Week 23 (Continued) - Olympic National Park "Three Parks in One"

Hello Family and Friends,

We have left Seattle to head to Olympic National Park. We hopped on another ferry in order to decrease our dive time by about an hour.

"How many more photos do you need of us on a boat?" - Brett McKinney

Even though we took a ferry, we still got stuck behind a draw bridge that opened up to let a single sailboat go through. I have never seen a drawbridge in action so that was a neat experience. People get out of their car and just enjoy the scenery.

Once we got to Olympic National Park we had the daunting task of trying to decide what we should see. Olympic has everything from snow capped mountains to beaches. We decided to see the rainforest as it is the only one in the United States. We went to the Hoh Rainforest. After a 2 hour drive and waiting in line for an hour and a half, we arrived to an overcrowded parking lot. Essentially you go to Hoh to hike through the rainforest. There were three different trailheads of varying lengths and difficulties.

Atlas decided he needed a photo moment.

Probably because we decided to take one of the shorter nature loops there were so many people. There were a few trails heads that we had passed on our way so we decided to back track. We had the rainforest all to ourselves!

A beautiful view at the end of Big Spruce Tree Nature Trail

The boys found a spruce tree to climb into.

Brett's glasses are not tinted because all the tree cover blocks out a lot of the sun on One Mile Pullout Nature Trail.

More of the rainforest foliage.

Even though we had to wait an hour and a half to get into the rainforest, it was 100% worth it. Just bring something to do that doesn't need internet or cell service like a book to read and it really isn't so bad. There are campgrounds available right near the visitor center and then you wouldn't have to do the 2 hour drive or the wait to get into that section of the park, but we're a little bougie and require things like air-conditioning.

The next day we drove about an hour and a half back into the park to visit Hurricane Ridge. The winds can get up to 75mph. We, thankfully, had a very little wind.

A view from the Lookout Rock Nature Trail at Morse Creek Overlook heading up towards Hurricane Ridge.

The deer have no fear of people and one walked right by our car as we were bundling up (We were at over 5,000 feet and the weather is a little cooler).

A buck walking right by our car and me holding Atlas so that he doesn't scare the buck away.

The deer let you get pretty close, but they aren't fearless enough to let you touch them.

A doe just off of the Cirque Nature Trail at Hurricane Ridge eating and not concerned with us at all.

Just a family photo with the Olympic Mountains in the background while exploring Hurricane Hill Nature Trail/Pacific NW Trail.

Another stunning view of the Olympic Mountains.

Of course we took some time to remember our Nathaniel.

We like to remember Nathaniel with young trees, hoping that they will be there for a long time and get to live the life that Nathaniel never had the opportunity to live.

On our way back down the mountain we turned onto this gravel road, Obstruction Point Road. At one point Brett was like maybe this is a bad idea and we should turn around, but I was hearing none of it. What's the worst that could happen taking our 10,000lb car down a single lane gravel road that just opened for the season 2 days ago. I told Brett that if one day Atlas retraces his steps when he's older I hope that he knows his parents are crazy.

You can only get a view like this from a road less traveled.

Once we reached Obstruction Point we were at the snow level. We even ran into a group of snowboarders who were finishing up for the day. They told us that they had been snowboarding off of a glacier and into a lake. My brain just wasn't processing that there could be be enough snow in July to snowboard.

Never had snow in July, but now Christmas in July make sense.

There were warning signs for hikers indicating they needed to bring and know how to use an ice pick if they were planning on hiking even in the summer (I did mention that this road just opened in July and then closes again in October).

I would recommend this park for people who like to hike. The trail heads are very easy to reach by car. They are varying difficulty levels and the trails are well marked. The visitor centers are not built up (to be fair Hurricane Ridge's center had just burnt down). They are essentially information centers for hikers. That means there are no restaurants, water or bug spray that you can buy while in the park. We did see the most variety of wildlife including a new animal for me, the Marmot (never even heard of such a thing). While not one of our favorite national parks this one still has plenty of unique offerings and is worth the visit if you are ever in the Seattle area for awhile.