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Published: August 27th 2007
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070823 Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington
After leaving Seattle I drove about 45 minutes south to Sumner Washington where my friend and co-worker Bryan grew up. I crashed at his dad’s apartment which was empty at the moment. While there I waterproofed my tent because it wasn’t very waterproof when it rained in Yellowstone. We pretty much relaxed all day, watched movies, did some laundry (since both of us are nomads we wash laundry when we can), and did general upkeep on our gear, like waterproofing, sharpening knives, whatever.
I was thinking about going to Mt Rainer for a day then going to Olympic National Park for a day. Bryan suggested I use both days for Olympic National Park and stressed how cool the Hoh Rainforest on the west side of the park was.
I woke up early the next day and took off to the park, arriving around noon at the visitors center at the main entrance. Talking with a ranger, she encouraged me to check out Hurricane Ridge and Maymere Falls.
The drive to Hurricane Ridge was about 18 miles and it was up and up and up, seemingly without end. I began to
see snow at the tops of the mountains and the air grew noticeably cooler. Finally after topping a rise I was confronted with a huge range of snow covered peaks. Hurricane Ridge is a series of several glaciers keeping all of Olympic National Park green. The glaciers were nice, but I really wanted to see the waterfall and rainforest, so after snapping a couple of pictures I headed back down and around the north side of the park toward the west.
About halfway between Hurricane Ridge and the Hoh Rainforest is Maymere Falls. Taking the short, mile, hike toward the falls was my first taste of temperate rainforest. It was amazing. I know I keep saying that about the places that I go, but I really don’t have the words to express the way being in nature makes me feel. It just makes me calm and really happy. I feel safe and focused. I was talking to another lone hiker and after stopping for a particularly beautiful view of a river and I was trying and failing to put it into words. Finally I just compared it to the way I feel when I’m doing Qi-Gong or Tai’Chi, just
calm, relaxed yet focused and ultimately and most importantly, in the moment, in the Now.
The hike to the falls was beautiful, but Maymere Falls were a little disappointing. It was about a hundred foot fall, but there wasn’t a whole lot of water.
By the time I reached the Hoh Rainforest I was so excited to be there. The Hoh Rainforest is the wettest place in the contiguous US, only Hawaii has more rain. It rains an average of 140 inches a year, compare that with Phoenix’s 7, San Francisco’s 24, or Seattle’s 34. And as luck would have it, both days I stayed in the rainforest there was barely a cloud in the sky and not a drop of rain! This made for perfect hiking weather. It was about 7 when I found a camp and finished setting up, so instead of hiking I just decided to read and relax. Just in case clouds decided to come in overnight I used a tarp and made patio for my tent. As I filled up my water jug three deer trotted quickly past me. A doe and two fauns, it was startling and beautiful. I’d post pictures, but
there are better pictures to see.
The next morning I was up bright and early, well, early at least. There was an amazing thick fog over the entire area. Blackbirds cawed, but their annoying calls were muted by the thick mist. I walked to the riverbank to stick my head in the dull grey water. The water of the Hoh river, fed by the Hoh glacier is blue-grey due to what they call stone flour, fine blue-grey sand made from the glacier crushing rock to powder. After making a breakfast sandwich of bacon and eggs and some coffee I made my way to a trail called the Hall of Moss.
The trail was dark and damp even as some of the fog was burning off as the sun rose. The sweet, musty smell of decaying wood was everywhere. I could see the ground was the trail, otherwise grass, ferns, and moss covered the soil, sometimes 5-8 inches thick. Moss not only covered the ground, it clung to the huge Sitka Spruces, giant Maples, enormous Douglas Firs, and weighed down the branches of towering Hemlocks. These trees were monstrous some towering over 200 feet tall. Now that the fog
was lifted birdcalls were echoing all around.
No sooner than 20 minutes on the trail and I hear some loud crunching coming from around a bend in the trail, obscured by thick foliage and trees. Coming around I see a good sized 8 point Elk bull standing in the middle of the trail munch on some leaves. I stood for about twenty minutes, just watching him eat. Occasionally he would give me sideways glances which made me look around and see where I’d run just in case he decided he didn’t like me around. The rangers had warned me that since it’s late summer and about to be rutting season the bulls would start to get aggressive.
The bull was about 20 feet from me and as I sat and watched every impulse to ever hunt one of these beautiful, graceful, magnificent creatures fled my soul and I felt ashamed that I had wanted to. Not that I’m against hunting or anything, if you need to eat, no problem, but hunting for sport doesn’t seem quite right. Finally he jumped into the deep woods and I lost him.
Continuing along the trail I walked under an amazing
natural arch that was formed when a tree trunk cracked for whatever reason. Atop the arch grew moss and fern, it was beautiful.
Not ten minutes after seeing the Elk I ran into another one, this one much bigger, but still 8 points. I was closer to him and got some better pictures. Again I just stood and watched him. In the picture he’s looking back. He noticed something before I did and froze, I followed his gaze and saw another bull elk on the trail behind me! I didn’t know if these two were going to square off or what, but I didn’t want to be in the middle so I jumped off the trail and waited to see what happened. Well…nothing happened, they just looked at each other and continued eating the fresh green leaves.
After the moss trail I followed the Spruce Trail to more beautiful sites. Along the trail there were signs that told about the various plants, animals, and general ecology of the area. After the Spruce Trail I returned to my camp and had lunch (and recharged by camera battery) then hit the Hoh River trail where I would spend the rest
of the day among the moss, fern, waterfalls, and tranquility of the rainforest.
I think the rainforest is my favorite place I’ve been so far, it’s truly an awe inspiring place, even as the sun was high in the sky there was so little light filtering to the ground that I felt cradled by the earth. The trees, her numerous fingers, the earth and moss her soft skin, the smell of wet soil and moist plants her intoxicating perfume. I felt safe and at home.
Needless to say, I hope…if you haven’t been to the Hoh rainforest in Olympic National Park…go there!
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LizzZ
lizzz honey
thank you
i dont know who you are. im just a girl lost somewhere in the sea of contrete, clattering dishes, ratteling busses, honking taxis, barking dogs....buenos aires. i haven´t been home, washington state, for two years. thank you for your pictures. just looking at them makes me feel at home.