrounds through a thick dark blue fog and mist, wrapping around the coastal rocks. There were free showers at the campgrounds and they were amazing!
We were immediately greeted by about 8 young people from Seattle who talked to us for over an hour. They were full of joy and partying on the misty beach, and we were welcomed as if we were old friends. It was most likely the best camp spot we've ever found. We fell asleep to the relaxing sound of crashing waves.
The next day after a fantastic small town breakfast we went over to the Hurricane Ridge. On the other side of Olympic, the clouds crash into these mountains from the southwest, they then create a rain shadow on all the land behind it making Seattle actually alot drier then the outer coast. We drove up to the most beautiful spot, among the fantasmal clouds. Like a scene from heaven, the clouds swayed and moved. They clung to the mountains and wrapped around them. We did a short hike there and saw some mountain goats and it was a very enchanting place. It was like watching a grand show, watching the movement of the clouds around the snow capped mountains.
We're having a great time, and finally after a long while in the Pacific Northwest, we saw sasquatch.
Love all these pictures...but you need to get in front of the camera more often. Your readers want to see your smiling face!
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