Rambling

Days 44 & 45-July 12 & 13

Something new was on tap for us today. We took the ferry from Caudeville to Port Townsend on our way to Olympic National Park. The 30 minute ferry ride cut off the long trip around through Seattle. Olympic NP has very few areas that are accessible by road. We drove along the northern end of the park as it skirts Lake Crescent. This is another clear mountain lake with unbelievable blue water that unfortunately my camera will not reproduce. Our destination for the night was Hoh Rain Forest campground in the park. We were greeted at the main gate by a bull elk as he nonchalantly grazed by the roadside. We have found that many of the campgrounds in our national parks have not been updated to accommodate the larger campers that are being used today. This campground was no exception, but we were lucky enough to find a spot for the night. Two young bucks with their velvety antlers were enjoying the grass as we set up our camper. We arrived with just enough time before dark to take a hike through an area called the Hall of Mosses. Quite appropriately it rained while we enjoyed our hike through the rain forest. What a fantastic experience. The area receives so much rain (as much as 240 inches a year) that the trees become giants in a relatively short period of time. This is an old-growth forest with some of the trees taking root as much as 1000 years ago. The trees are covered with a variety of mosses and other vegetation that are nourished by the nutrients found in the air and water of the forest. They actually live on the tree, but they are not parasites. One of the most amazing things in the rain forest are the nurse trees. When a tree falls in the forest as time goes by seedlings receive nourishment from the decaying tree and eventually their roots surround the downed tree to reach the ground. As time goes by the nurse tree slowly decays away and there are actually tunnels among the roots of the new trees.
In the morning the two bucks returned to entertain us as we enjoyed our breakfast. Then it was off again as we continued to explore the outskirts of the park on our way to Mt. Rainier National Park. We made a short stop at Ruby Beach to see the unusual rock formations then it was time to head southeast to see Rainier.

All loaded and ready for our ride across Puget Sound.

Momma and her babies.

The pier at Port Townsend.

Lake Crescent

An amazing entrance to the trail.

The old-growth forest contains some huge trees.

One of the amazing sights on our walk through the rain forest.

Nurse tree.

Even the phone booth takes on a new look in the rain forest.

At home in Olympic NP.

Ruby Beach

Thanks to my truck driver husband we managed to squeeze into another tight spot at Ohanapecosh campground. Again we arrived in time to take what has become our evening hike. This one was especially nice as we wandered through the woods past a hot springs that in the early 1900's was developed as a resort. The buildings have all been removed and the springs have been allowed to return to their original formation. After passing two small waterfalls we arrived at Silver Falls. The falls were awesome and well worth the hike.