Digital Nomad Summer - Part 10

Did you read Part 9?

In the last blog, we were about halfway through our week working from Salt Creek Recreation Area, just northwest of Port Angeles, WA, surrounded by Olympic National Park and across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Canada!

"Does she seriously have her front leg propped up on me?!?!?!"

Obligatory snuggly dog picture.

Hey, I know what you blog readers want - I'm not clueless

The morning stroll to the bunker yielded another great stick for Bea

On Wednesday, we headed west around the side of the Olympic Peninsula (the side we hadn't seen yet) then further inland to the Hoh Rainforest section of the National Park. The Hoh is a temperate rainforest (think a moss and ferns, not a toucans and jaguars type of rainforest) fed by the Hoh River, which flows from nearby Mount Olympus.  Since there are no roads that run directly through Olympic NP due to the extremely varied and somewhat inhospitable terrain, the drive from Salt Creek took a solid 2 hours, even though it was only about 80 miles one way.  Along the route, we passed through the town of Forks, which is mostly notable for this:

Yup, we were in the land of the sparkly vampires.

In the books, the Cullen Family picked Forks due to the mostly overcast conditions,

and indeed, it is the rainiest city in Washington

(good for trying to conceal glittery vampire skin and all).

I mean, there is a rainforest right next door, so this tracks.

Part of the Hoh River

The Hoh is one of the more heavily visited parts of Olympic NP, so wait times to get into the visitor center parking lot (where most of the trails start) can be up to 1-2 hours.  Thankfully, since we didn't arrive until 5pm, we missed the worst of it and found a parking spot after only a slight delay.

They were also doing construction along the banks of the Hoh River,

lashing together massive concrete hedgehogs and lowering them along the edge of the river

(I assume to help with erosion and/or flooding).

I've seriously lost count of the number of one lane stoppages

we encountered on this trip (mostly on the 101).

Here!

Due to the population of large animals in the Hoh (including elk), pets aren't allowed on the trails; Chris waited in the truck with the girls and ate dinner while I walked the short Hall of Mosses trail, and then we swapped.

The .8 mile looped trail winds through a rainforest section full of large trees,

including some that have come down over the years.

Some of the fallen comrades become "nursery trees," and they provide nutrients for new life.

These dudes are big!

 A small stream burbles by

About halfway through the hike, you come to the namesake Hall of Mosses - a grove of huge trees completely covered in hanging moss of several different varieties.  It sounds somewhat underwhelming, but it was really neat.  Even with lots of people wandering through, it had a pleasant silence, and most folks were happy to observe it.

When Chris returned from his hike, we strolled the girls a bit (through the median in the parking area - that was okay), then it was back in the truck and time to head home for the evening.

Zoe says the rainforest smells nice

Since we'd done so much driving on Wednesday, we stayed close to home on Thursday, walking the girls again around the bunker.  After work, I made a run to nearby Joyce (calling Joyce a city would be...generous) to do some laundry and find groceries at the Joyce General Store, the oldest one in the state!

The overlook area on the Bunker to Bluffs trail near our campsite

The antique fruit and veggie cooler box at the Joyce General Store

Chris and I both took off from work on Friday, so we had the entirety of our final day in the area to explore, tire out the girls, and get ready for yet another Saturday travel day.  We started out by throwing the doggos in the truck (after watching the day's stage of the Tour, of course) and heading toward Port Angeles, en route to Hurricane Ridge, once again in a different section of Olympic National Park.  Hurricane Ridge is another of the most visited spots within the NP, and right now, it's even more a challenge to get there than normal.  About three months ago, the Visitor Center up on Hurricane Ridge burned down (due to a fire in the kitchen, they think, not a forest fire or anything of that sort), so there's currently no facilities atop the Ridge other than a row of port o loo's.  To keep the restrooms from being overwhelmed (one thing we all learned during COVID is that people are horrible stewards of the parks and will poop ANYWHERE), the number of visitors to the Ridge is significantly limited, and the quota is normally met by around noon each day.  It worked out really well that we had the day off on Friday, so we headed in early and were in line around 9:30am.

This was actually a pretty short wait - 

we flew right past the port o loo set up for folks who had to wait for hours

After showing the Ranger at the entrance station our lifetime military parks pass and Chris' ID, we chatted with her for another 70 seconds, and she gave us the go ahead to start up the mountain (she had a timer and everything to help mitigate the crowds).  When you enter the road to Hurricane Ridge in Port Angeles, you're just a bit above sea level, and by the time you reach the top, you've climbed to 5100 feet, so it's quite the journey for the 18 mile stretch in between.

Along the way, you pass through three tunnels like this

We made it!

On a clear day like this, you can see miles in each direction.

The remains of the Visitor Center

Looking north - that's the Strait of Juan de Fuca with Canada on the other side

Clocking in for her shift

Done taking in the 360 degree views of gorgeousness, we headed back down to sea level and Port Angeles.  While we were in town, we ran by Walmart to pick up an order we'd placed earlier for non-perishables and household items (RV toilet paper, dog food, Listerine, Benefiber, etc. - the essentials) and head inside to shop for groceries.  We also grabbed lunch from Taco Time!, a local quick service Mexican spot (think a slightly nicer, regional Taco Bell) before heading back to Salt Creek.  Once home, we unpacked all of our treasures, changed into shorts and flip flops, and strolled the girls to the Bunker to Bluff trail; this time, we took it the full distance to the actual bluffs, where we could access a small beach area right on the Strait. Bea chased a tennis ball on the shore while Zoe fetched a frisbee in the surf, and we all had a great time getting sandy and wet.  Of this adventure, we have no pictures at all, so use your imagination; on our way to the beach, we passed by a group of ladies, one who exclaimed, "it's those Target dogs!"  Indeed ma'am, it is!

After hosing off the dogs, their toys, our shoes, and everything else in the immediate vicinity, I made use of the campground's shower facility (review: quite good - truly hot water, only a quarter for 2 minutes of spray, secure locking door, only a few spiders, etc.).  We all relaxed next to the rig, and Chris and I wandered to the campground's coastal entrance to explore the tide pools there (well, Chris did - I was pretty beat and given my general aura of clumsiness, I decided the somewhat hazardous descent was not in the cards for me).

Look!  A (very small) fish!

A hermit crab (the shell on the left)!

Anemones!

Post-beach, sacked out girls.  Obviously, Bea has chosen the comfiest spot.

We spent the rest of Friday afternoon/evening packing up for Saturday's departure and attempting to watch the US Women's Soccer game versus Vietnam (wow, the Fox Sports App is really horrible).  It was almost time to say adieu to Washington and head back into Oregon!

Later!

Amy