Sol Duc and Hurricane Ridge

Last weekend we went camping in the Olympic National Forest. We went to Sol Duc, so that we could both camp, hike, and visit the hot springs.

On out little road trip out to the part, we ended up spontaneously pulling off to the side of the road and visiting the Sunshine Herb and Lavender Farm for a few minutes, since there was a lavender festival taking place outside. I didn't realize that lavender thrives so well in that area.

Later that afternoon, after securing our campsite at the Loop B campground at Sol Duc, we went and visited the Sol Duc hot springs. The natural hot springs are pumped into man-made pools, but it was still fun to go in the different pools and try out the temperatures. There also was a regular outdoor pool too, which Sammy liked.

Trying out the first hot spring pool!

After setting up the tent

That night it took me a while to fall asleep, which partially may have been due to the caffeinated Dr. Pepper that I drank that afternoon. The other thing that struck me, though, was that the forest was silent. Over the past few years I've become used to hearing noise when I'm falling asleep: a fan whirring, a sound whoosher, traffic. It was really nice to lie outside amid silence, even though I'm not used to it.

The next day we hiked to Sol Duc Falls, which is a short hike that is a little less than two miles round trip. The trail is wide and there is hardly any elevation gain at all. So, in sum, it was a great hike to do with Sam. The waterfall is gorgeous too, so there is a big payoff for minimal effort.

The trees were really tall in the forest leading to the falls. J told Sam that the tall tree trunks (creating a high canopy) looked a little bit like the trees on Endor, which Sam appreciated. 

Before leaving the Sol Duc area, we ate lunch near that Ancient Groves trail off the side of the main road. Then we followed this trail through the old growth forest (which is just a half-mile loop) around before getting back into our car.

Sam and I both thought that this tree looks like it has a face, similar to the nomes in "Return to Oz." I specifically had the messenger to the Nome King (spelled without a "g" in the Oz books) in mind, who appears in this clip.

J's co-worker recommended that we visit Hurricane Ridge while we were in the area, and his recommendation did not disappoint! We drove over here on our way out of the park, before going home altogether. This area reminded us a bit of our visit to Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park a few years ago, since you can drive your car to a relatively high elevation to be near the tops of mountain peaks.

If you look closely, you'll notice a buck deer in the foreground. We saw four deer while we were in this area, including a fawn with its mother.

After arriving, we completed a short hike around the Cirque Rim Trail and the High Ridge Trail to Sunrise Point (only about a mile altogether), in order to get a great 360-degree view. We took four photos at the peak, to try and capture each of the angles.

View #1 from Sunrise Point (Canada is across the water in the distance)

View #2 from Sunrise Point 

View #3 from Sunrise Point 

View #4 from Sunrise Point 

We had a great visit to Olympic National Park. While there, I decided to buy an annual pass ($30 per car) instead of the private car pass ($15 per car, which is valid for seven consecutive days). We just need to return back to this park at least two more times within the year in order to make the pass financially advantageous to us, which I think will be easy to do.