Olympic National Park

We often watch movies reeling the fairy tail saga with princess walking through the gigantic pine trees, looking up to match the height of Douglas fir in her imagination, hitting the edge of the valley with breathtaking view of glacier clad mountains crowning miles of wilderness, overlooking the deepest U-shaped valleys. She dances with the avalanche lilies, bistro, tiger lilies beneath stunted fir trees. She accompanies the deer, chases the marmot and fears the black beer. BUZZER! This was actually our real life experience this summer when we crossed the Oregon border and landed in Washington. Undoubtedly, I am talking about the Olympic National Park in the state of Washington, PNW. Did you just get lost in the saga? There is more to Dorothy's story

Olympic National Park is located in the state of Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline , alpine areas, the west side temperate rainforests and the forests of the drier east side. Within the park, there are three distinct ecosystems including the subalpine forest with the glacier tipped mountain, and wild flower meadow known as Hurricane Ridge, the temperate forest a.k.a HOH rain Forest and the rugged Pacific coast with beautiful beaches amongst which Ruby Beach is one popular one.

Now don't take me wrong, it's all how you plan you trip to be. Make the most of the place, be your king of the game.

From the misty rainforests to high alpine mountains this Washington State park has amazing views and hiking trails . We covered most of the iconic spots in our 2-3 day visit to Olympic national park. You could easily spend a week exploring around the Olympic Peninsula and all that it has to offer.

So lets roll peeps...

Hurricane Ridge & The Sol Duc Valley

Hurricane Ridge

Carpe diem, don't we often go with this saying in our daily routine. Seize the day, value every moment in life, focus in the present and avoid postponing things. Nonetheless, the elite class leads Carpe Diem caring about the future of these ecosystems. Two very separate concepts but meaningful in its own domain, running parallel tracks avoiding the clash of the two. Between 1982 and 2009 the number of the glaciers in the olympic Mountains dwindled from 266 to 184. The icy icons of the hurricane ridge are projected to essentially vanish by 2070. The yearly meltwaters of mountain glaciers provide cascading benefits to their watersheds and this loss will be felt throughout the ecosystems downstream. Hence there are volunteers working on these meadows preserving whatever they can as we speak.

As I said in the very beginning, my profile could that be of Dorothy's. Bewildered with nature showcase. We were actually at an elevation in the range of 5,242 ft to aprox~7,000ft overlooking the dense alpine tree meadows filled with wild flowers, sparkling water and steep valleys. We stopped by the Morse Creek overlook and hiked the Meadow Trail getting fully acquainted with the deers of the meadows.

Picture below is that of the Bailey Range. Bailey Range is the subrange of the Olympic Mountains, and can be seen from the Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge visitor center. Mount Olympus is the highest summit at 7980 ft of the Olympic Mountain Range. These mountains are located in western Washington in the US, spread out across four counties Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Mason.

Lilies of the valley, someone whom we had met before in Jasper, Canada

The hilarious event that occurred at hurricane ridge was my service provider sending me a welcome message for being in Canada. It seemed we were shaking hands with the Vitoria Island, so close to see in the overlook point.

The bistort was the first of its kind of flowers I saw on the sunrise trail at Kallalam Ridge Trail. Very much similar to bear grass in GNP, Montana and YNP, Montana

I, by now have started taking selfies, it's clicking selfies galore! And Bailey was so pretty to be clicked at any time.

Did know how we named the Olympic Games? SPOILER ALERT! There is absolutely no connecting dot there. So don't run your horses in ten wrong direction, there is no route there.

Sol Duc Valley

The Old growth forest, subalpine lakes, and snowy peaks populate the landscape of Sol Dec while also serving the key highway to the coho salmon running through the valley and ascending to the lakes and headwaters in the surrounding mountains. The say you can actually see the salmon leaping upstream at the Sol Duc Valley;s Salmon Cascades viewing platform. We weren't that lucky to see the huge leap. Ahh!

Makes me wonder if I could plan to come back again, before 2070? Na....wont be here on earth then.

The Sol Duc Valley is located in the northwest region of the park, just 40 minutes west of Port Angeles.

We stayed at Forks, although you could easily find lodging at the Port Angeles too. We took literally the most common and easy hike from the parking lot there, walkthrough the old growth forest to the Sol due falls is just a mile long. Sol Duc Falls hike is fairly easy peasy walk for the family. Not more than 1.6 miles round trip. Also was highly recommended on trip advisor. A brief history for you. Sol Duc River is river in the US state ofWashington about 78 miles log. It flows through tithe northwest part of the Olympic National PArk and Olympic National Fires and the through the Broad Sol Duc Valley.

On route to the Sol Duc Falls. The saying ' Journey is more important than the destination' goes pretty well with all the trail hikes. It's the happy go lucky light hearted mood that takes everything in stride.

Generally speaking, not that this hike was a difficult one. In fact its the easiest we had in the olympic national park.

HOH Rainforest

Tucked away in Washington state's Olympic National Park, the HOH Rain forest receives up to 100-170 inches of rainfall annually. The HOH is the northernmost rainforest in the lower 48, spanning 24 miles along with HohRiver. Annual precipitation along the coastal plane is a natural originator of the lush greed temperate ran forest. Rain forest forms the second important ecosystem in the Olympic National park. Describing anything further would surely make you feel join a geological species and the natural phenomenon of growth.

