Day 13 - Olympic National Park Day One

The rain started last night before 11pm, and we woke to very rainy and foggy conditions. 

It was the first morning where we could rest in a bit. We had breakfast in the lodge then Rob headed out to take photos despite the rain. The cabin area has a gazebo so he was able to snap shots without getting wet. Jerry and Michele went to the mercantile and gift shop to check out items for sale. After that we just hung out in our cabin, Jerry and Rob worked on adjusting the settings on their cameras and Michele did some knitting and played cribbage on her ipad. By 1pm we were hungry again and headed over to lunch. During lunch Jerry spotted a hummingbird swoop by outside at the wild blackberry plants, it was gone in a flash. We watched out the window hopeful that the weather would clear. Rob declared that we should take a walk on the beach anyway, so what about the weather! So we put on tons of layers, hats and grabbed the umbrellas. We walked down the highway briefly, through the campground, and made our way to the beach. When Rob researched the park he discovered the Tree of Life, so we walked a bit to find it. It’s so cool! It’s officially a historic landmark in Jefferson County, Washington, where we are.

This beach has huge trees that wash ashore from the nearby rain forests. It takes driftwood to another level, as the scale of them are truly gigantic. We are warned about log kills in the ocean and saw several tree logs wash shore.

At this point, the weather dramatically cleared, skies became blue and the sun was out. 

We walked along the beach a bit then realized we were roasting from all the layers. We walked back to our cabin, got sunglasses and headed back out down the other side of the beach. On the way the guys checked out the electric car charging stations in the parking lot.

Rob wanted to explore cool areas to take more constellation pictures tonight. He checked his tides app and the tide was definitely coming in. We are warned about getting caught in the tides here, as they come in fast and create creeks that extend well towards the shoreline. In a few spots we had to cross by huge trees that fell.

As we walked the wind picked up dramatically. 

We were cold again when we turned to head back to our cabin. There are tsunami warnings at the trail head and we all planned our escape route if one should hit us. A little girl in dinosaur pajamas told Michele that she’s really good at climbing up trees.

We hung out in the cabin for awhile before going to dinner. After dinner, Rob and Jerry went out for photos, staying out until 11pm. It was worth it! They said the milky way core was highly visible and they saw more satellites and shooting stars.

Tomorrow we explore the Hoh Rainforest.