Quinault Lodge in Olympic National Forest, Oregon:
We overheard one of the waiters at the lodge suggesting a drive around the lake to the people at the next table. This consists of the South Shoreline Drive and the North Shoreline Drive, and circles not only the lake, but part of the Quinault River. Some of the drive is through the Quinault Rain Forest. He warned that the road is narrow and has a lot of potholes but is not bad if you take it easy. Sounded like a good start to the day.We did not have snow at the lodge, but there was fresh snowfall in the mountains all around us and low hanging clouds deciding whether to add some more. We tried to get pictures showing the “snow line” where the snowfall had stopped. This gave us an excuse to stop and admire the views several times.
The mountain in the distance over the lake is Higley Peak.
When we were closer, later in the day, we could see a single line of tall fir trees on the crest, looking much like the mountain was wearing what we used to call a “Mohawk” haircut. That is probably now politically incorrect terminology but a good image nonetheless.
We came around a bend in the road to discover three cars parked along the road. Stopping to investigate, we saw an awesome waterfall—Merriman Falls.
The cars belonged to a group of young “adults” who seemed to be trying to decide whether to climb up the face of the falls. They hung back when we arrived. We took our pictures and left them to their misadventures.
Merriman Falls are at the back of a lovely little glade full of ferns and moss-hung trees.
A short distance further along the route we saw Bunch Falls.
Two waterfalls came together near the top, then split off into little rivulets. It was pretty, but not as spectacular as Merriman.
We continued on along the river. The sides of the riverbed and the bank were piled with logs that had washed downstream when the river was in flood stage. Some were toppled by having the ground beneath the washed out, and were lying in the river roots and all. Others had been smashed and splintered. The force of the water must have been fantastic.
I saw a little unnamed falls and felt sorry for it, so am including it along with the other ones.
We crossed the river bridge and started around the second part of the loop, the North Shore Drive. This part of the driving was horrendous for Tom when it became one lane with pullouts to pass another car if necessary. Just who decides which car backs up all the way to the last pullout to let the other by? Luckily we did not pass anyone else.
As soon as the road no long hung on the edge of a long drop off, we both relaxed and enjoyed the journey through the Quinault Rain Forest. It was stupendous. The trees were draped with long mats of moss and the branches wrapped with it. It was like another world.
It is truly Bryce and Elspeth’s “deep dark forest” that they always include in storytelling. Ferns are huge and everywhere. The forest floor is carpeted with them, and they grow up the face of rock cliffs. The rain forest drive was gorgeous.
“Monster” Tree: We both thought this looked like a monster from a fairy tale.
The rain forests in Olympic National Forest and Park receive over 140 inches of rain per year, are cool in summer and seldom freezing in winter (this year being an exception). The Douglas fir, Sitka spruce and cedar trees reach gigantic size—200 feet is not unusual, and if not logged are very long lived.
Quinault Lake from the end of North Shore Drive:
Now we were off to explore a small portion of the 69 miles of sea coast that border the Olympic National Park. We stopped at three beaches and a couple of viewpoints.
Kalaloch Lookout had a really nice view of a beach and drift logs.
We just had to hike down the path to the beach.
There are four numbered beaches in this park of the park; I guess they ran out of names. We only went down to the fourth one.
Beach #4
Tom was thrilled to discover an island a mile or so out that seemed to have a lighthouse.
We did not know that this lighthouse existed. According to the park map the island is called Desperation Island, but we have no idea why. Tom took pictures of the lighthouse with his telephoto lens and they will be posted later.
Now we arrived at our final destination—Ruby Beach. We had been to Ruby Beach about twelve years ago. What we remembered most was the clattering sound and the banana slug.
The beach was covered with small, round flat stones that clattered as the waves receded. We called it a “talking beach”. We were disappointed to see so few stones near the water’s edge and no familiar sound. But the tide was coming in rapidly and before we left, we did hear the clatter—not as pronounced, but it still talks.
