Would have been nice to have this map this morning!
Early this morning we rolled out of bed, threw yesterday's clothes back on, and headed out the door to hike up to Marymere Falls first thing. We only had directions from the trailhead at Storm King Ranger Station, so we probably added some extra distance to the 1.8-mile roundtrip hike wandering around the area trying to figure out if we were going the right way. Sadly I left my Fitbit behind in the room, so I didn't get any credit for the steps! 😭
It was nice to have the trail to ourselves, with the exception of a few deer. Hiking through the old growth forest, it took us about a half hour to reach the falls. There was a loop at the end with a steep climb (stair steps cut into the trail) to reach the upper viewpoint, but it was worth it!
Big trees!
Barnes Creek
90-foot Marymere Falls
We got back to the lodge around 8:30AM. It was quite windy by the lake, as you can see from the choppy water in the pics.
Pyramid Mountain
After getting ourselves cleaned up, we hopped in the car to drive back to visitor center in Port Angeles. There is a treasure trove of stamps here, so while I was happily adding them to my passport, R got more info from the ranger about things to do in the park.
Since the road up to Hurricane Ridge was closed due to a construction project, we thought our best shot at finding souvenirs would be in town. The tagline for Swain's General Store is "Swain's Has Everything", and they definitely did! Like a Pacific Northwest version of Farm & Fleet, we found some cool (and reasonably-priced!) Sasquatch and Pacific Northwest t-shirts for the boys. Guesses as to who got what?
Then we drove back to Lake Crescent, parking at a scenic viewpoint about 2 miles away from the lodge to fix sandwiches for lunch in the car.
Less windy at noon
To reach the next waterfall, Sol Duc Falls, we continued on US-101 past Lake Crescent Lodge and after driving the length of the lake, we turned onto Sol Duc-Hot Springs Road. There is an entrance station here (and a stamp!), so we just showed our annual pass which covered the $30 fee. Because of the ranger's suggestion to R, we stopped to check out the Salmon Cascades about halfway between the 101 and the trailhead.
It was just a short distance from the road to the edge of the Sol Duc River. There were lots of salmon at this spot, attempting to jump the small falls to make it further upstream to spawn. (It's easier to see a glimpse of the salmon jumping if you view the video full screen.) We also saw an otter here trying to catch something to eat. So cool!
Once we reached the trailhead parking lot, we were able to find a spot pretty easily. Considering how big the lot was, I'm glad that we're visiting Olympic NP now instead of at the same time as 5000 other people! OK, so maybe not that many, but I'm willing to accept closed visitor centers and missed stamps if the trade-off is avoiding crowds!
The 1.6-mile roundtrip hike to the falls was fairly easy, with only a 200-foot elevation gain. Walking through the trees and the undergrowth of the rain forest was quite peaceful.
Of the waterfalls that we've seen in the park so far, I think Sol Duc is my favorite.
Sol Duc Falls
Beaver Falls
For our last waterfall of the day, we headed to Beaver Falls (R read about it in one of the tourist brochures we picked up.) Once we got back to the 101, we drove west and then north on WA-113 for about 2 miles. Because this was outside the park, there wasn't any signage. We parked in a gravel pull-out and followed a "trail" next to the guardrail by the road. It was a short, but steep walk down to the creek. I was glad that it hadn't rained in a while, otherwise it could have been a little tricky to get down and/or back up!
Beaver Creek
Then it was back to the lodge to relax for a bit before our 6:30PM reservation in the dining room. We enjoyed a nice meal overlooking the lake as the sun set.
No comments:
Post a Comment