Spontaneous trips sound exciting but anyone who knows me well, knows that such trips are truly not my cup of tea. So, when we “spontaneously” decided to go on a trip through the Olympic National Park (ONP), I needed at least two days to prepare and research for the trip.
Olympic National Park is an amalgamation of the sandy, pebbly-coastline, rugged mountains and lush rain forests. While driving around the park, the scenery changes to a completely different picture at almost every turn. To add to this, since we drove down during the Fall season, we came across long stretches of pure greenery with sudden bursts of fall colors. This made the landscape even more gorgeous.
But preparing for such varied terrains can be challenging and some might feel it even unnecessary to pack the ONP in three days. But it makes for such a brilliant break from the routine that it is totally worth it.
Now I am not a morning person, but picnics and trips can wake me up at all sorts of ungodly hours. The ONP plan was no different. We woke up well before 5 am and headed out by 6:30 am to ensure we beat the morning rush. And let me tell you, apart from the several benefits of visiting places off-season, heading out of town when everyone is heading towards the city for work, makes for some bonus pleasure.
Day 1:
First stop, Hurricane Ridge.
To get to Hurricane Ridge from downtown Seattle, it takes about three and a half hours. However, before heading to the Hurricane Ridge, we made a stop at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center. The center has a lot of information about Olympic National Park, has clean bathrooms and some trails. We skipped the trails and checked in to see if we needed to buy any permits or passes. Only thru-hikers and campers need to buy their passes from this visitor center while the rest can pay the National Park entrance fee of $30 for 7 consecutive days at the check point before the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.
After this, we got back on the route to head towards the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and viewpoint. 
As soon as we got there, we were completely swept off our feet by the sheer magnitude and beauty of the view that awaited us. We headed to the viewpoint where they have these perfect little picnic benches and sipped on hot, homemade soup while soaking in the view. We wanted to see more and were excited by the prospect of what lied ahead atop the Hurricane Hills.
Due to some on-going restoration work, we had to leave our vehicle at parking lot ‘B’ and walked around 0.4 miles to the trail-head for hurricane hills.
The so-called 1.5-mile one-way trail was muddy and tedious, and the elevation-gain made it difficult to climb. Honestly, since you walk the path on the same side as the Hurricane Ridge viewpoint, the view is basically the same, the only difference being the elevation. So, despite being spectacular, the repetitive view is not enough of a motivation to make it to the top.
Well, don’t give up just yet; we are glad we didn’t!
Because, once atop you can practically see Canada on the other side which is such a fascinating thought! Not just that, all the efforts to get to the top paid off when we had a sighting of a beautiful elk up-close.
You think an elk sighting is meh? Well, imagine this, you are sitting on a rock atop a hill, with sweeping views of the beautiful Olympics range to your left and the view of Canada in front of you, and suddenly, a magnificent, graceful elk casually walks up so close in front of you that if you just reach out a little bit, you can probably touch him. Phew! That sight gave me goosebumps like never before. I was so excited that I literally wanted to scream out “We saw an elk, we saw an elk…” to every single person we met while coming downhill.
Next on our list was Sol Duc Falls. On the way to Sol Duc Falls, we crossed the Crescent Lake and came across signage that said that the Sol Duc Salmon Cascades were just a few minutes away. We decided to make a stop here in the hopes of seeing a glimpse of salmons migrating. Although we didn’t see any salmons migrating, the cascading water made for such a spectacular view and the stop turned out to be totally worth it.
Unsure of what to expect from another waterfall after having seen so many different waterfalls all over Washington and Oregon, we headed towards Sol Duc Falls.
The 0.8 miles trail to Sol Duc Falls is a family friendly, wooded, green trail. We passed some minor off-shoots of the falls on the way and were still wondering how different a waterfall could really be! We finally reached the three-headed falls. I say three-headed because Sol Duc Falls is quite literally 3-falls-in-one.
