Olympic Report
Comments Off (photos used in this entry are from my previous trips to these locations)
It was a very long day. I had already seen everything on my trip at least once, and I had been to some areas three times. But the point of the day was to get out, enjoy some awesome roads, and to spend some time with my brother, showing him part of the state he hadn’t ever seen.
We left the Seattle area by around 9am on Saturday and headed south toward Olympia and hwy 101. We were both anxious to get off of I-5 and away from the mass of Saturday morning traffic. We both enjoy driving and find it quite relaxing as long as there isn’t much traffic around. Large amounts of traffic, however, make me a little stressed. Once on 101 things calmed down and we started to enjoy the trip, feeling like we were getting somewhere.
Instead of making the boring and slow trip into Aberdeen on SR-12, we left the highway at Montesano, dropped south on 107, and then got off on Blue Slough Rd before joining back up with 101 and making the slow trek through Aberdeen and Hoquiam. My brother had never been north of Grays Harbor, so once we left Hoquiam is was all new. We left behind what most people would call ‘civilization’ at that point and made our way toward Lake Quinalt. The weather was mostly dry, but clouded over.
We stopped quickly to take in the view from the side of the lake before driving a little deeper into the hills to check out a sweet waterfall where I’ve taken some of my more popular photos.
I shouldn’t forget to mention that along the way is the world’s largest Spruce tree. It’s an ancient Sitka Spruce sitting on the side of Lake Quinalt. Even when seeing it in person it’s difficult to grasp the immensity of this beast until you see a person standing at its feet. The other photos I show below illustrate what the surrounding area is like, as we were rather deep into the Olympic Mountain foothills. It’s a beautiful area. Access to the Quinalt Rain Forest can also be had from this part of the lake.
We quickly turned around back toward 101 after the waterfall and continued north toward the Pacific coastal section of Olympic National Park. Hwy 101 follows the coast only for about 10 miles in the park before turning back inland. There are a few beach access areas along the way, with the most popular one being Ruby Beach. This is where Washington’s sea stacks start to appear, so it’s definitely an amazing place to see.
We were only a couple of hours away from sunset at this time, and we still wanted to spend some time make it to the Hall of Mosses at the Hoh Rain Forest, so after spending a few minutes taking in the sound and feeling of the ocean’s waves coming in around us, we drove further north and back toward the main part of Olympic National Park. We made a very quick stop at the “big cedar”. This is far from being the “largest” of anything around, but the Pacific Northwest does house the largest red cedars in the world, so this tree is still simply huge. The “big cedar” in this case is actually an ancient nurse stump which is now supporting at least eight other trees. This is another situation where you need to be standing right under the tree to understand the true size of this thing.
You first cross the Hoh River before turning off onto the Upper Hoh Road toward the rain forest. It’s an awesome road that follows the river through what is mostly state forest land. Large patches of the road have been completely rebuilt after storms from a couple of years ago, and the ranger we met at the visitor’s center reminded us that the road may not be there after this next week due to large incoming storms. The wind and rain that hits our coast is a major hazard. On Saturday, however, the weather was cold, but dry. We crossed into the national park, paid our fee, and headed toward the Hall of Mosses. There is a lot of explore at the Hoh Rain Forest, with several extensive trails making there way through the hills, but if you just want a quick glimpse of this amazing area then the Hall of Mosses is for you. It’s a roughly .75 mile trail across a stream from the visitor’s center parking lot, with occasional interpretive signs along the way. You cross this stream, where spawning salmon supposedly exist (never saw any) and then make a short hike up the hill to a much older portion of the forest. The age of this area is immediately apparent, with downed trees everywhere and moss hanging far down off of the tree limbs. Everywhere you go nurse logs harbor trees that are themselves hundreds of years old. This is a truly amazing area that I fear can only be properly understood when seen in person. That said, I did take several photos the last time I was there which I hope convey some of what I saw.
By the time we headed back toward 101 the sun was setting. It was dark when we rolled into Forks looking for some food. The town was once a sleepy logging town, known for its wet climate and its nearby state corrections center. Now it seems that the entire town exists to support Twilight movie fans. There are tourist stores that sell only Twilight movie items, and the restaurant we ate at (Pacific Pizza) had a special “Twilight Menu”. You have to be kidding me…
After topping off my wagon with diesel we escaped the town with our lives, keeping our eyes out for the SR-113 sign. If it hadn’t already been dark, I would have happily made the 30 minute detour toward Neah Bay simply so I could enjoy the best road I’ve ever driven in the northwest. Sadly we were running out of time, forcing me to drive only the first half of SR-112 along the coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
It was raining most of the eastward trip back home. Add the pitch black darkness to that equation and the ultra-twisty roads weren’t very enjoyable at the end of our trip. I managed to enjoy what I could, but I will definitely need to make my back to this road later this year, before the snow arrives.
We made it to Port Angeles in good time and then continued along a very boring part of 101 before making the 9:20pm Edmonds-Kingston ferry just in time. The night was cold and breezy, but we still managed to check out the top deck on both the front and back of the boat before docking at the other side in Edmonds. One last stop beckoned however. We drove a little north to Henry’s Donuts in Mukilteo. One good snack later and I was dropping my brother off at his place in Lynnwood before making my way back home in Bothell.
All told, the car drove for over 12 hours and almost 500 miles. We averaged about 34mpg, including all of the fuel wasting twisty roads. I have nearly 29000 miles on that car and I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s proven to be the most versatile car I’ve ever owned, checking all of the boxes along the way (spacious, handles, fun, quick, practical, safe, fuel efficient, good looking, etc.).
And, uh.. I’ll get the rest of the Germany trip reports up sooner or later 
Themocracy