Northwest 2019: Day 14 - Olympic National Park Day Two

We woke and got started a bit later this morning. Michele and Jerry went over to the General store and got a light breakfast and brought it back to the cabin to eat.

We packed the bikes and were headed out for our hikes at the Hoh Rainforest by 9:30am. The ride over to the rainforest was about 40 minutes.

We had our pick of parking spots when we arrived. We made a quick stop at the visitor center for a stamp and to check out the trails. We decided on the two shorter trails, the Hall of Mosses, and the Spruce Nature trail.

We did not see much wild life (two types of slugs, a ground squirrel, and some birds) but their was plenty of plant life. Sitca Spruce Trees seemed to be the most prevalent. There were plenty of nurse logs and trees growing out of them along with mosses and ferns.

After we hiked the two short trails (about 2 miles combined), we went back to the bikes and had a picnic at the nearby tables. The local group of crows were quite aggressively watching and walking near us while we are. One even flew within a foot of table.

We finished up lunch (the crows got none of our food), and headed back to the cabin. We stopped by Ruby beach on the way for a few pictures. We bet this is a really nice spot for sunset pictures.

We made a quick run to Queets? Just outside of the park for a fuel top off. The station was only 5.5 miles past the cabins and this way we would not have to stop in the morning.

We arrived back at the cabin around 4:30. We all downloaded our pictures from the days hike and by 6:00 we were ready for dinner. Michele ordered a nice Pinot Noir with her tomato soup and small salad with chicken. Rob had a stout beer with his fish and chips, and Jerry enjoyed the Painted Hills Burger with his Pilsner. We also ordered a skillet cookie to go as the fruit flies at the restaurant were a little out of control.

After returning to the cabin and finishing the cookie, we headed out to the beach for some sunset pictures.