Olympic Rain Forest, WA

After leaving Port Angeles we head west on 101 toward the Pacific coast. The weather prediction for the next few days is for sunshine. Even though we anxious to go home, we decide to see the rain forest in sunny weather since this is a rare opportunity.

We stop that night at the Klahowya National Forest campground. At $15 a night - you gotta love the National Forest. Even though it's relatively late for us, 7pm, we get a lovely site right on the Sol Duc River. That evening we're treated to one of the most spectacular sunsets we've seen on this trip.

Setting sun baths the Sol Duc River in red light

The sky is burning with brilliant colors

The campground hosts tell us the best place for camping in the National Park is at the Hoh River Campground, but with the upcoming Labor Day weekend, we should secure our campsite by 12 noon. So we are up early and on the road to find our next site.

Campsite at Klahowya

Hwy 101 headed west @ top of Olympic Peninsula

By the time we reach the boundary of the Hoh Rain Forest, the sun is shinning brightly and we congratulate ourselves on deciding to take the detour.

Entry sign to How Rain Forest

The Hoh River

We get settled and celebrate over lunch of sandwiches made from the last of our Alaskan reindeer sausage. We joke about ordering more of these sausages as Christmas presents. Humm... on second thought, maybe the grand kids won't see the humor in this gift.

Camp robber jays are everywhere as we sit down at our picnic table to eat.

Hey that's my sandwich - not yours!

Grumble - these jays won't go away

Two birds in the hand is better than all those in the bush

It's such a nice day we go for a hike up the Hoh River Trail. It's a pretty long trail going all the way to the Olympic Mountains and the Sol Duc River Ranger Station.  We'll just go to Tom Creek and back to check it out.

Ahhh ... so nice to know where we're going.

Wow - these trees are amazing

What a great afternoon for a hike

The large trees are truly amazing. We are awed by the size of these monsters.

Big

Bigger

Biggest

Next, we notice the incredible play of sunlight filtering through the trees giving the forest a magical quality.

The Enchanted Forest

Ferns storing up photons

Then there's the mosses... everywhere. Later we learn from our forest ranger guide there's literally hundreds of different kinds of mosses in this rain forest.

Mosses hanging from tree branches

almost touching the ground at times

and even blanketing the phone booth

Fungi are also happy living in this forest. Some are surprisingly large.
Although we don't see too many critters on the forest floor, we do see evidence of their existence. The local banana slugs in these northern forests are black rather than the brilliant yellows we are used to seeing at home.

A rodent home

Black Banana Slug

and of course fish.

The most spectacular of the local fauna is the Roosevelt Elk, named for Teddy Roosevelt who is said to have created this National Park to protect their habitat. Peter captured these magnificent large elk napping along the Hoh River with his telephoto lens.

Nap time along the Hoh for the stag and his harem

Some hikers across the river put the herd on alert

Danger past - back to the business of feeding the calves

Life abounds everywhere. Even in death, there is life. Fallen giant trees become the homes of other plants and even becoming "nurse logs" nurturing the growth of the next generation of trees. In this temperate rain forest it can take two to three hundred years for large logs to fully decompose, while in the tropics this process only takes two to three years.

Ferns and mosses are the first to colonize a fallen tree

The roots of this tree still embrace it's nurse

This row of trees mark where they grew up on a nurse log

We thoroughly enjoy our hikes through the rain forest and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to explore this part of the world under such pleasant circumstances.

Fallen logs along the Hoh River Trail

Water fall along trail

Foot bridge over creek

Back at the Visitors' Center we are surprised at the ring comparisons of the same species of tree. With the ideal conditions of the rain forest, the trees grow very quickly compared to the same species living farther north.

28 years of growth in the Hoh Rain Forest

In Alaska, the same tree grows much slower

We end up spending a wonderful 3 days wandering around the rain forest and getting to know the area and the other campers. As tired we are of travelling, this Labor Day weekend on the Olympic Peninsula was well worth the stop.

Our campsite along the Hoh River

Hey - some of these cords are hard!

Autumn colors start to show on the Hoh River

We meet a remarkable couple while camping - Rick and Amy. They are full time RVers. They both retired early over 10 years ago and spent their first eight years sailing around the Caribbean hoping from island to island. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed their boat and they switched to an land yacht - an RV about the size of ours, in which they've been living for the last two years.  We are amazed at how well they handle living in such a small space and are thankful for their many tips for organizing our own RV. They are "distributed campers"... ie camping in unorganized campsites for free... sometimes known as "boondocking."

Rich is also an avid amateur photographer and he has some great shots.  Hummm... maybe I should start using a tripod and shooting raw.

Since we are all leaving on the same day, we decide to take advantage of the minus tide to explore the local beaches and tide pools.

Rick and Amy stand by their home.

Trail down to Second Beach is classic Northwest

Creative cairn balancing

Colorful starfish

Green sea anemones

Although the mood is more somber along the foggy beaches, it's still beautiful. We can easily see why the area around Forks WA was chosen for the Twilight movie set

BC Ferry and Vancouver Island

We're up early (before 5am) to line up for boarding.  While waiting in line we notice three large tour buses waiting in line as well. Later we learn they are filled with German speaking tourists on a two week tour of Canada from Vancouver BC and will return there after visiting Victoria BC.

