Olympic

The park is way out of the mainstream.  The drive from North Cascades is less than 200 miles but it took me a bit over 12 hours.  I did stop for some shopping and laundry but when the first ferry was not going to leave until 7:30pm and I had to be stand by and it was only 4:00pm I decided on another route.  The second route did also require a ferry at 7:00pm and I made that ferry ride which was 30 minutes.  It was dark when I arrived at the park but the western part of the state of Washington is very nice, at least what I could see before it got dark.  The park has also tons of old growth trees that are enormous in girth and height.  I have to say that I am sorry for running over the cone of the park ranger at the entrance when I went back the second day at the park to get park information.  The park has some specific areas like the Hot Springs, which I stayed in, is one of these areas.  The road into the Sul Doc Falls trailhead is less than 50 miles and that is the end of the road for this particular area.  No visitor center just the hot springs, the cabins at the hot springs, and a couple of campgrounds in this area.  Plenty of hiking in the area can be had as well.  

Hoh Rain Forest –  The rain forest part of the part is accessed off of the 101 just like the hot springs and from the hot springs it was 73 miles and 2 hours of traveling.  The parking is limited at the visitor center/hiking trail area so please come early.  The lines are so long that there are signs made by the NPS saying that the wait from here is 2 hours and then every 30 minute intervals after until you got to the ranger post to pay for entry.  Many people decided not to wait and turned around on a two lane road.  The forest looks similar to that of the forest at the hot springs with lush green foliage and enormous trees.  The trees have moss growing on them and it is said that the moss weights in excess of 4 times of that of the bark of the tree!  It was also confirmed that the trees have a very shallow root system due to the rainfall and that the larger trees when the wind storms blow them over they take out the smaller trees in the way.  It is like I said about God’s logging areas, with a bunch of trees fallen down.  The area gets tons of rain in the winter, in lieu of snow and the summer months don’t get so much of the rainfall.  The day I was here it was raining a light mist all day and I don’t think it stopped anyone from hiking or having fun, not me for sure.  The amount of rain here in the rain forest is so high that they don’t calculate it in inches but feet!  If you come to Olympic be ready to be wet at least one of the days you are here.

Mink Lake Trail –  The trail head for this is in the back of the parking lot of the Sul Doc Hot Springs.  The trail is 2.5 miles and has an elevation gain/loss of 1,500 feet.  When I started the trail I thought the elevation was 600 feet gain/loss and into the journey I looked again and was wrong.  The trail starts with the Lover’s Lane Trail but shortly after the start the Mink Lake goes up and Lover’s Lane stays to the left.  A one log bridge about 20 feet long goes over a dry creek bed but it was fun going over the log.  Most of the trail is through the deep woods of the mountain and the path is a mixture of hard dirt, rocks and roots and just plain rocks.  You will pass through some of God’s tree cutting/falling and it is pretty cool to see these giant trees uprooted and laying on the ground.  It appears that one may have started the domino effect with all the trees in a few sections along the trail.  When you think you are almost there just keep going up hill until you see a stream on your left side.  That stream’s source is the lake so you are almost there up it is still uphill!  You will come to a junction of a few trails and the lake can be seen on the left.  Go downhill and enjoy the fruits of your labor to get to the lake.  Today I had the privilege of seeing two otters playing in the lake, something that I did not think I would get to see outside of Alaska.  The way down is still 2.5 miles and for some reason it was long today.  The total trip took me 5 hours of hiking and relaxing at the lake.  Well worth the trip to the lake although the lake is not that big.

Sul Doc Falls Trail via campground- I started the trail today at my campground and from loop A to loop B was 0.1 mile and then another 0.1 mile in loop B until the trail head.  The initial trailhead in loop A was near spot 23 on the outside of the road.  There is a marker for the trailhead on the side of the loop.  The trail entered loop B and you continue in the direction of traffic and will come to the next section’s trailhead, it is just after the bathroom and campground host’s spot on the right side of the road.  The Sul Doc Falls is 2.8 miles from this point.  The path to the falls trail is through the old growth forest of Olympia and these trees are big really big.  The trail itself is mainly dirt and roots until you get to the falls trail.  The campground trail is a very peaceful hike and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to hike as there is little elevation gain/loss on this part of the trail.  At one point on the trail one of the trees fell down into the stream, you can see and hear during the hike, and it looks like a dam now in the stream.  The tree that went down was on the side of the trail so the trail may become unstable and have to be sured up in the future.  There are also a few areas that it looks like God has done some logging by downing trees in a single area.  I think that one of the giant trees was falling down and it took out a bunch of other trees causing the area to look like it has been logged.  The campground portion of the trail meets the Sol Doc Falls trail and you go to your right and now you start to see more people.  The falls trail is a busy trail and has lots of parking at the trailhead but I came from camp so this is the intersection for me.  The trail is wide for the most part and it made up of rocks, dirt and roots.  You will cross a creek with a bridge and the bridge even has a seat to sit and rest if needed along the way.  It is a good spot for a photo if you are so inclined to do so, and for some strange reason I did not take a photo.  The trail is 0.8 miles in total length and has 200 feet of elevation gain/loss and most of this is right near the falls.  The falls has a bridge over where you can stop and view/take photos, I did take photos, or at the other side of the falls there are a few benches to sit and relax.  I would not say this is a hard trail from the parking area with the total distance and elevation gain but it is worth the short hike.  Thought of the day – if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it does it make noise?  Heck yes these trees are massive and they are nocking down other trees it will be very loud, we just won’t hear it when it is happening.  

Hall of Mosses Trail –  The trailhead is near the visitor center at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor center.  The trail is 0.8 miles with 50 feet of elevation and I would say any can do it but I say a guy who could not do it on the way back.   He had had enough after less than 200 yards and maybe 10 feet of elevation.  At least he was trying to do the hike.  The walkway is crushed rock and is easy on the feet/legs while doing this hike.  There are plenty of signs that say to stay on the trail.  What is the need to create your own trail? The trail winds you through the large old growth trees and you can see all of the moss on the trees, simply beautiful.  

Spruce Nature Trail – The trailhead for this trail is near the visitor center like the Hall of Mosses trail but at the intersection you take the right lane to this trail.  After a few yards you come to another junction and you will go to the right, left is the 18.5 mile one way trail of Hot River Trail.  The spruce trail is 1.2 miles and says it has 10 feet of elevation gain but it maybe like 50 but still a very easy trail.  You go over a creek before you got to the junction with the river trail and it is very nice hearing the creek.  There was signage saying that salmon will come into this creek to spaun, which is amazing since it does not have much water in the creek.  The path is mainly packed dirt and roots up above the dirt.  I spoke to a guy with a camera and tripod with his wife on the trail.  This particular guy said that thee area is outrageous green, since everything is green on the trail.  You can see by the photos how green the area is on the trail.  Along the trail there are signs talking about the rainforest and what is going on with the eco system of the area.  I have to say that those trees are enormous with the root system being topical, due to the rain forest conditions.  The topical root system is what caused the trees to tumble in the wind, no deep roots to keep the tree upright.  When a big boy goes down he takes others with him/her!  The trail will also take you along a river and will wind its way back to the junction with the Hoh River Trail.  I did enjoy the green and all of the sounds of the babbling creeks.  Worth the hike since the two hikes at the Hoh Rain Forest visitor that I did are only 2 miles total length and 50 feet of elevation gain.  The 18.5 Hoh River trail would be nice to do if you had a full day or two, but don’t go out to spend the night without a permit!