Olympic National Park – Our Overdue Trip to the Rainforest

Peggy’s new grandbaby was born in Seattle in late October.  While she was in town, we took this opportunity to finally check the Olympic National Park off our bucket list.

It is downright embarrassing that we have lived in Washington State most of our lives (since we were 7 & 8 years old!) and have never been to the Olympic National Park (ONP). This shame has been rectified, and it was amazing.

Located on the Olympic Peninsula in upper left Washington State, the gateway to the ONP is really Port Angeles. There are several lodges and resorts closer to the park as well as Airbnb rentals and camping.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – I got the first speeding ticket that I’ve gotten in probably 25 years!  We came down a hill, about 30 min out of our destination and got tagged by what seemed like a 12-year old deputy from the Jefferson Country Sheriff’s Office.  I swear I was already slowing down, pacing the cars in front of me and barely in the reduced speed zone.  Ugh…after this and the “dreaded shake-down” in Yucatan, I should not get behind the wheel on any more sisbehaving adventures.

Our Stay in Sequim

In the absence of availability in Port Angeles, we opted to stay in Sequim (say it like Squid with an m, “Squim”), a short little hop to the east. We found the cutest little cottages on the water overlooking the Strait of Juan De Fuca, ironically enough called The Juan de Fuca Cottages.

Juan de Fuca Cottages were perfect!  Absolutely beautiful, with an amazing view of the water and their own waterfront beach area (in the summer they have kayaks you can borrow, in a shed that is seriously creepy in winter).

ssn – you can actually see Victoria, Canada.  I saw the buildings glimmering in the sunshine!  LOL, recall back to our ferry captain in Wisconsin laughing at me (“Jesus Christ, no”) when I asked if you could see Canada from Lake Superior. 

The cottages (and water) are set back a bit off the highway that runs through town, about a 10 min drive.  But there are a couple of great local places to stop for lavender and produce, the Olympic Game Farm, and a lovely little creamery.  So, don’t go for the easy stop at a chain hotel in town, you will find a cuter experience making the drive out to the water.

Dinner and Drinks in Sequim

The first night we stopped in at the Salty Girls Seafood Company for dinner, and I’m sure it’s fairly obvious that this was chosen completely based on the name.  We loved the atmosphere and the people.  The menu reeled us in with the oysters and cocktails. They keep it simple, focused on what they do best: Oysters.  The clam chowder was fantastic as well, and we loved completing our meal of shared foods with the grown-up grilled cheese.

We were really in the mood for a little sisterly bar-hopping after our cocktails with dinner. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much open in this sleepy little town on a Thursday night. 

However, we did stumble upon Blondie’s! This was a glorious find, a converted church with a little bar in the back.  Blondie herself was there hanging out, and she was a hoot and a half! (that’s my official measurement).  Great cocktails and friendly people, we would definitely come back.

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Quest to Olympic National Park

The next morning, we were up super early, before the sun, to head to the National Park. 

We had mapped out our route, because you can do most of the park in one day, it just involves a lot of driving between spots.  Basically the furthest point we wanted to get to was the Hoh Rainforest, with stops along the way including the beaches at La Push and anything else that drew us in. 

We only had two days and we were determined to crush as much out of those two days as possible.

Olympic National Park – a Few Items Worth Noting

Time and Miles

The park is huge, nearly a million acres! Highway 101 is the main road around the perimeter of the peninsula and most destinations are accessible by roads that branch off of it. But it can be a lot of driving between the highlights. I recommend spending a few days.  However, we were short on time and just wanted to experience as much as possible.  Take your time, hike all the hikes, stop at all the lookout points, and wander the visitor centers. 

Weather

When you are traveling the peninsula, be cautious of the time of year you choose.  It is not uncommon to get snow in September or April, but it is packed with tourists over the summer. 

Summer is gorgeous, but if you find beauty in hazy grey skies then early fall or late spring is perfect for you to avoid the crowds. During summer you will encounter traffic and waits to get in as the lines back up at the entrances, plan accordingly.

Wear layers, because the weather is unpredictable.  It was beautifully sunny as we drove into the Rain Forest then poured rain and hailed 20 minutes later.

