Driving through the Mount Skokomish Wilderness surrounding Olympic National Park, we saw a lot of logging and mostly younger tree growth (more evidence of logging).
Day 1 | Olympic National Park
Exploring the southeast part of the park, we saw forests dominated by massive Douglas Fir trees. In this area, natural fires wipe the slate clean every 300 to 400 years. For Douglas Firs, those sun-hungry trees, this keeps them growing strong. Otherwise, they would likely be almost completely overtaken by more shade-tolerant conifers.
Staircase Rapids Loop Trail
Staircase Rapids Loop Trail is 2 miles, with only 200 feet of elevation gain. Halfway through, a sturdy bridge crosses the North Fork of the Skokomish River. Unfortunately there were no staircases for me to climb. The trail received it’s namesake in the early 1900’s when a large cedar staircase was built to climb an intimidating bluff nearby.
The rushing sound of the river made a wonderful soundtrack to this hike!
We saw many trees covered and draped in mosses and lichens.
Cushman Lake
Heading north, we stopped at Cushman Lake for a late lunch and a quick swim, before continuing on to Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. Cushman Lake was very busy with boaters, swimmers, and other picnic-ers too.
Hurricane Ridge
As good timing would have it, we arrived at the visitors center just in time to catch the park video! This one was filled with sweeping aerial views and made summiting every mountaintop in the park an enticing idea. After watching the video, we headed out to Hurricane Ridge – the mountainous area of Olympic NP. There we hiked the available trails leaving the parking lot, while enjoying constant, far-reaching mountain views.
The mountains seemed to stretch on endlessly, as we climbed higher for better and better views. We followed the High Ridge Trail to Sunrise Point, wistfully noticing the long-defunct ski lift.
Olympic National Park Boondocking
We arrived to our campsite late, just as the sun was moving into that beautiful golden hour. We noticed a trail leading off to somewhere, and of course we decided to see where it went.
The path was filled with many varieties of wildflowers, so I ran back to Ogre to grab the camera.
The trail came to a bend at a beautiful waterfall, and if it had been a bit warmer, we would’ve considered it a shower!
