The Olympic Peninsula |

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend On the western slopes of the Olympic mountains in Washington is one of the few and largest temperate rain forests in the US. Populated primarily by moss-covered Sitka spruce and western hemlock, it’s one of the greenest places I’ve ever seen. While I was home in Washington for Christmas, my family and I went to check it out.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend To get to the Olympic Peninsula, we first had to go for a ferry ride. Washington has the most extensive ferry system in the US. This boat went from Edmonds to Kingston.

While on the ferry, we were presented with a nice chilly view of the snowy Olympics.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend The northernmost point on Highway 101 is Port Angeles. It seems fitting since the southernmost point is Los Angeles. From PA you can ride a ferry to Victoria and visit Cole Chalmers!

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend A little ways west of PA is Crescent Lake, which had clouds almost touching it. In the summer it’s deep blue with the green mountains reflecting off the smooth surface.

Soon enough we found moss. It’s pretty crazy that there’s so much moss that there’s barely any wood showing in the whole forest, and we weren’t even in the actual rainforest yet!

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend With an average of 150 inches of rain per year, it’s no wonder everything is sopping wet. Seattle, famous for its rain, only get 37 inches on average.

We stayed the night in Forks (where every single business sells Twilight stuff) and on Day 2 we headed up the Hoh Valley. It was raining the whole time and the ground was so wet it was hard to tell where the land ended and marshy edges of this stream began.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend It’s worth it though. There’s all kinds of cool stuff to see in the rainforest, such as blue herons.

And dead coho salmon.

There were live ones too. It’s spawning season, and we saw at least six salmon hanging out in little pools on the edges of the stream. They spawn and then they die.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend Higher up the trees got more impressive. Some of the Sitka spruces are over 300 feet tall. Do you have any idea how hard it is to shoot almost straight up while it’s raining? Jeez.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend There are awesome views everywhere. Sometimes you have to look up, and sometimes you can see hundreds of feet into the forest. The whole place feels ancient.

While not especially tall, this bigleaf maple was the tree that impressed me the most. The way it sprawls out with club moss hanging off its twisted branches makes it seem like some nightmarish creature.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend The further we hiked, the more gnarly stuff we saw.

Occasionally there’d be a clearing full of ferns and smaller trees, letting more light in, which was a nice contrast since most of the forest was fairly dark.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend They don’t call this particular area the Hall of Mosses for nothing. The trail leads through a veritable tunnel of mossy branches.

We wanted to make it to the beach for sunset, so it was time to go. We weren’t even sure there’d be anything besides rain and fog but we had to try.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend We got to the bleak coastal town of La Push and it was pretty stormy. Not only that, but the king tides were happening. King tides are when instead of high tide and low tide, you get high tide and higher tide. We had to call it a night.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend We got up the next morning and headed back to La Push at “low” tide. The ever-present rain had also let up for a little bit, so we were excited about that. The hike down to Second Beach was definitely worth it. There were all kinds of rock formations most people don’t see if they just go to First Beach, which is right in town.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend One of the coolest features of the whole Northwest coast is the seastacks. These rocks are more erosion-resistant than the surrounding land was, and ended up as free-standing towers just off the coast. The most famous one in the Northwest is Haystack Rock off Cannon Beach in Oregon. The ones at La Push were still pretty cool though.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend We were done on the coast and headed back. We decided to take the Port Townsend-Keystone Ferry this time.

But not without dinner and a quick jaunt through old Port Townsend first. It had been more than ten years since I’d been here last, but I used to come every year with my dad and grampa on our annual summer sailing trips around Puget Sound. It was always one of my favorite stops.

olympic peninsula national park forsest hoh rainforest fog rain mud ocean forks la push port angeles port townsend And with that, we were done with the Olympic Peninsula.

With all that muddy hiking and adventure my new boots didn’t even get that dirty. But I guess they’ve been through a lot for only being four days old!

.:Bohan