Ever have one of those days when everything seems to work out right?
Looking forward to our first day in Olympic National Park (#29, for those counting), we were up early and on the road by 7:30 a.m. Our first destination, thanks to the suggestion from Ron and Patty, was Hurricane Ridge.
The weather when we left did not look favorable. It was cold, damp, and socked in by fog. In short, exactly what we thought the Pacific North West would be! Even though we didn’t expect to see a lot we were excited to get in the park and look around. We figured if it was cloudy all day, well, at least we shouldn’t have big crowds.
The entrance station for the Hurricane Ridge road was about a 30-minute drive from our campground. As soon as we passed the gate, the road began a steady, winding climb. We knew the summit was at just over 5,200 feet and the road took 17 miles to get there. That’s a long way in dense fog.
And then something amazing happened.
When we passed through 1,500 feet above sea level we broke out of the fog and into clear blue skies. It was a new world! The fog lay like a blanket further and further under us. The peaks of the Olympics thrust out of the clouds, like islands in the ocean. We had never experienced anything like that in our travels. Truly amazing.
We hit the summit of Hurricane Ridge before 9:00 a.m. Now, we have seen some amazing stuff in our National Parks travels. Things I thought could never be topped. The view that greeted us at Hurricane, well, it was like nothing we could have imagined.
No matter which way we turned, there was nothing but peaks and valleys as far as we could see. The valleys stuffed with cotton candy, glittering in the light of the rising sun. The peaks receded into the distance in gradually lighter shades of purple-blue. And rivers of misty light played above the fog in unnaturally straight lines. The crisp air was still, yet the smells of pine and brown grasses and moisture hung heavy.
I felt simultaneously incredibly big and somehow infinitely small. Time seems to lose meaning in places like that. Shifting earth and eroding glaciers, rains and wind, are shaping this place, and our insignificant time there goes unnoticed. One day or a hundred lifetimes mean little to the mountains. And that, for me, is sublime.
After our experience at Hurricane Ridge we descended back to the Visitor Center, hoping to get our NPS Passport stamp for this park. It wasn’t even 10:30 and we figured we’d probably come back to our campsite and hang around. At the Center, a friendly volunteer Ranger gave us a few suggestions for filling the rest of our day. And they couldn’t have been better!
Heading out of the park, we turned west toward the Lake Crescent region of Olympic. Our first stop was to be at the Lake Crescent Lodge, where we could not only see the wonderful lake and do a waterfall hike, but also have a drink at the very old, very rustic, bar in the lodge. Needless to say, that sealed the deal. Unfortunately upon arrival there was no parking for our RV.
Not to be discouraged, we continued west again to re-enter the park on the Sol Duc Hot Springs Road (again on the Ranger’s suggestion). The drive up Sol Duc was gorgeous, the road surrounded by old-growth forests. We enjoyed lunch at a picnic table along the babbling Sol Duc River, tumbling alongside the roadway. Adding to the tranquility was nearly a complete lack of bugs.
We pulled over for a short hike into the forest on the Ancient Groves Trail. This was like stepping into a different world. Massive Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock blot out the sky hundreds of feet above. Ferns grow rampantly in the shadows. The forest floor is green velvet, everything covered by a soft, fuzzy layer of moss. The air is chilled, as little sun makes it’s way trough the growth. The softness deadens sound, even our footsteps seem muted. Like walking in a dream.
Karen was driving, and spotted an empty parking space at Salmon Cascade, another Ranger suggestion. A short trail lead to the river, where the fall of the land created several 3-foot waterfalls over and through the impeding rocks. Coho salmon had recently begun their annual migration upstream to spawning grounds, and this location provides the opportunity to watch them leaping UP the falls.
Seeing this was undoubtedly one of the single most enjoyable wildlife encounters we’ve ever had! Female Coho took turns attempting the jumps needed to clear the falls. They would randomly explode out of the whitewater, slapping down into the falling stream. A school of several dozen lay motionless just below the obstacle, seemingly waiting for their number to be called. It was truly an amazing sight to behold.
We decided to give one more try at finding parking near Lake Crescent Lodge, and this time we succeeded. We threw on our boots and started up the short hike to Marymere Falls. The tall, narrow falls cascaded over and around moss-covered rock. Quite beautiful! After the hike, we retired to the Lodge itself for a well-deserved beer at the lovely bar. We aren’t ones to pass up a bar with a good vibe! Plus the playlist (curated by the bartender’s co-worker) was awesome.
Leaving Lake Crescent, we took a very short detour to drive through the town of Joyce. Being Karen’s maiden name, of course we had to!! It ended up being one of those “blink-and-you-miss-it” deals, but it was fun all the same.
Karen and I are both planners. It comes with being accountants, I suppose. Today we had little planned other than Hurricane Ridge. But we let the day take its own turns and went along for the ride. And it ended up being perfect.
Leave a Reply