Clattering stones:
The banana slug memory was from my first discovery of one in the wild on the path back up from Ruby Beach on that previous trip. I had read about them and was really anxious to see one. I don’t know why, as they are sort of disgusting, but they do fascinate me. I also saw one this trip already, so I can now enjoy the scenery on paths instead of watching the ground to find one.
What we did NOT remember were tons of drift logs on this beach. I don’t think they were there then, but they are now. We had to climb over several then navigate a maze of them—over some, around others—to reach the beach. Some are huge. It was a challenge, but we made it. There were drift logs on other beaches, but not in this concentration. They were part of the journey—no way to avoid them.
The cryptic sign at the trail’s end before entering the beach was not helpful. “logs” does not tell you that you have to climb over a five foot tall wall of them.
Nor does “new route” pointing to a tangle of logs give one confidence. But the tangle is climable with a little imagination and some good handholds.
Ruby Beach has several sea stacks and huge stones, so it is any interesting beach, in addition to the “talking” and the log maze.
My favorite is a sea stack with holes, like cut-outs.
We spent a long time on the beach. The surf was high and the waves were great. When the rocks started talking, we had to stay and listen for awhile. The clatter and rattle brings a smile to your face.
On the way back to the lodge we stopped to check out “The Big Cedar Tree”. We had seen a park service sign showing the way on the way to the beaches, but thought we would investigate on the way back. Apparently the park service has lost funding to fix potholes. If anyone drives a Volkswagen or MiniCooper, I would advise staying off park roads. They could easily disappear into one of the potholes to never be seen again.
After Tom navigated the obstacle course to reach the tree, we finally found it. It is big, it is cedar, but it is also dead. It was a lot of effort expended to see a dead tree.
We decided not to hike out to see the “Big Sitka Spruce” back near our lodge. The sign was not quite so enticing anymore.
We stopped in the gathering room of the lodge and chatted with several people. We met two very nice couples. One of them was from Victoria, our next destination, so we got some pointers on what to see. We also met a charming 18 month old who refused to stay in the dining room for her dinner. Either her Mom or Dad had to keep returning with her. She seemed to like being the center of attention and had found a wonderful attentive audience.
Tomorrow we are off to the Hoh Rain Forest and on to Port Angeles as a stopping off point before the ferry to Victoria.
When we were closer, later in the day, we could see a single line of tall fir trees on the crest, looking much like the mountain was wearing what we used to call a “Mohawk” haircut. That is probably now politically incorrect terminology but a good image nonetheless.We came around a bend in the road to discover three cars parked along the road. Stopping to investigate, we saw an awesome waterfall—Merriman Falls.
The cars belonged to a group of young “adults” who seemed to be trying to decide whether to climb up the face of the falls. They hung back when we arrived. We took our pictures and left them to their misadventures.Merriman Falls are at the back of a lovely little glade full of ferns and moss-hung trees.
A short distance further along the route we saw Bunch Falls.
Two waterfalls came together near the top, then split off into little rivulets. It was pretty, but not as spectacular as Merriman.We continued on along the river. The sides of the riverbed and the bank were piled with logs that had washed downstream when the river was in flood stage. Some were toppled by having the ground beneath the washed out, and were lying in the river roots and all. Others had been smashed and splintered. The force of the water must have been fantastic.
I saw a little unnamed falls and felt sorry for it, so am including it along with the other ones.
We crossed the river bridge and started around the second part of the loop, the North Shore Drive. This part of the driving was horrendous for Tom when it became one lane with pullouts to pass another car if necessary. Just who decides which car backs up all the way to the last pullout to let the other by? Luckily we did not pass anyone else.As soon as the road no long hung on the edge of a long drop off, we both relaxed and enjoyed the journey through the Quinault Rain Forest. It was stupendous. The trees were draped with long mats of moss and the branches wrapped with it. It was like another world.