The National Park Pass

It is a National Park, and we highly recommend investing in an America the Beautiful National Park Pass, but there are plenty of spots you can see without having to actually enter the park.  Hoh is not one of them, so just get the dang pass, it’s worth it.

Back to our Journey

We knew we wanted to hit the ocean beaches first, and it was a two hour drive to La Push, therefore, early pre-sunrise start. 

Basically, head for Port Angeles and hang a left, and drive through this gorgeous Olympic Highway lined with evergreens and fantastic foliage.

It was dark so it took us a minute to realize we were passing Lake Crescent.  It was just prior to sunrise, we stopped for some lovely but dark-ish picture taking, and just to enjoy the view. 

The air is just so crisp, and it feels good to breathe around all those trees. The sun was just starting to come up, and it makes for just a beautiful peaceful drive.  Well, ok, it would be peaceful if weren’t having a little carpool Karaoke going on, but we rocked it, and it felt good.

La Push

The drive takes you right along the twisting, turning Sol Duc River, so the views are incredible along this area. 

We arrived at La Push fairly early in the morning, with hopes of finding breakfast.  But had zero luck in La Push with anything being open. 

So, another note to travelers, pack snacks. As I stated the park is huge, and there is a lot of driving between spots, bring water, bring road snacks.

La Push is a cute little town on the Native American reservation of the Quileute tribe.  It is also known as the home of Jacob in the Twilight series.

Second Beach

La Push has four unique beaches: Rialto, First Beach, Second Beach, and Third Beach.

They put a lot of thought and creativity into these names. 

If you go into the town of La Push, there is a little ocean side lodge, and camping spots, if you plan ahead it is a lovely outdoorsy place to stay.  It has a fantastic ocean view, remembering this is the Washington state version of the Pacific Ocean, not the California version.  It’s absolutely stunning. 

Second Beach – the hike

Although Rialto Beach is the most well-known, we heard that Second Beach was actually the prettiest. So we opted for a hike at Second beach for our first adventure of the morning.  We had a rainy day, which was no surprise, but it made for a slippery hike on the trails.  Come prepared with proper footwear and rain jackets. 

ssn – This was not foreshadowing – which is shocking – neither of us fell.  AND we were appropriately prepared.  Win!

It felt like at any minute the beach was going to just leap out in front of us, but the trail twisted and turned a while, and then there are slow winding steps actually down to the beach itself.  I kept swearing I was not hiking all the way down to the beach, but at the end of the day I knew I would regret it if I didn’t, and my booty needed to shake all the way down and back up again.  All in all, it’s about 0.8 miles round trip but take it at your own pace, it is worth it. 

Second Beach – the reveal

The hike opens up on this amazing rocky beach, with a few fallen trees, streams of water running out of the trees, and crashing waves on the big beach boulders.  It was stunning! The beach stretches out about 200 yards in either direction, there are rocks to climb on at low tide, but just to stay and breathe in the natural wonder of the Pacific Ocean is incredible.

Forks, WA

After our hike we were long overdue for food.  Coming out of La Push and continuing our journey led us straight into Forks, WA.  A town known for really only one thing: The Twilight Series. 

If you are a fan of these books, I’m sure this town is already on your radar. 

At the town’s Visitor Center, you’ll find Bella’s truck, take pictures with cardboard cutouts of Edward, Bella, and Jacob, and see movie memorabilia. The town plays up their claim to fame well and provides many sites for those obsessed with the story.

There are several small local restaurants, but be mindful of the limited hours of a small town. And, as is our preference, there are no chain restaurants in the town. We opted for a little Mexican restaurant, small, unassuming, local, and definitely authentic Mexican food, as a chiliquiles lover, I was happy.

Olympic National Park – Hoh Rainforest

After a quick bite to eat and refueling, we were excited to head to the Hoh Rainforest. The drive is just under an hour.

Here’s a big shocker, it rains a lot there.  This is a temperate rainforest, meaning rainfall of around 150″ per year with moderate temperatures. It is the wettest place in the continental United States. It poured the entire time we were there, and you can’t even complain or be shocked, it is just nature at its finest.

The Rainforest is stunning.  In fact, the entire drive in is amazing.

