Right after dropping Jenny off in Port Angeles, I spent a week in Olympic National Park, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. I was totally exhausted by the time I reached the
Altaire campground in the
Elwha Valley and was blessed to find a site right on the
Elwha River and a sunset over the valley all in the same day.
Little creatures fascinate me, except when they are rummaging around my tent in the middle of the night. Then they freak me out.
While taking a walk up by Lake Mills in the
Elwha River Valley area, I came across this beautiful arrangement of natural color designed by the Master Artist, the Lord God Most High.
This is the last dam summer before the
Glines Canyon Dam you see behind me along with the
Elwha Dam are removed and the
Elwha River is restored to its natural state. This is the largest dam removal in U.S. history and will free five species of Pacific salmon to return to more than 70 miles of river and stream. Pretty exciting if you ask me.
Whenever I am camping in the National Parks, I always make it a point to stop in at the Lodges and enjoy the surroundings. Lake Crescent Lodge is situated right on the lake, and has a warm
sun room to view the lake and drink coffee; very good coffee I must say.
The Olympic
Peninsula is a
rain forest just waiting to happen; and believe me it happened. It rained every day I was there.
Sol
Duc Falls, a must to see if you are in the area. It is actually one river that sections off into four waterfalls. If you look closely you can see a bit of a rainbow in the water.
Living color; alive and sparkling; full of life.
Rialto Beach is my favorite spot in Olympic National Park; rugged beaches, sea stacks, tide pools, cliffs and forest. Being a Southern California beach girl, it was amazing to see deer tracks right on the sand. Definitely a first.
"Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war." Loren
Eiseley
Whenever I find driftwood I go crazy and climb up and down the fallen logs, search through the piles of twisted pieces and look for interesting shapes and sizes.
Rialto Beach was heaven for me; it not only had huge amounts of driftwood, but tide pools filled with little crabs, starfish, sea
anemones and other gushy things.
Pounding surf at
Rialto Beach.
Camping along the
Hoh River gave me opportunity to see the clouds come in and hug the forest and drift in and out among the trees.
Walking down the trails in the
Hoh rain forest made you feel like a hobbit or troll would pop out at any moment and say hello.
Copious amounts of moss, lichen and ferns cover all the downed logs.
The
Hoh River, crystal clear and flowing freely.
The Hall of Mosses is a bit like a haunted forest, don't you think?
That would be me in front of my little fire in the
Hoh Rain forest Campground. The only people I met were both hearing impaired, so even though they were very nice, we couldn't talk. In spite of our differences, we knew we were in the middle of a very special place.
Clouds and rain in the
rain forest; were you expecting anything else? I was hoping for more, and occasionally had some sun, but more often than not it was rain, rain, rain.
Kalaloch Beach in a moment of sunshine! What a place and just look at all that driftwood, enough to keep me happy for hours on end.
At the end of my Olympic week I planned on staying at Lake
Quinalt, but as you can see it was getting ready to rain again. I found a great place that served Grilled hamburgers and by the time I came out it was raining. I holed up in the Lodge, sitting in front of a huge fire, drinking coffee and working on my computer. Not bad for a rainy day.
Falls Creek in Lake
Quinalt; a good place to restore peace in your soul. After my short stay in
Quinalt, I hit the road and headed for Seattle; steaming hot chowder, open air markets, big city land
scape and
Costco. Time to replace the camera I broke along the way!
Right after dropping Jenny off in Port Angeles, I spent a week in Olympic National Park, on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. I was totally exhausted by the time I reached the Altaire campground in the Elwha Valley and was blessed to find a site right on the Elwha River and a sunset over the valley all in the same day.
Little creatures fascinate me, except when they are rummaging around my tent in the middle of the night. Then they freak me out.
While taking a walk up by Lake Mills in the Elwha River Valley area, I came across this beautiful arrangement of natural color designed by the Master Artist, the Lord God Most High.
This is the last dam summer before the Glines Canyon Dam you see behind me along with the Elwha Dam are removed and the Elwha River is restored to its natural state. This is the largest dam removal in U.S. history and will free five species of Pacific salmon to return to more than 70 miles of river and stream. Pretty exciting if you ask me. 
Whenever I am camping in the National Parks, I always make it a point to stop in at the Lodges and enjoy the surroundings. Lake Crescent Lodge is situated right on the lake, and has a warm sun room to view the lake and drink coffee; very good coffee I must say.
The Olympic Peninsula is a rain forest just waiting to happen; and believe me it happened. It rained every day I was there.
Sol Duc Falls, a must to see if you are in the area. It is actually one river that sections off into four waterfalls. If you look closely you can see a bit of a rainbow in the water.
Living color; alive and sparkling; full of life.
Rialto Beach is my favorite spot in Olympic National Park; rugged beaches, sea stacks, tide pools, cliffs and forest. Being a Southern California beach girl, it was amazing to see deer tracks right on the sand. Definitely a first.
"Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war." Loren Eiseley
Whenever I find driftwood I go crazy and climb up and down the fallen logs, search through the piles of twisted pieces and look for interesting shapes and sizes. Rialto Beach was heaven for me; it not only had huge amounts of driftwood, but tide pools filled with little crabs, starfish, sea anemones and other gushy things.
Pounding surf at Rialto Beach.
Camping along the Hoh River gave me opportunity to see the clouds come in and hug the forest and drift in and out among the trees.
Walking down the trails in the Hoh rain forest made you feel like a hobbit or troll would pop out at any moment and say hello.
Copious amounts of moss, lichen and ferns cover all the downed logs.
The Hoh River, crystal clear and flowing freely.
The Hall of Mosses is a bit like a haunted forest, don't you think?
That would be me in front of my little fire in the Hoh Rain forest Campground. The only people I met were both hearing impaired, so even though they were very nice, we couldn't talk. In spite of our differences, we knew we were in the middle of a very special place.
Clouds and rain in the rain forest; were you expecting anything else? I was hoping for more, and occasionally had some sun, but more often than not it was rain, rain, rain.
Kalaloch Beach in a moment of sunshine! What a place and just look at all that driftwood, enough to keep me happy for hours on end.
At the end of my Olympic week I planned on staying at Lake Quinalt, but as you can see it was getting ready to rain again. I found a great place that served Grilled hamburgers and by the time I came out it was raining. I holed up in the Lodge, sitting in front of a huge fire, drinking coffee and working on my computer. Not bad for a rainy day.
Falls Creek in Lake Quinalt; a good place to restore peace in your soul. After my short stay in Quinalt, I hit the road and headed for Seattle; steaming hot chowder, open air markets, big city landscape and Costco. Time to replace the camera I broke along the way!