We were there for around 45 minutes but could’ve easily stayed there for another couple of hours if it wasn’t getting darker by the minute.
We finally drove to our resort in Port Angeles — The Olympic Lodge.
Day 2:
After the strenuous Day 1, with so much driving and hiking and walking, we decided to start day 2, a little later.
True to its nature, the National Forest greeted us on our way to Hoh, with a large gang of Elks by the side of the road. It was a truly remarkable view.
We were headed from the mountains to the rain forest today. It is a two-hour drive from the Olympic Lodge to get to Hoh Rain Forest, one of the largest temperate rain forests in the U.S.
When you get to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center, you will come across two short loop trails – the 1.2 miles Spruce Nature Trail and the 0.8 miles Hall of Mosses Trail. Since both trails were fairly short and had a lot of moss-covered tress and sitka spruces, we decided to embark on both those trails.
From the minute you enter the rain forest, it is as if you enter a different, magical realm. The grounds covered with large maple leaves, moss and mushrooms, the nurse logs wherein seedlings of trees grow upon the fallen Sitka spruces and of course, the trees from which hang thick layers of moss — the sights were nothing short of mesmerizing. I do believe though that had it rained a little that day, the atmosphere had been even more magical. So if you are ever to wish for it rain in any place during your trips, this would be it.
You can spend hours in this forest where no moss-covered trees look alike and even though it is all just layers and layers of moss, the serenity and enchantment of the rain forest will make you want to spend many hours there.
We however, wanted to cover some more ground on day 2, and therefore finally, with a heavy heart bid our adieu to the rain forest.
Our next stop was the quaint little Forks city; or as many would know it as the Twilight city. Not sure if it was the vibe of the city itself or the fact that the vampire-werewolf saga is based here, but the city felt super mysterious. We made stops at the Forks High School board, Welcome to the city of Forks sign and a little Twilight-movie merchandise store. It was a fun little stop and since it was on our way to Rialto beach, it was totally doable.
We wanted to reach Rialto just before sunset and catch the sun setting against the giant rocks. We managed to pull up just in time and what a mesmerizing sight it was! Giant rocks in the middle of the sea, with waves splashing against it, a setting sun in the background and a pebbly beach to walk alongside the water. It was a perfect end to Day 2.
We then drove to our stay for the night — the Rain Forest Resort Village.
Day 3:
We woke up to the beautiful view of the Quinault lake amidst a thick fog-cover. Today was going to be an early start-kind of a day. We decided to get in some breakfast at the famed Lake Quinault Lodge before heading on to the 30-mile drive around the Lake Quinault and the Quinault River.
Once well-fed, energized, and excited to seize day 3, we started on the auto tour. Hoh Rain Forest is more popular, and you will see more people there too. Quinault Rain Forest on the other hand is just as enchanting if not more, less popular, completely underrated and therefore you will barely ever see any people there and can enjoy the solitude and magic of the forest in peace.
With several stops like the Large Sitka Spruce tree, Merriman Falls and Bunch Falls, the drive was a beautiful, calming experience.
We finally headed towards Kalaloch — our final stop before heading back to Seattle.
Just a little ahead from the Kalaloch Lodge, on the Kalaloch campground, is the Tree Root Cave or as some would call it the Tree of Life. This wonder of nature is a one-of-a-kind tree that literally hangs on to dear life despite the roots having nowhere to get any food from, due to erosion and the intense storms on the coast. Baffling, mysterious, enchanting are just a few words to describe this unusual tree. 
The beach there is also very beautiful, and we ended up spending a good hour and a half, lying peacefully, sunbathing, on the shores.
It was finally time to make the 3-hour journey back home to Seattle. Even though the three wonderous days through the Olympic National Park had left us satisfied, it also left us wanting for more. We will definitely be making more trips down here, will you?
VUE 360 DEGREES 
An excellent narration with great selection of pics.
LikeLike