North Olympic NP Exploration - July 2024

Sol Duc, Lake Crescent, and Hurricane Ridge - July 14, 2024 

Olympic National Park is very spread out with multiple areas in the northwest peninsula area of Washington. The interior of the park can only be reached by hiking. Olympic has the only rainforest in the lower 48 states. Hwy 101 almost goes all around the park. Though to get from Staircase to the Beaches (heading west along the south side of the park), we had to take another road, and it went pretty far south of the park. Travis found that Hwy 101 went through California and down to Mexico.   

We found two short hikes for each the Sol Duc and Lake Crescent areas. They were in the park newspaper. The Sol Duc area is also known for its moss. Again, we saw detour signs, saw others following them, started to follow them, and then changed our minds and turned around. We determined that it was past our first stop. The first hike was Sol Duc Falls (1.6 miles roundtrip) and then Ancient Groves (0.6 miles loop) on the Sol Duc road. There was a pay booth on the Sol Duc Road, but no one was there when we went through. We arrived early and had no trouble getting a spot in the Sol Duc Falls trailhead parking lot. We passed the Ancient Groves trail on the way; it was just a pull out on the road. We also had no trouble here, after the waterfall hike, and was the only car. When we finished the second hike, there were two other cars. 

Old growth forest and the Sol Duc Falls. The hikes were mostly shady and cool (it's no Grand Canyon). A very nice hike, and we ran into people finishing a longer, multiple day from a connecting trail. I overheard one talking about practicing setting up her tent in her backyard. This is also where there was a large downed tree in the trail that I bottomed out and got a scrap on the way there. On the way back, she said that I was so graceful climbing over it. I said, "not on the way in".  

Then on to Ancient Groves.

The carpet of moss was neat. 

We saw lots of nursery logs, fallen trees with new trees, moss, and other plants growing on them, in all parks on this trip. 

We also stopped for Salmon Cascade Overlook, which had a short talk in. We did not see any salmon, wrong time of year. Here are the cascades that they jump.

Then we were off to the Lake Crescent area after confirming that the detour was right after it. They had a bridge closed to replace it, which sounds like a long term job, but we must have just caught the end of the construction because I saw a story a few day after getting home about the new bridge opening. Here we were doing the Marymere Falls trail (1.8 miles roundtrip) and Moments in Time trail (0.6 mile loop). Travis found a spot on the side of the road after the last car, and then others parked behind him. We stayed in the spot and walked to the second hike. 

We checked out the lake first. Very pretty. 

Then we visited the restroom before hiking; it had a long line for the women's restroom. It had four stalls with two that were broken -- 50% capacity. There was also a water filler here. Off to the hike.  

Marymere Falls

Peek at the lake through the trees. We did see people kayaking and relaxing on the lake's beach.

People tunnel under the road at the beginning and end of the Falls hike. 

Then we found the Moments in Time. It was an interpretative, loop trail that actually had multiple entrances/exits, so Travis pinned our starting point. 

After the hike, we stopped by the Mt. Storm King Ranger station. Mt. Storm King hike was the long hike in the area. The Ranger was very friendly. We asked if he recommended Hurricane Ridge and time required. He talked about marmots there, and then showed us the current detour off and back onto Hwy 101. I got a NP passport stamp. We had a picnic in a park area near the restroom and Marymere hike start. 

Then we got to do the fun detour. It was a narrow, windy, very crowded, two way road. When a big vehicle was coming the other way, watch out. We stopped at the Port Angeles Visitor Center. Then we headed to Hurricane Ridge for the views, not to hike, which was the road to the left out of the Visitor Center. There was a pay booth about 5 miles in and was operating. The Ranger at Storm King said that there were 200 parking spot at the Ridge when I asked if we should drive or take the Port Angeles bus ($2 round trip). The parking looked pretty full at first, but when you drove further in, there were plenty available. 

Views from Hurricane Ridge

The Visitor Center at Hurricane Ridge burned down in May 2023. I googled to confirmed that I remembered the date right and found that they could not determine what caused the fire...crazy. This is what is left. It was also ironic because there was a fire hydrant on both side of the remains (below). They had some portable buildings setup for the Rangers and a restroom. The Ranger at Storm King said that they are planning to rebuild and were working with contractors and getting quotes.  

A few more views before heading down. 

Lots of yellow wildflowers. 

A stop because Travis was annoyed being behind someone braking down instead of using a lower gear. Travis also did not approve of the Chevy Malibu one low gear; it did not slow the engine down much. I noticed the same. We are used to two lower gears and where you can hear the engine breaking. From the sign, I found Mt. Baker. 

After Hurricane Ridge, we continued east on Hwy 101 to Fort Townsend state park where we were staying tonight. It too was pricy -- $40 -- and tossed in an out of state visitor fee at the very end of the checkout process. We arrived before 5pm, but there was no one at the booth. There were complicated instructions to sign in and no where to park while completing the paperwork. I had printed the campsite purchase beforehand like it instructed, so first put this on our dashboard. Later (after a hike), after 5pm, there was someone working the booth, so I walked back to the campsite and back to the booth to ask. She said I did not need the print out, and printed a receipt size paper for me to put on the dashboard instead. Before that, we found our spot and setup the tent. We had a good location for the restroom tonight. The restroom had a shower, free, and not even pre-sold to us. Though we did not hassle with a shower the next night. There were a ton of mosquitos here though! We walked an interpretative trail near the campsite and then the cemetery trail. After this is when I found someone at the booth. We did not have enough time to explore more of the state park. 

Next up...ferry to Whidbey Island and North Cascades.

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