Today we knew we needed an early start. We were headed to the Hoh Rainforest section of Olympic, probably the single most crowded part of the park. And even though it was after Labor Day, the limited parking available for RV’s meant we really needed to get moving.
We were on the road early, and the Pacific North West fog was there to greet us. While not as heavy as the last two days, it still makes driving on unknown roads a bit scary. Our campsite, strange as it is, was located very near the Hoh River entrance which made the commute shorter.
We were in the parking lot and ready to hike by 8:00 a.m. There are 10 RV spots in the visitor center lot and there were three other RV’s already there. One of them, in fact, was our neighbor at the bizarre campsite. They had the same plan as we did.
The Hoh River area of the park contains one of the largest temperate rainforests in the United States. 24 square miles of dense green. It is truly something to behold. In fact, nearly 500,000 visitors a year come down the narrow, winding entrance road, hoping to find a limited parking spot. For those who succeed, the rewards are plentiful.
We started with the quintessential hike, a 1.1 mile stroll through groves of bigleaf maples, spruce, and fir, on the Hall of Mosses trail. Some of these trees towered over 200 feet above our heads, which is enough to be amazing. The nearly complete low-level covering of mosses and ferns made the already interesting hike even more incredible. Everything we saw, everywhere we looked, things were alive.
The Hall of Mosses is a small cul-de-sac offshoot of the main trail, surrounded by fencing. The surrounding landscape was ridiculously wonderful. Four foot tall ferns surrounding trees draped in flowing moss encompassed the area. And it was silent, the living plants deadened any sound. It was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
After completing that walk, we opted for a 6-mile round trip out-and-back hike along the Hoh River, turning around at the Mineral Creek Falls. Foot traffic was already building on the Hall of Mosses trail (the most popular hike) and we hoped that the river hike would give us solitude. And it did.
The hike meandered through the land just north of the Hoh River, which remained mostly hidden from us even though we were less than 50 yards from its banks most of the way. At this time of the morning, we saw few people on the hike out. The vegetation was as amazing as the first trail, and the sense of solitude was wonderful. We went huge stretches without seeing other hikers.
The Mineral Creek Falls were a narrow band of water tucked back from the main trail. It was quite lovely falling amongst the trees. We continued a short distance beyond the falls before turning around for the return trip. Making our way back to the visitor center was completely different than the hike out. Clearly more and more visitors were arriving, and we passed a considerable number of hikers heading out on the trail. I quickly tired of giving the, “Good morning!” greeting to people we passed. It is tough to be antisocial around so many others!
Like many other parks in our travels, we were done with what we wanted before noon. The parking lot, only sparsely filled when we arrived, was now packed to capacity. People were circling in cars, hoping to get the perfectly timed departure of someone else. It is all a bit much for us so we were thankful to be leaving.
After fueling up for our drive tomorrow, we came back to our exceedingly strange campsite. We spent some time relaxing inside (with the air conditioner on) and Karen took a nap in the recliner. Dinner and drinks outside were great, and we end the night in the RV with the windows open, temps cooling into the low 60’s. Should be great sleeping weather.
We have enjoyed three days in Olympic National Park. For me, this place has risen to my number 2 national park I’ve visited. Acadia is still my number 1, and it will take a lot to dethrone it. Olympic, however, has blown me away. The combination of mountain peaks, sub-alpine fields, ragged coastlines, and rainforests, is going to be hard to beat. There are bigger, badder, more well-known parks, but Olympic is no lightweight. I hope you all can see it for yourselves one day.
Leave a Reply