Quinault Lodge, WA to Port Angeles, WA: April 20

April 20

When we exited the lodge, we found our car covered in frost with an icy windshield. It was a California rental car, so of course there was no ice scraper. Credit cards are good for more than putting one in debt.

We passed relatively rapidly by the beaches we had visited yesterday. We did have to stop at Ruby Beach to get one more shot of the lighthouse on Desperation Island, about a mile or so offshore. It was a sunny morning and the pictures from yesterday had been taken in the rain and mist, and could be improved upon since they had to be enlarged.

We headed for Hoh Rain Forest, which was sort of in the direction we needed to go for our next stop. The last eighteen miles are on a secondary road that follows the Hoh River. We started to see evidence that we were nearing the rain forest, as the trees became large and starting wearing drapes of moss, and the undergrowth became more lush and filled with ferns. The river had not behaved very well it seemed, as there were several places where washouts of the road had been temporarily repaired. There were piles of trees all over the river bank and bed.

We were astounded to see snow and piles of hail along the highway. Then we hit an area of snow on the road, but the temperature was a few degrees above freezing by then. We didn’t think the freezing weather would have hit this area, but it did. Talking to a forest ranger later we found out that the rain forest had received a lot of snow this last December and January, which was unusual. However the rain forest was a few degrees warmer than the surrounding area while we were there.

We had passed only one car on the road that far and were beginning to wonder if once again we would find the visitor’s center closed, as we had twice before in Olympic National Park. Just before the parking lot, we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road. Soon we realized the reason as we saw a herd of female elk standing the road. They slowly sauntered off; leaving one on the far side of the road as the rest began to graze in a swampy area on the other side.

The lone female cried in a squeaky plaintive voice. It was a weird call, not what I would have expected from an animal of that size. She shortly resumed her breakfast.

The others seemed to be ignoring her distress. Of course we took pictures before we headed on to the visitor’s center.

It was open and the ranger was very nice and helpful.

In the rain forest any surface can grow mosses and ferns, even a pay phone:

We started on the “hall of mosses” trail, which was our favorite on the last trip. It has the largest old growth trees.

There was still some hail and snow about and it looked out of place in the warm weather vegetation.

We saw some wonderful examples of rain forest trees and plants. We had wondered if it would really be as great as we remembered, and it was! I wanted to take pictures of everything we saw, and nearly did.

All of a sudden I looked up and there was a bull elk not four feet from Tom. We had been warned not to disturb them or startle them, so I tried to get Tom’s attention quietly. He really jumped when he looked over his shoulder to see that enormous head so close to him.

A helpful sign had suggested that we watch for elk tracks or droppings as evidence that elk are nearby, as they are present in the park, and help keep the undergrowth cleaned out. I thought to myself that at that moment I would have rather seen the elk tracks without the animal attached to them. This was a bit too up close and personal.

After a bit of “wasn’t that incredible” conversation (we were whispering at this point), we quickly got back into admiring the plants and trees, and the deep, deep quiet. The birds seemed abnormally loud due to the lack of people sounds. We only met one couple near the beginning of the walk, one at the end. The rest of the time we were alone on the trail. We had our own private forest preserve.

As we rounded a corner not far away, there stood another male elk in the middle of the path.

We ducked behind a large tree, and peeked back at him. He slowly strolled up the path, in no great hurry, grazing on new leaves and something buried around the base of the ferns.

We stepped out long enough to take some pictures. Tom got some great close ups. But we did keep a respectful distance.

The elk held us up for twenty minutes or more. Finally we decided he had stepped off the path far enough to attempt to get by him. As we started up the path, he quit grazing and froze in place. So did we. But we tiptoed by with no repercussions, congratulating ourselves afterward.

The elk move through the forest with incredibly silence. He was walking in an area of heavy vegetation, but you could not hear a sound as he lifted a hoof and set it down. For animal that size to be so quiet is spooky.

Not long afterward, Tom stepped near the side of the path and a rabbit shot out from practically under his foot. We both jumped at that one. The poor rabbit must have been scared half to death, but he didn’t go too far. He streaked only a short distance away then sat under some leaves, evidently thinking he was concealed.

One of my favorite sights in the rain forest are nurse logs.

Now we were almost at the end of the trail, having seen some wonderful trees and having the experience of a lifetime with the elk. We were just discussing how wonderful it had been to see them, when Tom sort of hissed “look to your left” and there was another male elk just few feet away from us.

We scurried on up the trail, and looked back as he wandered into the undergrowth, complacently eating his lunch. Shortly we passed another couple coming up the trail from the other direction and warned them about the elk up ahead. Their eyes lit up in anticipation. They were young and didn’t know any better.

I’m glad we saw the elk so close in their natural environment, but I was also glad it was now a story to tell and not a present experience. It was really neat, but from now on, I would just as soon see them from a distance, while in a car. I think I used up a year’s worth of adrenaline.

The ranger loved our stories and admired Tom’s pictures. He said they probably would not be terribly aggressive this time of year, but would be in another month. (the “probably” sort of bothered me). They warn people then. Apparently a herd of elk held up a tourist the day before, and he finally backtracked the entire 1 ½ mile trail to find while he had been taking the winding trail through the trees, the elk took a more direct route and were now blocking him on the other end. The ranger seemed to find it quite amusing.

Two of the males (or maybe we only saw two, the one could have beat us to the third sighting and been the same one we saw before) are brothers. The maintenance guy said those two think they own the park, then paused and added that actually they do. He didn’t know that the ranger had told us about the maintenance man answering a bugling elk last spring and shaking a pair of antlers through some bushes. The elk charged and looked confused, but didn’t attack. He was lucky. I guess the staff must get bored enough to do some incredibly stupid things in the Spring.

Needless to say, a wonderful time was had by all. We will bore everyone to death with the elk encounter stories for months. It was great!

We began a very circuitous route to Port Angeles, along as much coast as possible. We wanted to drive along The Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was pretty and peaceful going through the forests, with glimpses of mountains in the distance.

There had been a snow fall of about six inches the day before, but the roads were clear by the time we arrived. It was nice to see snow but not have to worry about driving in it. We were thankful our itinerary had not placed us on these highways 24 hours earlier. We had talked to a couple in the lodge the night before who had followed a snowplow for miles.

We did see some really nice coastal scenery between Sieku and Neah Bay. Because it wasn’t the ocean per se, but a strait, the waves were not as large, but some of the rocky coast and sea stacks were really neat. We could see the snow topped mountains of Vancouver Island over the water.

We drove north as far as Neah Bay. To go further we would have had to stop and get permission from the Makah Native American Nation, as from that point it is reservation land, requiring permits. There is no road through the reservation that goes along the coast, at least not on the maps, so we didn’t think it worthwhile since we were “coast driving”.

Neah Bay is the Northwesternmost point to which you can drive in the continental United States. So of course Tom had to do it.

As the road left the coast and swung inland we started to grumble about that route being named a scenic highway by the state. Then we went around a corner and saw a breathtaking view of snow topped peaks, much closer than the far views we had been seeing. Hurricane Ridge was visible and the amount of snow discouraged us from even attempting to drive it. We had been thinking about calling to see if it was open.

Seen along the way just east of Joyce, Washington: two creeks, one named Itsa Creek and one named Upthe Creek. I am not making this up. We saw the signs.

We stayed on Port Angeles for the night with an early morning ferry to Victoria on Vancouver Island.