Quinault Rainforest

Friday morning, we hiked near the lodge around the Quinault Area.  Behind the lodge, we got on Resort Trail (#854.4) that led to Wright's Canyon Trail (#854.3).  Soon, we crossed a bridge at Gatton Creek Falls.

From the bridge, some upper cascades were visible.  I climbed down to see more cascades.

And I could peer over the top of the main drop of the waterfall, but there didn't seem to be any way to continue down.

Shortly after the bridge, we turned right on Upper Gatton Creek Loop (#854.2) and passed through a beautiful rainforest.  There were some gigantic Douglas fir trees.

There were some red-belted conk mushrooms growing on a dead log.

This trail made a 1.5-mile connector between Wright's Creek Trail and Quinault Loop.

It was really beautiful.  We saw more stairstep moss along the trail.

There were a few banana slugs; we had to watch out to not step on them.

We also saw some bright orange chicken of the woods.

At Quinault Loop (#854), we turned left.

It was a short ways to a bridge over Cascade Creek with some little cascades.

Cascade Falls was just downstream.

We scrambled down to the creek from the trail for a view of this scenic waterfall.

Then we turned back on Quinault Loop and started heading down towards the lodge.

After crossing South Shore Road, we could see Falls Creek Falls.

Crossing the bridge over to the campground, we could get down to the creek for a frontal view.

It falls in two streams but the water level was low.  From here, we hiked back to the hotel and checked out then parked at the Quinault Rainforest Trailhead.  Taking the interpretive loop, we passed another immense Douglas fir.

At Willaby Creek, we turned left on Quinault Loop to go down to Willaby Creek Falls.

It's only about 15 feet, but really scenic tucked away in the little gorge.

There was also a view from the trail.

We returned to the interpretive trail and hiked the short loop, following along Willaby Creek initially.

The trail then looped back around away from the creek.

The redwood sorrel had very large clover leaves.

The massive trees and thick vegetation along the trail was really beautiful.

We finished up the loop and then continued on down South Shore Road.

Our next stop was a few miles up the road just before the bridge over Merriman Creek.  Merriman Falls could be seen from the road.

It was a really nice waterfall.  With low water, it was easy to scramble and climb around on the rocks at the falls.

The mossy rocks were really beautiful.

After some pictures, we continued on.

Continuing up South Shore Road, we parked at the Fletcher Canyon Trailhead.  The scenic trail led past some big boulders and into the rainforest.

The forest was very lush around here and in a quarter-mile or so, we crossed into Colonel Bob Wilderness.

There was some chicken of the woods growing here.

The trail continued up way above the canyon.

Eventually, it drops down into the canyon, but we were running low on time, so turned around after about a mile.

But we had one more stop before leaving the area, less than a mile up the road just before the bridge over Bunch Creek.  We could see Bunch Falls from the road.

I scrambled up on the rocks for a close view, but there was a lot of vegetation in the way.

We climbed around for a while then finished up.

Now it was time to leave the beautiful Olympic Peninsula.  We made the long drive to North Bend and checked into Roaring River B&B just before sunset and enjoyed the hot tub before going to bed.

Hoh Rainforest

Thursday, we checked out of the hotel early and got breakfast on the road.  We wanted to get an early start for Hoh Rainforest, one of the most popular areas in Olympic National Park.  The river was pretty in the early morning light and we made a quick stop here.

At the visitor center, we first hike the beautiful Hall of Mosses Trail.

The giant Douglas firs and other trees were blanketed in moss and it was really beautiful.

The trail was just a 1-mile loop but we made lots of photo stops.

Arriving early, we had nice lighting through the moss-covered rainforest.

I was just amazed at the rainforest in here.

We finished up the Hall of Mosses then got on the Hoh River Trail.

In about a mile, a spur led out to the river.  It was very low and I could walk out a ways.

Heading up the trail, there were many more giant trees.

In just under 3 miles, we crossed Mineral Creek and Mineral Creek Falls was visible upstream.

A path led up towards the base but there was a lot of downfall on it.

I scrambled around but couldn't find a good view - I think the best is from the trail.

The next tributary over also had a waterfall - Little Mineral Falls.

It was a steep path from the trail to the base, but I actually liked this one better than the first.

Back on the main trail, we continued on and spotted some stair-step moss.

Some Canadian bunchberry had berries.

We hiked another mile or so past the waterfalls and found a spot to take a break.

There was a beautiful western redcedar here.

After a snack, we made our way back.  And not surprisingly, it had gotten very crowded when we made it back.

We drove back to the main road and headed south on US-101, making a quick stop at Kalaloch Beach 4.  A short trail led down to the beach.

Over on the coast, it had gotten really foggy.  The beach was beautiful but the tide was coming in so we didn't go far.

There was an overlook above the beach as well.

After some pictures, we continued on.

At Quinault Lake, we checked into the Rain Forest Resort.  Then we made the short hike to see the world's largest Sitka spruce.

At over 190 feet tall and 50 feet in circumference, it was a spectacular tree.

Then we headed to Salmon House for dinner.  They were only doing take-out so we ate back at the room and enjoyed the sunset from our balcony.

After dinner, we walked down to the lake to see the moon in the last rays of the sun.

Then we headed back to the room.