Our adventure today took us to the Hoh Rain Forest here in Olympic National Park. Jett came with us today. We packed a lunch and brought our raincoats! The Hoh is one of the finest remaining examples of temperate rainforest in the United States and is one of the park's most popular destinations.
The day started overcast at basecamp with a heavy thick, wet dew again. It was still overcast by the time we reached the rain forest. What a magnificent forest! It receives up to 144” of rain annually.
There are bigleaf maples, vine maples, Sitka spruce, Western hemlock and Douglas-fir. Many over 200 feet tall. The forest floor consists of mosses, ferns and other plants. And of course the mosses are all over the trees too! Elk help keep the undergrowth maintained and open. Dead and downed trees decay slowly and support new life as nurse logs.
First up for us (leaving Jett in the truck … 56*) was to hike the Hall of Mosses. What an amazing experience to walk through this rain forest. This is a stunning trail lined with spectacular old growth spruces, firs and cedars. Next we hiked the Spruce Nature Trail. Another beautiful rain forest trail. This loop trail runs down to the ‘fast moving water’ of the Hoh River and back. Here you go through both old and new forest. And can also see a fine example of the results from a nurse log.
As we hiked the sky got brighter and the weather cleared. And it was beautiful and sunny when we finished our second hike. When we got back to the parking lot we got Jett out for another walk. Found a picnic table under some trees and enjoyed our packed lunch.
On our return to basecamp it began to rain. We should have rain throughout the night and into tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will be yet another travel day. We are looking forward to seeing what our next stop brings.
Sunset: 7:38 pm
Sunrise: 6:49 am
Wildlife viewings:
Tiny Mice
Blue Heron
Northern Shrike
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