July 01, 2021

Olympic National Park’s eco system makes is so diverse. It is however, very large, and so I broke it up into 2 days since the Hoh Rain Forest park entrance is far from the one in Port Angeles.

So I stayed the night in Forks, and yes, it looks foggy and gloomy just like the movies showed it. The fog hangs over the city until you start to drive into the trees towards the forest.

This entrance is pretty busy, but I didn’t have to wait very long because I got there before 0900 am. When I found a parking spot, a guy walked up to me with a bag of super poofy marshmallows and a bag of full size chocolate bars and said I could have them since they were leaving. Score!

The visitor’s center is a delight of large displays that even includes a rain gauge to see how much rainfall the park gets.

The trails have a good amount of people, but are not crowded once you start walking. I did the Hall of Mosses and the Spruce Trails, which is by the visitor’s center, and it’s the perfect way to introduce yourself to the rainforest.

The trees are like being in a different world, I would compare it to the Nintendo Zelda Breath of the Wild game. The moss hangs off the trees like thick hair, weird and strange tree formations from falls and rain creates magical patterns to see. If you’ve ever wanted to walk on a fallen, massive tree trunk, this is the place to do it.

The air smells like you plunged your nose in the dirt, earthy and clear, and there’s groves of trees in clusters to form little tranquil spaces. Woodpeckers thump the trees to make echoes, and there’s quaint bridges over rivets of water to cross. There’s a part where you can access the river also, and it makes a good place to rest and listen to the water.

After the hikes and a meal break at the campsite, it’s time to spend the evening at another part of the park, the coastline.

There’s First, Second, and Third Beach but most of them are closed due to being on Native Quileute land and their restrictions of people due to Covid-19. Rialto Beach is still open though, and so I head there with a jacket.

The first thing I notice is the large amounts of driftwood, some as long as the length of 5 cars, that line along the beach, their color drained from the sun. I’ve heard of the ability to view spectacular sunsets here, but I don’t think I’ll be lucky in that, because it’s very cloudy.

Large birds sail in the air, and I notice the wind. The sound that the waves make is a long, whooshing drawl that’s in sync with the swell of the wave until it crashes. It’s honestly scary, and so I only have the courage enough to touch the water with my hands for a bit. The people in bodysuits with boogie boards down the beach jumping in those waves are fun to watch, though.

The beach has massive rock formations with mini forests on top are amazing to look at. I’m glad I kept my hiking shoes on because the entire beach is covered in smooth, different sized flat circular rocks, that remind me of another Nintendo game where you throw the smooth rocks into the pond to skip. I then proceeded to do this since the rocks are unique in their colors and even though they look like they would be rough, they are smooth as the top of my hand. I find pieces of crab among the rocks as well.

To be able to sit on driftwood and close your eyes and hear the power of the ocean is something you can feel very deep in your soul, and before I know it, it’s time to leave. There’s much more to explore here in Washington, and tomorrow I’m off to fulfill a lifelong wish of seeing Mount Rainier in person!