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May 22, 2018June 15, 2019

Western USA Road Trip: Olympic National Park

This post is part of a series called Western USA Road Trip
Show More Posts
  • Coming “Home” And Doing a Long US National Parks Road Trip
  • Western USA Road Trip Journal
  • Western USA Road Trip: Planning
  • Western USA Road Trip: Sequoia National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Kings Canyon National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Yosemite National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: San Francisco & Napa Valley
  • Western USA Road Trip: Redwood National and State Parks
  • Western USA Road Trip: Lassen Volcanic National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Crater Lake National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Waterfalls in Oregon
  • Western USA Road Trip: Olympic National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Mount Rainier National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Seattle
  • Western USA Road Trip: North Cascades National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Yellowstone National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Grand Teton National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Great Basin National Park
  • Western USA Road Trip: Zion National Park

Journal entry for August 25-28, 2017

It took us five hours to drive from the suburbs of Portland, Oregon to Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. I was excited to return to Olympic after seven years. Back then during my first visit, I only had time to visit Lake Ozette and Shi Shi Beach. This time though, we would spend three nights and explore other parts of the park as well.

The road into the park was a bit boring until the entrance to the rain forest. All of the sudden everything became very lush and green. We arrived at Hoh Campground at 2:30 pm and were able to snatch a nice campsite ($20/night). The campground has three loops, and there were still 15 empty sites available. They sold great $5 firewood bundles. The wood came in different sizes for easy fire starting.

Hoh Campground, Olympic National Park
Hoh River from Hoh Campground

I headed to the nearby Visitor Center to get a wilderness camping permit ($6) for Shi Shi Beach for the following day. We then did a short hike through the Hall of Mosses. I had seen gorgeous pictures of this place before, and wasn’t disappointed seeing it in person. It was around 6pm, the lighting was great, with very few people on the trail.

Hall of Mosses Trail, Olympic National Park
Hall of Mosses Trail, Olympic National Park
Hall of Mosses Trail, Olympic National Park
Hall of Mosses Trail, Olympic National Park

We left Hoh Campground late next morning and started heading towards Shi Shi Beach. On the way there we stopped at the La Push area and did a short hike to Second Beach, which was very crowded.

Second Beach, Olympic National Park

We stopped at the town of Forks to cook lunch next to a park. Jenni cooked some extra food to put into ziplock bags for dinner so we wouldn’t have to cook (and lug cooking gear) while camping at the beach later that night.

Next up was Neah Bay inside the Makah Tribe Reservation to get a recreation permit ($10). You need both this and the wilderness permit we got the previous day to camp at Shi Shi Beach. The drive through this area is beautiful, going by the coast and through dense green forests.

We parked the car at the trailhead and started the hike towards Shi Shi Beach. It was getting a bit late and I worried that it would be dark by the time we set up camp. Some sections of 4-mile trail were muddy, and we had to use short detours to go around.

Hike to Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park

Being a Saturday night, the beach was crowded with lots of tents. We had to walk south for a long while before we were able find a semi-secluded place. With so many people camping there, it was also very hard to find driftwood for our campfire. We were only able to find a few pieces so our fire didn’t last very long. We finished setting up our tent just as the sun was going down.

Shi Shi Beach was as beautiful and magical as I remembered it, especially during sunset.

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park
Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park

While a bit cold, it was very nice to sleep by the ocean. I slept without my usual earplugs so I could enjoy the sound of the waves.

We woke up to a lot of fog in the morning.

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park

The outside of our tent was soaked with moisture. Before leaving, we wanted to check out the tide pools at Point of The Arches. With low tide at 10:40am, so we had plenty of time to spread out and dry our tent. After a couple of hours, the strong sun had burnt up all the fog.

Unlike last time, there were not a lot of starfish around the tide pools.

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park
Point of Arches, Olympic National Park
Point of Arches, Olympic National Park
Point of Arches, Olympic National Park

After packing up and hiking back to the trailhead, we drove 1 1/2 hours to Sul Doc. Even though the sign at the entrance said that Sul Doc Campground was full, we were able to find a few walk-in sites ($20/night). The one we picked was beautiful, surrounded by moss-covered trees.

Sul Doc Campground, Olympic National Park

The temperature was so pleasant at night that we slept without the rain fly on the tent.

We woke up early to do the short hike to beautiful Sol Duc Falls.

Our last stop on the way out of the park was Hurricane Ridge. On the way there we drove by Lake Crescent, which made me remember of 2010 when I hitchhiked in this area. The fisherman who gave me a ride was kind enough show me the lake and a nearby waterfall. I wondered if he still lived here.

Hurricane Ridge had beautiful views of Mount Olympia and the surrounding mountains. I had no idea that the center of the park was so mountainous. I was feeling kind of lazy but Jenni pushed me to do a hike to a look out area. I was glad we did when I saw the views up there.

Views from Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park
Views from Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

We then left the park and drove south to the town of Olympia, where we spent the night. I felt a bit tired from our super fast pace of travel. It was very exciting but I felt we had almost no time to unwind. Olympia is a descent sized town with all the shops we needed to re-stock and do laundry. It was an action-packed three days in Olympic National Park. I really enjoyed the variety in nature, from the rain forest to the beach to the lakes and the mountains.

Posted in Travel, Hiking, Photography, Round The World Trip, Americas, Olympic National Park, United States
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kevinstravel

Run my first marathon on Sunday at @runsurfcityusa Run my first marathon on Sunday at @runsurfcityusa and got my goal time of 3:08 which qualifies me to run the Boston Marathon next year. My dream is to run all 6 of the World Marathon Majors, and Boston will be the first one on that list.
So happy to have found running which allows me to be competitive again after my bad knees forced me to stop playing football/soccer.
I dedicated this race to my friend @elvisalexander_ who is battling it out in the hospital. I hope he makes a full recovery soon.
After 18 weeks of training, ready for my first mar After 18 weeks of training, ready for my first marathon tomorrow #surfcitymarathon
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