After the amazing moonlit silhouettes of the Olympic range last night, the views did not disappoint from Deer Park. We got a pretty good start on the day, although we missed sunrise (which may not have been all that great since it was overcast). We each had a KIND bar for breakfast and struck the tent after checking out the view and then headed up to Blue Mountain summit.

From the parking lot, we could see the coastal range in British Columbia to the north, past Victoria, across the Juan de Fuca strait from Port Angeles. Then we went up the half-mile loop to the summit (6010 ft above sea level) and were treated to a 360-degree panorama. We could see all the way to Mount Baker to the northeast, Glacier peak to the east, and the beautiful stretch of Cascade mountains in between and beyond. To the south and west was the Olympic range, up close and super cool.

 

After we finished getting all the pictures we could stand, we headed back down the gravel road (fortunately slightly less bumpy than the one in North Cascades), and picked up some coffee on the way to the Visitor Center to stamp the park passport and get some advice on where to hike while we were here.

We saw Crescent Lake which was a beautiful turquoise/aqua that looked almost fake, like the color of water in models. I may have waded into the lake a little bit, Robert had to bug me a little bit to get out so we could continue our journey. We hiked the 1.5 mile trail to Marymare falls through old growth forest and a similar hike to the Sol Duc falls of the Sol Duc river. The construction up through the Sol Duc valley made for some pretty spectacularly long delays, particularly the line painting truck. It took us almost 3 hours to get to the trail head, stopping to check if the salmon were jumping up the river, hike the trail, and get back to highway 101. Should have only taken about half that time, so by the time we got out, it had started raining a bit.

We stopped to get some more coffee and gas on our way to the Hoh rain forest, where we planned to camp for the night. Of course it started raining more as we got to the campsite, but the dense forest kept it from being super wet.

The rain forest reminds me of Delaware. The lushness and excessive moss remind me of the deciduous forests near the community center where my Babushka used to make little critters out of seed pods and other natural materials. [picutre?] (I can only imagine how much she would have liked hearing about this adventure we’re on. I can just picture her squinting away at the magnified computer screen reading all about it, following our adventures and making us all the food possible on our return.)

We had some exciting franks and beans for dinner after eating the mostly melted ice cream that Robert got at the gas station. Then we set up the tent under the rain fly to avoid excessive wetness. We’re going to hike up Hoh valley and along Ruby beach tomorrow before heading south, towards Corvallis. We’re not sure where we’re staying tomorrow night since the beach will be very cold and windy.