We had never seen something of this kind before. a few of the moss covered trees did come on our way to Sol Duc falls however entering the Hall Of Mosses drove us away into a land that we had only seen in reel.

Hall of Mosses

Drenched in over 12 feet of rain a year, west side valleys nurture giant western hemlock, Douglas Fir and Sitka spruce trees Moss- draped big leaf maples treat a magical scene that erases all the sense of time. Roosevelt Elks also linger along the riverbanks at dawn and dusk. Now what did that sound to you, there is no extra word in here that took away the authentic description of the place. However, the irony is that its what meet your eye!

You will see lush beards of clubmoss attached to the boughs but feed only on air and light. The rain forest atmosphere supplies enough moisture and wind borne nutrients

Trees like big leaf maples support denser clusters of airplanes or epiphytes (lichens and hanging mosses).

The sight of the animals in the forests always makes it adventourous for everyone. Luckily we found these Roosevelt Elks everywhere in most of the trails in ONP. This one was from the Spruce Trail

A man who is a typical thalassophile and a naturalist.

Many times I have realized my existence as a human and by far have lived up to its being, nonetheless have always ascertained it to be an infinitesimal creation in front of the inconceivable enormous universe.

Picture says it all, you may not even notice me.

HoH Rain Forest offers self guiding nature trails, campgrounds and picnic tables. We did have our staple....."BBB, the Bread Butter and Bujiya" on the rocks here.

Lake Crescent

The drive through the plains surrounded by gorgeous turquoise lake on your side is all that one needs during a road trip. We drove from Port Angeles to ONP and there it was, on our side throughout. Lake Crescent is located entirely within the Olympic National Park in Clallam County, WA approximately 17 miles west of the Port Angeles on US route 101 and nearby to the small community Piedmont.

Now, I had to do my homework and be ready for all the questions that were about to bombard on me. Who cares if there was a live commentary playing in the car as a guide to the location! I am to calm down the curiosity in my kids brain. So Crescent is 624 ft deep shimmering glacier-carved lake that is none other than a jewel of the ONP. Wanting to know more? Ofcourse! We all want absorb the nutrients with every diet of beauty, don't we?

So, a massive landslide isolated Lake Crescent from Lake Sutherland approximately 7,000 yrs ago. There are two uniquely adapted populations the Crescenti and Beardslee trout that resulted from genetic isolation following this event. Interesting! Well it's wheel of time that revolves us from one time to another. Also genetic revolution can eventually create a new species all together.

Crescent Lake is popular for its crystal clear water and largely undeveloped shoreline . US highway 101 tracks the south era coast of the lake for 10 miles of gentle curves and gorgeous views winding past several pull out areas and historic lodge. some gorgeous

We strolled though the 'Moments in the Time' trail and sat on the beach snacking our packed sandwiches away.

Take a look at the tree below, the natural forests evolved in the presence of fire. The heart of this western red cedar was consumed by fire, the crown is still green? Live tissue still survives under the bark transporting food down from the needles and water and nutrients up from the roots. Wow!

Elwha Valley

The valley was accessible by foot access road is pretty washed out though. We hiked to the Madison Falls. 0.6. miles trail to the falls is refreshing and surrounded by the steam of the water from the waterfalls

Madison Falls

The abrupt stop and sitting on the rocks by the Gaines Canyon Spillway Overlook was not only fun but it also helps reconcile what you jus absorbed in a few days back.

Coast & Ruby Beach

The third ecosystem that is a part of the Olympic National Park is the Coastal section. The wilderness coast provides a dynamic scene. Lower tides expose sea anemones, sea urchins and sea stars and limpets strategically arranged in the rocks. Just as we saw at the Cannon Beach in Oregon. We happened to visit the Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach

Headed to the reddish sand beach, Ruby Beach. It is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the coastal section of the Olympic National Park. It is located on highway 101, in Jefferson county , 27 miles south of the town in Forks. That's where we stayed.

Although Ruby is famous for the reddish sand and hence the name, I found the sand to be next to black in color. It occasionally gathers, large rock islands known as sea stacks. It is also known for the ruby-like crystals found in the beach sand. Really, did not find one!

The trip to Olympic National Park was a revision of the Biology and Geography Classes back in high school. And hell yeah, I raced and ranked top in all those classes. However now was the practical session with loads of entertainment throughout. Wonder why we don't we take this as a lesson instead of those lectures in the 4 walled classrooms

Taking pictures on the trip can be challenging with a family, especially when one's a teenager and other is breeding to be one. Fun trick is to conjure them in a manner that boost their egos towards adulthood.

Ruby Beach has a tremendous amount of driftwood. It is notable for the huge number of sea stacks.

Many take away the agates ands glass to unique rocks as souveniers. Trust me with the kind of trip we planned, I did not have a room for a pin in our bags.

Overall a must visit place for all the reasons that I tried to give you in this blog, Andbeside, family that travels together, stays together....haha...no dearth of the sayings. Make one of your own when you step your feet in this dreamy national park.

Coming up soon is the Mount Rainier National Park....so don't go anywhere! Ciao!