Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

As I mentioned before, Olympic NP is one of the most diverse parks in the US. It protects a rain forest, beautiful coast and beaches, several lakes, and a mountain range called Hurricane Ridge. On our last day in Olympic we planned to explore the latter part of the park by hiking to Klahane Ridge. Our plans failed dramatically as the road leading to the trailhead was closed due to a recent snowfall.

We were not too sorry about it, as already at the Hurricane Ridge’s Visitor Center we understood where the mountains get their name from. It was so windy and cold there that even in thermal underwear, a fleece, and a windstopper, I was still shaking from the cold. As quickly as I could, I snapped a few pictures (published below) and jumped back into the warm car. Soon afterward, without any regrets, we started driving in the direction of Seattle.


Hurricane Ridge:

A close deer encounter:

Ozette Lake Loop in Olympic National Park

Ozette Lake Loop was one of the most spectacular hikes that I've ever done in my life.

It is a 9.4-mile loop made by stitching together a pair of three-mile boardwalks (called Cape Alava and Sand Point trails) and three miles of mesmerizingly beautiful beach between them. The beach part is what makes this trail so spectacular.

We started the hike by taking the Capa Alava trail, which led us through a pretty rain forest (though not as dense and untamed as the Hoh or Quinault Rain Forests). Most of the way was via a wooden boardwalk, which made walking there much easier than if we would have to struggle through the mud. On rainy days (which would be most of the days in Olympic NP), the wooden boardwalk becomes slippery and dangerous. To circumvent that problem, the park has begun replacing some of the rotting cedar planks with non-slippery plastic ones.

At around 2 miles (two-thirds of the way to the beach) the trail passes through a prairie, making the walk a bit more interesting. One mile later the trail descends slightly until it reaches the wild, beautiful beaches of Cape Alava.

Cape Alava is the western-most point in the contiguous United States and it offers absolutely fantastic views. For your hiking efforts, you will get rewarded with the views of offshore islands, sea stacks, millions of rocks, driftwood, and, if you get lucky, marine life. You might see seals, whales, seagulls, oyster catchers, and bald eagles. If the tide is low, you might also see starfish, crabs, algae, and fish playing in one of thousands of tidal pools.

About halfway along the coast there is a group of boulders called "Wedding Rocks." If you look carefully, you might spot Makah petroglyphs etched into them. (We missed them, as we were too busy following a family of bald eagles hunting their dinner.)

After 6.3 miles of hiking (3 miles from Cape Alava), you'll arrive at Sand Point. From there, you'll have to hike another 3 miles before you can get back to your car. The return hike, also on a boardwalk, will be as pretty as the hike leading to the beach, but you might not see it, as your memories will be filled with the images of the gorgeous beach you saw just a few minutes earlier. I guarantee that you will cherish these memories for a long, long time.

This was truly one of the most beautiful hikes that Anil and I have done in our lives and I just cannot recommend it strongly enough. Even now, a few months later, when I close my eyes I can transport myself back to that beach and I can recall the same feeling of peace and connection with nature that I felt when I was there.

A word of caution: Before you embark on this hike, check the current weather and tide chart (they will be posted at the trailhead). When high tide drowns the beach, the three miles between Cape Alava and Sand Point might be impassible. You can then use a primitive coastal trail, which follows the beach just a few feet above the high tide line, but then you will miss out on the beauty of the beach.


Cape Alava boardwalk:

Passing through prairie:

Beautiful beach:

A bald eagle:

Sand Point Boardwalk:

Second Beach, Olympic National Park

The "Second Beach" in the Mora area of the Olympic NP is supposed to be quite spectacular. "Supposed to" being the key words here. When we got there, the beach was completely covered by a thick blanket of fog, so, sadly, we did not get a chance to experience its beauty for ourselves.

As it took us around 50 minutes to get to the beach (30 minutes of driving to the trailhead plus 20 minutes of vigorous hiking through a forest), we were quite disappointed. It seems, though, that the fog usually clears up by the afternoon, so if you go there later in the day, you might get more lucky than we did.


