Washington Trip Part 8

Alright, so the second to last day of the trip we decided to hike around Olympic National Park and it was incredible. Shockingly, this post will be picture-heavy, but it will worth it.

First, we did a short (a mile) hike to Marymere Falls. This hike starts right from the Lake Crescent Lodge, an amazing hotel/lodge right next to the lake and in Olympic National Park. We saw a deer on the way. A cute little Columbian Black Tail, not the Mule Deer we have here.

We have already decided to stay at the Lodge the next time we take a trip to Washington (and Friday Harbor, of course). Here's a view from right near the Lodge.

The hike was very easy and had some great scenery. Here are is one of the cool bridges and a shot of the falls.

That was just the start. Next, we decided to drive to the Hoh Valley Rainforest. It is way over on the other side of the peninsula, but it was well worth the drive. As soon as we got into the valley, it started raining (shocking, I know, but this was only the second time it rained the entire time we were there).

The first thing we see at the ranger station when we pull up?

Roosevelt Elk! I love Washington! These guys were just laying around chewing their cud. When we went in to pay for our visit, the ranger asked where we were off to. We wanted to try the Hoh Valley Trail, which is an 18 mile trail that goes all the way to some glaciers at the top of the Olympic peaks. He told us it was more or less flat for the first 13 miles, so it wasn't too bad. And truly, having lived our lives 6,000 feet higher than the valley, it wasn't difficult at all. We made it to the top in less than 3 hours. Okay, okay, I'm kidding, the hiking wasn't too hard besides the mud, but there is no way we could have made it 18 miles! He did say all this, but he also told us there was a waterfall 3 miles up the trail, so that was our goal. Here are some shots of the hike, culminating with the waterfall. We made it!

Wow! Right? Anyway, I also took a really short video while walking. I wasn't sure if the pictures would show the depth, so I thought I would try video. I loaded it to YouTube, my first video! Anyway, it is a little muddy (both literally and visually), but I filmed it, it is me hiking. Awesome!

So, the Olympic National Park is incredible. It rained on us about every half hour while we were in the rainforest, and that just made it that much more fun. If you ever get the chance, go there and go hiking. It's incredible!