Hoh Rainforest Visitors Center and Hall of Mosses

In late Autumn it was beautiful & haunting, but I am sure at its peak season in summer it would be mind-blowing.  Because it was Autumn, there was naturally a lot of foliage on the ground (it was fall, y’all).  Even though there is an abundance of Sitka Spruce, Red Cedar and Douglas Fir, there are still plenty of deciduous trees, mainly Big Leaf Maples, that drop their leaves this time of year.

ssn – Visitors Centers are always a great place to learn about the native flora, fauna, climate and environment. One of the more unique facts we learned was that the rainforest’s banana slugs eat poop. This prompted giggles and a new euphemism that we still use, “I’ve got to feed the banana slugs”.

ssn – I would definitely not use the word disappointed, but I was slightly let down by amount of soggy, brown leaves covering the ground.  This sounds ridiculous, I know.  But I was expecting year-round green, lush & dense foliage.  It was still beautiful but just not quite was I was envisioning.

However, let’s talk about the highlight of our entire trip:  THE RIVER OTTERS.  Obsessed?  Why yes, we were.  They were adorable, and I want to go back and visit them again!

The entire Hoh river trail is gorgeous, with the moss covered rocks a bright beautiful green, and the water flowing and tumbling over the fallen trees, beaver dams, and natural twists and turns.

The visit to Hoh is worth the entire day long drive around the ONP loop just to experience this level of beauty.

Beaver Falls

Heading back on Highway 101, we realized we missed every waterfall along the way, due to pre-daylight hours or lack of opportunity.

ssn – we really wanted to do Sol Duc Hot Springs and Sol Duc Falls but there wasn’t quite enough time for that.  Plus, the hike in our still slightly wet clothes and the dropping temperatures didn’t sound all that appealing.

So, we did a quick search and found a roadside surprise in Beaver Falls.

Just a quick side trip off the 101, with a pull off on the side of the road and we got our waterfall junkie fix pretty easily and quickly, and impressively.

Lake Crescent

On our way back to Port Angeles, we drove back passed Lake Crescent, and we were actually surprised at how much we really did miss driving it in the dark that morning.  It is a huge lake, with plenty of viewpoints.  It was strikingly beautiful in the daylight. We also stopped along the way and got some beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains.

Port Angeles

We had planned to stop for dinner in Port Angeles. It’s a little bigger with more food choices than Sequim.  We were really looking for a sunset view but failed miserably.  Instead, we stopped for a cocktail and a quick appetizer at Smuggler’s landing near the ferry terminal.  It had a pretty standard seafood menu, but we were saving our appetite plus, no view.  Cute little spot for watching the harbor, but not exactly what our souls were craving.

Luckily, we found Next Door Gastropub, because who doesn’t love a good Gastropub.  And it had great reviews.  For a reason!  We loved this little place right on front street.

We secured seats at the bar, with a fabulous staff behind the counter. Craft cocktails and local ingredients; a little seafood done right, and local beef hamburgers. 

Plus, they have a pay it forward board, where you can leave drinks for others.  So, naturally we bought a round for the house for after work.  We left full and happy and looking forward to our day two!

Olympic Peninsula Day 2

Here is where we disappoint you (and ourselves).  And how we developed our tips about planning accordingly for the weather.

Because our Day Two plans of Hurricane Ridge were snowed out.  We were bummed and wish we would have done that on day one.  Hurricane Ridge is a 17-mile drive up to the mountains, it’s windy and twisty, and scenic to the hilt, and too dangerous for us to drive on Day Two.

Instead, we settled for breakfast with an old friend at the local Big Elk Restaurant, which turned out to be fantastic (I’m sure Peggy has a ssn for her breakfast, because she totally won that round).

ssn – my picture perfect breakfast was hearty and delicious.  Chorizo omelet with the most perfect hashbrowns ever.

Back to Seattle

We ended up heading back to Seattle earlier than planned.  Opting for the scenic route back to Seattle, continuing on Highway 101 along Hood Canal.  It was beautiful but the rain just never stopped.  An early return to Seattle had its upside (besides seeing baby Beckham); it led to our night of Tiki, Thai & Sushi in Seattle. Which ended up being soooo worth it, go read all about it!!!

While you are in the PNW, check out our other posts:

• Seattle Center and the City’s Quirky Neighborhoods
• Seattle Day Drinking (part 1)
• Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and Whale Watching
• Tri-Cities, WA
• Portland, OR