The Second Beach under the fog:

Spruce Nature Trail - Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

The Spruce Nature Trail was the second trail that we hiked in the Hoh Rain Forest. It was slightly longer (1.25 miles) than the Hall of Mosses trail, but it took us less time to complete. Surprisingly, the two trails were quite different from each other. Mosses were no longer the dominant part of the landscape on the Spruce Nature trail. Instead, we got to see many "nurse logs", fallen trees that become a fertile base for new trees to grow:

A super-long fallen Spruce Tree:

The Spruce Nature Trail passes next to the river:

The river next to our campground:

A deer eating dinner near our tent:

Hall of Mosses Trail - Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

In the Hoh Rain Forest we went for two short hikes. The first one of them was called "Hall of Mosses" and, as the name promised, mosses seemed to be covering everything there. They were growing on trees, fallen dead tree trunks, stones, occasional benches, and, I'm sure, if we stayed there a bit longer, they would colonize our bodies as well.

It was an absolutely beautiful trail and forest, and I would consider it a must for anybody visiting Olympic NP. Even though the trail was only 0.8-mile long, it took us around 1.5 hours to complete, as we were constantly stopping to ponder the beauty of the surrounding nature. We loved how lush green and serene it was and we were amazed by mosses ability to colonize pretty much everything.

If you go on this hike, make sure not to skip a short spur trail to the Maple Grove, where mosses are particularly pronounced.


A few pictures from the trail:

Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park

Wild and beautiful Ruby Beach is easily accessible from Hwy 101 running through Olympic NP and definitely is worth a short (or longer) visit. Like virtually all beaches on the Northern Oregon Coast, Ruby Beach has lots of driftwood and huge rocks, called sea stacks. Despite the gloomy weather and dense fog, we spend quite some time there inhaling the fresh air and gorgeous views.

I would strongly recommend taking the short, 0.25-mile long, hike down to Ruby Beach, as it has a high reward-to-effort ratio. Places like this quite me down and help put things into perspective.


Ruby Beach:

The Queets Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

From the relatively popular and easily accessible Quinault Rain Forest, we drove in the direction of the more secluded Queets Rain Forest. Our plan was to go on a longer (7-mile) hike there.

The road leading to the trailhead was spectacular and we stopped several times to take pictures (see below). Unfortunately, as we were driving further away from the main road passing through the Olympic NP, the road was getting worse and worse, and finally turned into a steep slippery gravel road. Anil felt uncomfortable driving there and voiced concern that our car did not have sufficient clearance and tire size to go further. Even though I was more optimistic about the capabilities of our car, I agreed with Anil that we should play it safe and turn around. Since we had entered Olympic NP four hours earlier, we met only four other people and saw a handful of cars, and since we had turned into the side road leading to the Queets Rain Forest, we did not meet a single soul. So even a small car accident or a flat tire would have put as in a very difficult situation. Hence, we decided to abort our initial plan of hiking there and head for the beach instead.

However, the little that we saw of the Queets Rain Forest looked very promising, so if you happen to go to Olympic NP in a 4-wheel drive, or at least a high clearance vehicle, be sure to check it out.


The road leading to the Queets Rain Forest:

The Quinault Valley Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

We spent three days in Olympic NP, during which we went on multiple hikes in several different parts of the park. Three days were barely enough to fully experience Olympic NP, as it is probably the most diverse national park in the US; it protects a rain forest, beautiful and wild coast and beaches, several lakes and mountains, as well as a variety of plants and animals.

The very first hike that we did in the park was the Maple Glade Rain Forest Hike in the Quinault Rain Forest, near Lake Quinault. It was a short (1 mile round trip), level, mostly boardwalk hike, that within seconds brought us to the heart of the temperate rain forest. The landscape there was dominated by Giant western hemlocks, Douglas-firs, and Sitka spruce trees, and forest floor was covered by ferns and moss.

Even though it was a short hike, both Anil and I enjoyed it a lot. We loved how lush green it was and how fresh the air felt. As a matter of fact, we loved it so much that we did not even mind that it was raining all the time we were there. The thick forest cover was anyway pretty good at protecting us from the rain.


The Quinault Rain Forest:

Add caption