Olympic National Park

One last picture from North Cascades – I like this one.

Off from our home in a terrarium to a home in a rain forest!  To get there, however, we had to take a ferry from the mainland of WA State to the Olympic Peninsula, also in WA. First, a wait in lineto get onto the ferry.  Note --- all of these other vehicles waiting are cars, not RV’s! 

There was one tractor-trailer on board with us, but other than that, we were definitely the largest vehicle on board.  A bit intimidating, actually, but the attendants did a good job of getting us on board and situated.

Across the Puget Sound we went!

It was fairly clear when we landed, but as we drove westerly in the Olympic National Forest, the gray fog began to creep in from the Pacific.  Quite beautiful in a damp, chilly way!  We learned that the prevalent fog on this coast results from the cold ocean currents. The cold North Pacific Current flows eastward and hits the coast of British Columbia. There it splits into the northward flowing Alaska Current, and the southward flowing California Current.The Alaska current actually keeps Alaska warmer than it otherwise would be, and gives Ketchikan its 13 to 26 feet of rain per year. The prevailing westerly winds blow over the California Current, causing upwelling of deep cold water. The moist Pacific air blows over this cold water, cools, and the fog that is generated blows on shore. A few miles inland, and it may be sunny and 75 degrees. But, at our ocean side camp ground, it's been a maximum of 57 degrees, with 50 at night, and foggy.  Glad to have our nice warm, dry RV!

The ocean washes huge trees up onto the shore here, the remains of the giants that have fallen into the rivers and then to the ocean to be washed ashore.  Signs everywhere warn of playing on the logs, as these monster size logs can wash up or move in the surf with no warning.  Here are logs on the Kalalock Beach, where our campsite is located.

We drove to the western most point of land in the continental US, Cape Flattery.  En route, we stopped to see the tiny fishing town of Sekiu, with its somewhat strange “mascot”…

The fog lifted a bit just in time for us to get a shot of the first nation reservation town of Makah.

Once at the point of Cape Flattery, the fog rolled in again.

 The coast is spectacularly rugged.

The cliffs of the cape are heavily undercut from pounding Pacific storms

The prevailing winds work on the trees at the coast.

Clear-cut logging is still a way of life here, even in the National Forest (but not the National Park!!!). We see stripped hillsides all over.  We realize it is a livelihood here but so sad to see these beautiful trees harvested, leaving only barren land. It makes us cringe at the thought of all the trees that end up in use once and throw away products.

Yesterday we drove to the Hoh Rainforest.  We passed the world’s largest spruce en route.  It IS large, with a diameter of 12 ½ feet and height of 270 feet, estimated to be more than 500 years old.

The Hoh Rainforest is wet and lush, filled with old growth Douglas Firs and Sitka Spruce, along with thick ferns and other undergrowth.

Fallen trees are massive.

Look carefully – Luke was at the end of that fallen tree above – here is a close up - still hard to see, huh! .

As the fallen trees decay, they create "nurse log", a perfect spot for a nursery of seedlings. The thickness of the nurse log protrudes above the ferns and undergrowth, so these seedlings get the sunlight and nourishment from the fallen log. Only a few survive, but the ones that do grow up with their root base around the massive fallen tree.  With more than one surviving tree per log, new trees grow in a straight line, termed a "colonnade".

Heavy air plants, lichens and mosses, hang from many of the trees, especially from the Large Leaf Maples, looking like giant Chewbacca (Star Wars).

One more visit to the ocean at Rialto Beach, with the logs and "stacks" (islands formed from ancient cliffs  that have been separated from the mainland).

Oh, and the tiny town of 3000 isolated along the coast?  That would be Forks – where the Twilight movies were shot!  Oh, yes, the town doesn't forget!

Rain, rain, and more rain today.  Hoping to explore the northern part of the national park on Saturday and Sunday before we head to Mt. Ranier National Park on Monday morning.