Majestical part 2

If you missed it, here's Part 1!

The plan of attack for day two was nothing but hiking at the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. Normally a 4 hour drive from home and as many miles as you can hike in a day, it was much better to stay the night close by and start early in the morning. We'd gotten back from Neah Bay at around 11pm and plopped straight into bed, waking the next morning at 7. With Hot Pockets filling our bellies for breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and started the 1 hour drive down to the Rain Forest.


Our first stop was at one of the biggest Sitka Spruce Trees in the US. ->
Yeah, I needed to use the panorama feature on my camera for that.
















It was the perfect day for a hike. Catching the rain forest on a non-rainy day is tough, especially when you're four hours away. The day was more than perfect.

It was like walking though Jurassic Park. The trees were massive, and there were ferns covering every inch of forest floor. 

I even found a creek that resembled something like that which Norman slid down while trying to avoid the Dilophosaurus. 

There were a couple of water falls, but the real spectacle was the Hoh River. Although it was probably at its lowest point of the year, it was still quite beautiful. 

Once Justin and I reached Mt. Tom's Creek 2.9 miles in, we trekked to the river and I pulled out the smoked salmon and smoked trout I'd made a couple days prior. It was the perfect lunch while sitting on a log and watching the river. 

The hike itself wasn't difficult at all. It was mostly flat and fairly easy to traverse, although my trekking poles did come in handy a couple of times. I was also wearing my brand new hiking boots; a pair of Keen Gypsum mid-highs, which I hadn't even had a chance to break in. So far, I absolutely love them. I'll be doing a review on Amazon once I test them out a bit more (aka, Pinnacle Peak), but I believe they're quite good for the price. (REI is selling them for $140 but shhh, I got them for $84!)

After the hike, we went straight home, since it was a 4 hour drive. I was so glad I could do this on a Friday/Saturday so that I could have Sunday to relax! Luckily, I didn't get sore at all. 6 miles, in any terrain, is usually my limit!

I'll leave you now with a couple more pics!

When is a Hike Worth It?

When you get views like this:

And like this:

And this:

This magical wonderland of breathtaking views is called Hurricane Hill, located at the top portion of the Olympic Mountain Range. And it was actually a relatively easy hike. Now, I often read "reviews" of people who go on hikes and tell you how easy or difficult said hike was. What they fail to mention is that they are usually avid hikers that backpack overnight, walk 12 miles a day, and do it all year round. I'm not that person. I'm 175 lbs, as weak as a puppy, and have the lung capacity of a marmot. (I have no idea how long marmots can hold their breath; maybe Google knows.) So when I say it was relatively easy, well, that might be a fairly accurate assessment! It was a 950 foot climb in 1.6 miles, but a lot of it was still flat, so it wasn't a straight shot up the whole time. Most of it was out in the open grassland though, which afforded a view almost the entire hike up, but also meant you were in full sun saturation. 

But considering how short the hike was (and how quickly you can get from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge), it was very little effort for a great reward.

Now I can finally cross it off of my Places I Visit Out of Spite list!