Fortunately, we are among the first vehicles to board. After getting the IQ settled in the hold, we have time to explore the Northern Expedition. It's the newest and most modern of the BC Ferry fleet.  Even though we won't be aboard for an over night, we booked a cabin for napping and catching up on our sleep.  We are delighted to see a spacious clean cabin with a modern bathroom complete with Hansgrohe fixtures. We start referring to this ferry as the "Cruise Ship."

Peter watches departure preparations

and we're off!

Who's that guy at our cabin window?

The public areas of the ferry are tastefully decorated in with Northwestern Art. The ferry even comes with a cruise ship type gift shop. I score a beautiful hand turned maple bowl which was 75% off on an end of season sale. When checking out, the lady at the register said she also had her eye on the same bowl and was glad it was going to a good home. Canadians are such nice people.

Cafeteria seating

more seating.

We are amazed at how many waterfalls we pass long our route.  Some tumbling down tall mountains and others seem to gush straight out the side of a cliff.  We watch a logging operation using a large helicopter to carry large logs from the steep slopes down to the holding pen. We wonder how they can make any money using such an expensive helicopter. Maybe they're harvesting cedar?

One of many waterfalls

Waterfall cascading down side of mountain

Helicopter logging

Most of our route follows narrower channels (which the larger cruise ships can't navigate)  along the Inside Passage. Since we thread between islands, the waters are calm and the journey is smooth.

Calm waters of the Inside Passage

Watching the weather change on the stern deck

Grenville Channel

About mid afternoon we come into Bella Bella, home of the Heiltsuk First Nation. While on deck watching the docking process, we meet a tall young man who is returning home after a summer of canoe racing and adventures. He is very proud of his home and tribe, especially how they have adapted some modern conveniences while keeping their traditions. He tells us not only about his canoe adventures, but also what it's like to grow up and live here.  We remark on the many salmon jumping out of the harbor. He explains the dry summer has left the river too low for them to swim up to their spawning grounds. They'll wait until more rains fill the river. Often a few weeks later the harbor is boiling with fish waiting for the river to rise.

Lighthouse at entrance to Bella Bella Harbor

Docked at Bella Bella

Bella Bella BC Canada

Just before midnight we dock in Port Hardy. Fortunately, the signage in this area is very good and we have no trouble finding our campsite at Quatse River Regional Park and Campground. We are impressed that one of the owners has stayed up to greet us at this late hour. In the morning. we explore the lovely grounds located in old growth timber. We would like to stay longer, but the weather's drippy and we're anxious to head homeward, so we get back on the road driving south along the eastern edge of Vancouver Island.

We've been looking forward to this drive as so many people have told us how beautiful it is. Unfortunately we are dismayed to see how much logging is going on in the northern part of the island. Perhaps if we had driven this way northward, we would have liked it much better, but compared to the pristine wilderness areas of the Yukon and Alaska, Vancouver Island is less impressive.

Port Hardy welcome sign

Logging in northern Vancouver Island

We stop for the night at Salmon Point Resort RV Park and Marina, just south of Campbell River. Although it's pricier than we're used to paying, we get a great campsite on the water across from mainland Canada. Besides, we get to relax our weary bones in their nice hot tub while doing much needed loads of laundry.  We meet several people in a large RV caravan of Swiss at this park. Apparently they come to this location every year.

The next morning we move on and stop at Miracle Beach Provincial Park for a short hike. We agree it's the place to stay in mid Vancouver Island if we didn't have so much laundry to do. We decide to move on closer to Victoria as Labor Day weekend is coming up and we want to make it back to Washington before the crowds descend on Vancouver Island. We stop at Goldstream Provincial Park, which is only 30 minutes outside of Victoria. It's a large spacious park and we are very happy to have found a nice campsite so close to the city.  However, the downside to camping close to a city are noisy neighbors who have come to party and not to commune with nature. We resolve to get on the ferry back to good old USA as soon as we can.

Miracle Beach at low tide

Trail to Miracle Beach

Our campsite at Goldstream

It is still very nice provincial park in old growth Douglas fir, hemlock, and cedars. That afternoon, we take a hike to a close by waterfall.

Peter on trail

Big burls on old growth tree

Fallen giant

Peter points out a shelf fungus

Wild blueberries

The waterfall is beautiful and a favorite location of local photographers for taking bridal portraits.
The next morning turns out to be a gorgeous day as we make the short drive into Victoria. It's a bit jarring to be on city streets again, but we manage to make it to the Black Ball Ferry in the heart of downtown. We line up with extra time to explore the harbor and eat an enjoyable lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We get a big kick out of watching the pedestrians and the street performers. Humm ... maybe we should have scheduled more time in Victoria. Oh well, there's always another trip.

Photogenic waterfall

The Empress Hotel on Victoria harbor

A beautiful day on Victoria Harbor

Our time in Victoria is too short and we have to run back to the IQ to be ready for boarding our ferry to Port Angeles WA.  As part of the boarding procedure we have to relinquish some lemons before crossing the border, but the check out procedure is fairly quick and painless. One of the great parts of this ferry ride is their duty free shop, in which we convert the last of our Canadian money into a nice bottle of Grey Goose. Now that's a good exchange rate.

The Ferry Coho

Docking in Port Angeles WA

After a short ferry ride we find ourselves back in the USA, but first we must pass yet another "ag" inspection. The odd part of this inspection is it's being conducted by Border Patrol agents. So, why they doing an agricultural inspection?  The agent not only looks in our refrigerator, but also checks our closet and bathroom. No, we're not trying to smuggle in any illegal Canuks. After confiscating some green onions and the pit to an avocado, they release us.

Welcome home!