Olympic National Park, est 1938

This year we celebrated The Forth of July in Olympic National Park. Our base camp for the visit was Port Angeles, Washington.

Day 1

Ediz Hook

Ediz Hook is a three mile, crescent-shaped sand split that extends from the Port Angles Boat Harbor and Marina. The "Hook" splits the Port Angles Harbor and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We spent the evening walking Bucky and waving to Canada. Note: It was in the 80s in Port Angeles but FREEZING on the hook from the air off the Pacific.

Harbor Seal or Lock Ness Monster??

Day 2

HOH Rainforest

The HOH Rainforest is one of 4 sections of the park totally about 16,000 acres. Only 4% of the original amount of Temperate Rainforest is left in the Olympic Peninsula. This temperate rain forest is made up of both coniferous and maple trees, both of which are draped in moss. You need to get up early to visit this part of the park. We arrived at 9:00 AM and waited 2 hrs to get in. By the time we left at 1:00, there was close to a 3 hr wait. This is because of limited parking and to keep the number of people visiting to about 2500 people a day.

Mom and baby Elk video...

Nurse Tree- a fallen tree begins to decompose and supplies nutrients for new trees to root and grow

I wish the pictures would do this forest justice. It was absolutely beautiful. I was disappointed that it wasn't raining but the ranger we talked to said that July is the driest month. The rest of the year it gets over 125 inches of rain.

Rialto Beach

After the HOH Rainforest, we drove through Forks and the town of La Push to Rialto Beach. (Note: For Twilight Fans, there were references around the towns but it looks nothing like the movies.)

Rialto Beach is part of Olympic National Park and is a coastal forest and ocean beach ecosystem. There is an enormous amount of drift wood here that makes this beach extra special. Again, the winds off the ocean made this a cold beach visit with wind chills in the 50s.

No matter how cold it is, just can't keep Brodey out of the water

Crescent Lake

We drove along Crescent Lake, which is a lake located entirely within Olympic National Park. This lake is used for camping, fishing, and boating. We stopped at various pullouts to take pictures on our way back from HOH and Rialto Beach.