10/63 – Olympic National Park | 8.5.15

This was another park that I went to as a kid, though we didn’t see much. We went to the Hoh Rainforest and that’s about all I remember, though I do remember it quite vividly. It’s kind of impossible to forget a place like the Hall of Mosses. It’s a place that’s a little hard to capture with mere photographs, because part of the wonder of it is just that there’s so MUCH GREEN everywhere!

In true rainforest fashion, it started raining on us right as we showed up to the Hoh Rainforest visitor center. I didn’t particularly mind, as it honestly enhanced the experience in my opinion. The forest is an incredible place.

The beach right by the campground where we spent the night. Next time we go I’m making sure I book early enough to get a beach-access campsite!

There’s actually a better sign than this (it doesn’t say ‘entering’) but I didn’t find it until after our trip. Since then I’ve become quite the sign connoisseur. If you want to know where the best signs are in every park, let me know.

Our friend Ivy reveling in the scope of the Hall of Mosses.

I thought it was so amazing to see such a resilient little tree growing on the side of another tree! Nature is amazing.

Photographs are just insufficient for this place.

After the Hall of Mosses we headed to Sol Duc Falls, which actually turned out to be better than I had expected. It was gorgeous!

SO FREAKING DREAMY.

I waited longer than I care to admit to get a shot of the bridge without people on it. I wish I’d had a better camera with me.

Next up was Hurricane Ridge. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy it because of the rain clouds but holy goodness was I wrong. Honestly if you only go to one spot in Olympic National Park, go to Hurricane Ridge. It will BLOW YOUR MIND. My jaw was in my lap for the entirety of the drive, and I think I exclaimed “it’s so beautiful!!” about a hundred times. The clouds actually provided us with really beautiful moody lighting, and I honestly wish I could have stopped a dozen different times to compose various cool photographs. But alas, with two cars and eight people it would’ve been a nuisance to do so. Just more incentive to go back! (Warning, panorama overload approaching.)

This was my face pretty much the entire drive up there.

It was just unreal.

Sadly, after Hurricane Ridge our time was short and we had to head to Mount Rainier, where another adventure awaited!

Our Olympic National Park “Must Do”:

This is a tough one as there are so many different and amazing facets of Olympic, but ultimately Hurricane Ridge is an absolute must do (for me at least). The view from the top is simply unbeatable.

You can also read our review of the campground we stayed in (Kalaloch) here.