I used to think that going six weeks in between blog posts was a long time, but now it has been five months since my last post! Life has been incredibly busy lately, and while I have started writing several new posts, I have not been able to finish one.
We have had a couple exciting adventures since my last blog post in February – we spent some time in Los Angeles, Jaco (in Costa Rica), on Vancouver Island, and most recently in Olympic National Park in Washington. I am going to share all my thoughts about Olympic National Park now while everything is still fresh in my head!
Olympic National Park is around a four-hour drive from where we live, making it a great option for a quick weekend trip. This is our 9th National Park visit in the United States, and it definitely did not disappoint! I actually bought a scratch off poster last year to track all the parks we have been to, but I am currently behind on this activity (being behind on things appears to be a common theme in my life right now…).
In order to explore Olympic National Park, we decided to stay in Port Angeles, which is the largest city near the park. We stayed in an Airbnb in a quiet neighbourhood with our friends, Iwona and Craig. The highlight of this location for me was all the deer (including the babies!) roaming the streets and nearby trails.
We did not spend too much time in Port Angeles, itself, but here are some notable shops and food establishments we checked out:
- Our favourite restaurant was New Day Eatery. While I did not try the coffee here, I was advised by Justin, Iwona and Craig that this was their favourite coffee stop of the trip. New Day Eatery also had several plant-based (and gluten free) baked goods – it was actually difficult to make a decision due to all the options! Different scones, muffins, coffee cakes… if only calories were not a concern. We also had breakfast here on our last morning, and it was delicious.
- A shoutout to Westside Pizza for offering vegan cheese – loved the vegetarian pizza option!
- We all picked up our local swag at MOSS. I usually try to limit myself to one item, but I could not make a decision (apparently another common theme in my life). I ended up getting the Washington Nature Checklist t-shirt, and Iwona and I are also the newest members of the Out of Breath Hiking Society with our new hats. If you are hoping to pick up some Pacific Northwest gear, definitely stop by MOSS.
- While we did not make any purchases, we enjoyed browsing the gift items, games and books at Port Book and News.
We essentially had two full days to explore the park, plus some time in the evening the day we arrived. One thing that makes Olympic National Park unique is its diverse ecosystem which is made up of the coast, forests and mountains. Since our daylight was limited on our first (partial) day, we settled on exploring a shorter trail amongst the forests – the Marymere Falls Trail.
This was a very peaceful and easy hike – we loved walking amongst the tall trees, breathing in the fresh air and listening to the water flow in the nearby creek. I would definitely recommend doing this hike later in the day if this is an option for you, as the light scattering through the trees onto the trail was beautiful.
Moving onto our first full day at the Park, we decided to drive out to the Washington coast to explore the beaches that make up Olympic National Park. Our first stop was at Cape Flattery, which was around an hour and 45 minutes from Port Angeles. Note that this area of the park is managed by the Makah Indian Tribe and visitors must pay an additional $20 USD entrance fee, on top of the National Park fee. In order to reach the beautiful cliff overlooking Neah Bay, you have to walk along a short, tree-covered trail – the trail out-and-back is less than 2kms. There are a couple of different view points once you get to the end, and all of them are spectacular!
Our next stop was Shi Shi Beach, which was a 20-minute drive south from Cape Flattery. On AllTrails, you will find a 14km Shi Shi Beach Trail, but to actually get to the beach, it is around 3.5km. The trail to the beach was through the forest, and it was more muddy than we expected – I would definitely recommend hiking or waterproof shoes for this trail… leave your white sneakers at home ツ. Craig had actually seen a sign in the beach parking lot that made reference to the number “0.6,” leading us to believe this trail was 0.6 miles. You can imagine how surprised we were to have walked a total of 7km (out-and-back). But, upon returning to our vehicle, we realized the 0.6 miles was actually referring to the next parking lot for campers – oops!
While Shi Shi Beach appeared to be a beautiful spot, we were very limited in what we were able to see, as there was a lot of fog and low cloud coverage – I actually kind of enjoyed the eerie atmosphere ツ.
Our final destination along the coast was Rialto Beach. This Beach was about an hour and 20 minutes away from Shi Shi Beach, and was just outside the city of Forks. Many people are familiar with Forks, as this is where all the Twilight movies were filmed – I personally had no idea as I am not a Twilight fan. Even though the series was filmed over 15 years ago, the town is not shy about capitalizing on this moment – you can find vampire swag in the shops in Forks, and the town refers to itself as “Home of the Twilight Saga.”
Blood-sucking mythical creatures aside, Rialto Beach is easily the nicest beach I have ever seen. When we initially got here, similar to Shi Shi Beach, it was quite foggy and actually very cold and windy! Have I mentioned that Justin did not bring a sweater or jacket on this trip ツ? Our plan was to walk along the beach towards the Hole-in-the-Wall rock structure (which is located about 2.5km one way from the parking lot), but unfortunately, the tide was too high and we did not make it to the end – but, we still got pretty close!
However, during our walk, the fog lifted and we were able to see the beach for miles – it was beautiful. My favourite part about this entire experience was the abundance of drift wood along the beach, which made for very cool photo opportunities, as well as the pelicans flying along the coast and diving for fish! Although, one thing I was surprised about was how tired I was from this walk – 5kms through the sand and rocks is no joke!
After finishing up at Rialto Beach, and grabbing a bite to eat at Blakeslee Bar and Grill, it was time to drive back to Port Angeles, which was about 1 hour and 20 minutes away. Needless to say, we did a lot of driving on this day, but it was definitely worth it!
After touring the forests and coast, the last ecosystem we had left to explore within the Park (and it was also our last day) was the mountains, and our trail of choice was Hurricane Hill via Hurricane Ridge. In order to get to this trail head, you need to drive about 40-minutes through the park along a switchback road, up to an elevation of 5,252ft. Note that there are only three small parking lots near the start of the trail and they fill up quickly – we arrived around 9:30am and had to park at the furthest lot.
Despite the limited parking situation, I cannot say enough good things about this trail. The picturesque mountains, the colourful wildflowers and the views of Vancouver Island from the top were incredible. If you only have time for one hike in the park, I would put this at the top of your list!
In terms of difficulty, I would rate this hike as moderate – while it is fully paved, there is an elevation gain of 252m over 2.75km, which results in some steeper sections along the trail. If you struggle with downhill, I would definitely recommend bringing some hiking poles. The trail is also fully exposed – there are very few trees to provide shade.
After taking a lunch break to watch the EuroCup Final, we decided to finish our day in the forest with an easy walk around Crescent Lake along the Spruce Railroad Trail. We did not have enough time to complete all 18km, but we enjoyed the first part of the trail, stopping to sit by the lake to take in the Olympic National Park views one last time.
Overall, we are very happy with our time spent in nature at Olympic National Park and we are already starting to plan our next National Park visit! Where should we go?
On a completely unrelated note, I am thinking about starting an Instagram account to showcase some of my travel photos. What do you think – should I do it? Do I have time, or will it just become another activity I am behind on ツ?
Until next time!
Always grateful,
Michelle
Exploring With Gratitude 