We left Mount St Helens and picked up our friend John from the airport in Seattle.  We headed straight to Olympic National Park. We arrived on a Saturday evening during peak season, so we knew our choices for campsites would be slim. After checking out a few full campgrounds, we headed to the remote Ozette area of the park and stayed at The Lost Resort, whose website states that they have never turned a tent camper away. The resort is also located a 1/2 mile from the trailhead for “The Ozette Triangle”, which would be a good introduction to “the wilderness coast”. It is about a 10 mile loop from the campsite, but without any significant elevation gain. The 3 mile stretch along the coast is rocky and there are 2 headlands that you must scramble over. The tide was low enough that we were able to walk around the first, but used a rope attached to a tree to assist us in scrambling up and down the second headland. It was a fun section of the hike, and the view from the top of the headland was awesome. This was a great way to start the trip. This is a place where you can disconnect and feel like you are standing at the edge of the world.

For the next section of our trip, we decided to head south and camp at Mora. Mora is a campground on a more accessible area of the coast,  a short walk from Rialto Beach. We made a day trip to the Hoh Rainforest from here and visited Ruby and Second beaches on our return to Mora.  The light was harsh during our visit to the rainforest. It was overcast on the coast, but as we headed inland, the skies were clear. I’d love to return to the Hoh in the spring and early in the morning, to experience the lushness of the mosses, full of moisture and illuminated with soft light. I imagine that it is a splendid sight. Combined with our visit to Ozette, I feel we had a good introduction to “the wilderness coast”.  On our next visit I hope to experience Shi Shi Beach and The Point of the Arches, north of Ozette.

For the last section of the trip, we camped at Fairholme Campground on the stunning Crescent Lake. We arrived right at check out time mid-week, and were able to score a site in the walk in area along the side of the lake’s shore.  I’ve never seen anything quite like the change over in campsites here, campsites do not stay open long! The jewel toned water is a deep blue in the lakes center and a beautiful turquoise in the shallower areas nearing the shore. We enjoyed our time here for sure.

We made an afternoon trip to Hurricane Ridge and hiked a section of the Klahhana Ridge trail. The beginning of this trail was a little crowded, but most of the people were heading to sunrise point. Just before sunrise point, you turn right at a trail junction and leave the masses behind you.

We made one more stop at Sol Duc Falls before leaving Olympic. There was a young black bear picking berries across the river from the trail. It’s always fun to watch wildlife at a safe distance. It was a great way to end our time in Olympic.

Olympic National Park is huge. I feel that we barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I hope to be fortunate enough to spend more time here in the future. We took a ferry on our way back to Seattle, and that was fun. We spent a night in an airbnb to shower and do laundry before taking John to the airport and continuing on to Mount Rainier. I love to camp, but it feels good to be clean!