It is truly Bryce and Elspeth’s “deep dark forest” that they always include in storytelling. Ferns are huge and everywhere. The forest floor is carpeted with them, and they grow up the face of rock cliffs. The rain forest drive was gorgeous.“Monster” Tree: We both thought this looked like a monster from a fairy tale.
The rain forests in Olympic National Forest and Park receive over 140 inches of rain per year, are cool in summer and seldom freezing in winter (this year being an exception). The Douglas fir, Sitka spruce and cedar trees reach gigantic size—200 feet is not unusual, and if not logged are very long lived.We did see some elk grazing in a meadow near the rain forest. This trip we have searched for elk each day and have seen them a surprising number of days.
Quinault Lake from the end of North Shore Drive:
Now we were off to explore a small portion of the 69 miles of sea coast that border the Olympic National Park. We stopped at three beaches and a couple of viewpoints.Kalaloch Lookout had a really nice view of a beach and drift logs.
We just had to hike down the path to the beach.There are four numbered beaches in this park of the park; I guess they ran out of names. We only went down to the fourth one.
Beach #4
Tom was thrilled to discover an island a mile or so out that seemed to have a lighthouse.
We did not know that this lighthouse existed. According to the park map the island is called Desperation Island, but we have no idea why. Tom took pictures of the lighthouse with his telephoto lens and they will be posted later.
Now we arrived at our final destination—Ruby Beach. We had been to Ruby Beach about twelve years ago. What we remembered most was the clattering sound and the banana slug.
The beach was covered with small, round flat stones that clattered as the waves receded. We called it a “talking beach”. We were disappointed to see so few stones near the water’s edge and no familiar sound. But the tide was coming in rapidly and before we left, we did hear the clatter—not as pronounced, but it still talks.
Clattering stones:
The banana slug memory was from my first discovery of one in the wild on the path back up from Ruby Beach on that previous trip. I had read about them and was really anxious to see one. I don’t know why, as they are sort of disgusting, but they do fascinate me. I also saw one this trip already, so I can now enjoy the scenery on paths instead of watching the ground to find one.
What we did NOT remember were tons of drift logs on this beach. I don’t think they were there then, but they are now. We had to climb over several then navigate a maze of them—over some, around others—to reach the beach. Some are huge. It was a challenge, but we made it. There were drift logs on other beaches, but not in this concentration. They were part of the journey—no way to avoid them.
The cryptic sign at the trail’s end before entering the beach was not helpful. “logs” does not tell you that you have to climb over a five foot tall wall of them.
Nor does “new route” pointing to a tangle of logs give one confidence. But the tangle is climable with a little imagination and some good handholds.
Ruby Beach has several sea stacks and huge stones, so it is any interesting beach, in addition to the “talking” and the log maze.
My favorite is a sea stack with holes, like cut-outs.
We spent a long time on the beach. The surf was high and the waves were great. When the rocks started talking, we had to stay and listen for awhile. The clatter and rattle brings a smile to your face.On the way back to the lodge we stopped to check out “The Big Cedar Tree”. We had seen a park service sign showing the way on the way to the beaches, but thought we would investigate on the way back. Apparently the park service has lost funding to fix potholes. If anyone drives a Volkswagen or MiniCooper, I would advise staying off park roads. They could easily disappear into one of the potholes to never be seen again.
After Tom navigated the obstacle course to reach the tree, we finally found it. It is big, it is cedar, but it is also dead. It was a lot of effort expended to see a dead tree.
We decided not to hike out to see the “Big Sitka Spruce” back near our lodge. The sign was not quite so enticing anymore.
We stopped in the gathering room of the lodge and chatted with several people. We met two very nice couples. One of them was from Victoria, our next destination, so we got some pointers on what to see. We also met a charming 18 month old who refused to stay in the dining room for her dinner. Either her Mom or Dad had to keep returning with her. She seemed to like being the center of attention and had found a wonderful attentive audience.
Tomorrow we are off to the Hoh Rain Forest and on to Port Angeles as a stopping off point before the ferry to Victoria.
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