Day 1: Hiking in the Hoh Rain Forest
Thursday, August 26, 2004

Today we visited the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. (Every time you see that name, you have to imagine Walendo saying "Hoh!!!", which he did each time we passed a sign for it.) Before leaving we called a few kayaking places to reserve a spot for tomorrow, when it's supposed to be clearer. We settled on Olympic Raft and Kayak because the person on the phone was a little more helpful and informative, although neither was as helpful as I would have liked. We'll see how it is.

We got up pretty early for us and got out by 9am. We stopped for breakfast at the Olympic Bagel Company, which had pretty good bagels, although their flavors were a little fancier than I'd prefer — they didn't have egg, whole wheat, rye, or pumpernickel, but they did have sundried tomato and that sort of thing. I went with poppy, which was tasty. We drove around the downtown just a little bit and it seemed very quiet, not much going on.

Then we headed west toward the Hoh Rain Forest (Hoh!). The road running around the perimeter of the Olympic Peninsula is kind of a circle, with Port Angeles at about 12:30. The Hoh Rain Forest (Hoh!) is at about 9:00 and then inward toward the center. It took about an hour and 30 minutes to get there on a fairly fast two lane road that went by a gorgeous lake called Crescent Lake and some beautiful tree-lined peaks with clouds resting just at the top of them. There was also a lot of evidence of clear cutting, sometimes in strange sections of the mountains, which was a little surprising. Walendo wished we'd brought our inflatable kayaks because it would have been lovely to paddle around that lake.

Tree trunk among ferns in Hoh Rain Forest

As we approached the Hoh Rain Forest (Hoh!) ranger station, Walendo said he was feeling really drowsy and could use a little nap before we hiked in, so we pulled into a fire road and parked near the river. I spent about an hour taking photos of the lush greenery, mostly ferns. There were cool moss-covered trees and some that looked like Spanish Moss, but I couldn't seem to get a photo I liked. Still, it was nice to have plenty of time to explore and work the area until I felt done. Walendo had slept the whole time and felt ready for our hike.

From the ranger station, there are two very short loop trails (a mile or less) and then one long trail, so you pretty much have to do an out-and-back route. We checked with the ranger and she told us that there's a waterfall about 2 ¾ miles in, so we figured that would give us a good destination and a nice 5 ½ mile trip. The trail was beautiful and so interesting to look at. The trees are huge, both thick and tall, and many of them are covered with moss.

Moss hanging from branches, with leaves as 'stars'

There were a lot of felled trees that had been pulled up from the roots, which apparently happens a lot — they grow wide but shallow root structures and sometimes they just fall over, leaving a gigantic disc of roots sticking up vertically. Some of the tree trunks had been sliced, probably to clear the trail, and lying on their side their diameter was as tall as I am (5'2"). Impressive. There were spooky looking trees with Spanish moss growing all over them, and tall pine trees with thick green moss covering the branches. And maples with beautiful leaves, which Walendo said looked like the stars in Campbell's Chicken and Stars soup, and he was right! I stopped a lot to take photos, but I also felt pressure to keep moving so I didn't get the time I would have liked to really capture what I wanted. I did okay, but I would have worked harder at it if I were alone.

Stream below waterfall

I also didn't have the best hiking setup, with my camera and three lenses kind of loose in my standard backpack as I carried my tripod. I really should remedy this situation and get a real photo backpack that's good for a day hike in addition to my huge one that holds all my gear. (Later in the trip I remembered that we had one at home that I'd completely forgotten about. How dumb is that?!)

We reached the waterfall and it was beautiful. Actually, the prettiest part was the stream that flowed from it under a little bridge along the trail. It was so lush with moss-covered rocks and ferns. I spent about a half-hour trying to get a nice shot of it while Walendo had a snack, and I finally I got one I liked with a nice fern in the foreground, so we'll see how that comes out.

Hoh Rain Forest Trail

We hiked up to the waterfall (just a short way) and couldn't get as good of a view or good access. I tried a few shots from half-way up that were probably so-so. I also worked at getting a nice shot of the spooky trees with Spanish moss, but still don't think I got a good one. It was about 4:20 when we headed back (we'd left at 1:45), and on the way back we pretty much just hiked along, not stopping very much for photos. (I got just a couple to show the trail.) It took us just less than an hour to get back, so if you're not stopping for photos, it's a pretty quick trip. The trail is pretty much flat the whole way, so it's easy to move along, except for the stretches where mud and puddles fill the trail — you have to walk along the edge of the trail and hop across certain spots. We were both glad we were wearing hiking shoes and not our tennis shoes. We were pretty lucky with the weather. It was overcast but rained only for about five minutes during the beginning of the hike, and after that it was dry and not too cold.

My feet were hurting a lot by the time we got back (I could use better fitting boots) and Walendo said he was getting tired, so it felt good to finish. He was still sleepy, so I drove back to Port Angeles with the music going and lost in my thoughts. It was a pretty drive, especially going by Crescent Lake again.

We didn't have a plan for dinner so we drove up and down the downtown streets of Port Angeles, expecting to see a lot of restaurants, but there weren't all that many. Plenty of Chinese places, though, so Walendo was happy just knowing they were there. :-) The town is pretty sparse and has the feeling of a downtown that either once was busier or is just trying to come into its own. We wound up at Gordy's Pizza and Pasta, which was mentioned in some book we'd seen. It wasn't the best choice — the pizza dough tasted sort of pre-packaged and the cheese was a bit rubbery. Walendo liked his sandwich, though, so that's good. I'd seen an ice cream place on the main strip called Itty Bitty Buzz, so we had to go there. It was open after 8pm, which isn't always the case in a small town, but they didn't have any chocolate! I couldn't believe it. They were selling Olympic Mountain ice cream, which my dad had recommended, but with no chocolate there was no point, so we left. Instead, we went into the diner by our hotel (Joshua's) and Walendo had some pie.

Now I'm uploading my images and writing in the journal.

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