Washington State Olympic Peninsula

My parking space in Ocean Shores RV Resort is just great, there are dense spruce forests all over this area, so the sites are cut into the forest; I can’t even see my neighbors although they are only about 40’ away. I spent Friday catching up with some of the things I had neglected over the past three weeks—including my blog! On Saturday I ventured out. It’s a half mile walk to the beach from where I am parked but the town is about 2½ miles and I needed a couple of grocery items so I drove in via the Ocean Shores State Park beach. I was surprised to see cars and RVs parked on the beach. I sat on a piece of drift wood and watch the waves for about an hour before heading into the town of Ocean Shores; a pretty little town, that only has one large grocery store but has dozens of souvenirs type stores, everything from kites to sea-shell jewelry. I was busy taking a picture of the welcome sign when a deer just wandered across the main street, I didn’t know deer lived so close to the ocean.
I have spent the past three days exploring the area. Grays Harbor is a naturally formed harbor and is plenty deep enough to be used by ocean going vessels. Ocean Shores is on the north side of the mouth that forms the opening to Grays Harbor that protects the inner harbor from the Pacific Ocean. I awoke this morning to clear blue skies so decided to take the + 100 mile trip around Grays Harbor and back.

The interior of the Olympic Peninsula is home to a rain forest. It isn’t possible to drive from one side of the Olympic National Forest to the other. So exploration of the forest is via roads that are like the spokes of a wheel. I drove about 25 miles inland and was quickly engulfed in misty cloud which quickly burned off. I have noticed since I arrived here that the mornings are usually clear then the clouds roll in the afternoon. I wonder if it has anything to do with tides……
Lake Quinault is a natural lake that was carved by a glacier that receded into the mountains many thousands of years ago. The lake is surrounded by mossy old growth tees of the Quinault Rain Forest, one of only three temperate coniferous rain forests in the Western Hemisphere. Apparently the Roosevelt Elk, Black Tailed Deer and Bald Eagles are quite common sights but I didn’t see any wild life at all. The Rain Forest receives an average of 12 feet of rain per year, most of which falls in the winter months (thank goodness!) The wettest year of record was 1999 when 182.48” of rain fell. (I’d go NUTS!)
The Quinault Indians traditionally used Lake Quinault as summering grounds for fishing, hunting, berry picking and recreation, and wild huckleberry jams and other delicacies are available everywhere they sell souvenirs.

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