Olympic National Park, Washington State, USA

Recently we returned to the US to visit our kids and to tour the Olympic National Park, which is on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. We had great timing as far as the weather was concerned. It was quite warm, and we had only one day with a drizzle out of the six days we spent in the area. Even thought it was late September, it was still summer, and we loved it.

Our first stop on the tour was an old town of Port Gamble, Washington, which was founded in 1849 in an area where there was an abundant logging potential. One of the sites at Port Gamble is the “Puget Mill Company,” which provided much needed lumber throughout the world and even as far away as South Africa. However, it is now a quaint village directly on the west side of the Puget Sound. After looking at the web site I can see these legacy buildings depicted on the website are still standing as they are quite easy to identify in the picture. There were four or five restaurants and gift shops on the main street.

We then stopped at Sequim, Washington to get a bite to eat and a cold brew. We found a pub not far off the 101 Highway called the “Peninsula Taproom.” The beer was impressive! The folks behind the bar were great. It was a great atmosphere. I am going to return someday. They only had snacks on their menu, but the ones we had were good. The chips and salsa were impressive. They had quite a selection of beer on tap, which were mostly from the microbreweries within Washington state. This place is highly recommended.

We stayed at “Log Cabin Resort,” which is owned and operated by the National Parks Service on Crescent Lake. This location not only gave us great access to all the hiking areas on the north side of Olympic National Park, but we were able to enjoy the spectacular views of Crescent Lake and the surround mountains. The Log Cabin Resort was off Highway 101 about three miles (5 Km), which was near the end of that road on the northern part of the lake. This offered an incredibly quiet area with wildlife and incredible views of the night sky which was absent of any light pollution. We stayed in a two-bedroom cabin. It did not have a kitchen, so we had to cook hot dogs on the fire, which was fun. Although there was a ban on open fires throughout the state due to the extreme dry conditions, each of the cabins has a small pit where a fire just outside the cabin which we were able to utilize despite the burn ban. The main building did have a restaurant, but the quality of the food was something to be desired. This was the only downfall of the area. The clarity of the lake was incredible. It was exceedingly difficult to determine the depth because the water was so clear. However, I was not going to find out – it was cold!

There were three nice hikes in the immediate vicinity. One was called the “Devil’s Punchbowl,” via the “Spruce Railroad Trail.” The Devil’s Punchbowl was a couple of rock formations that extended deep into the lake. The two rock outcrops were close enough to build a small pedestrian bridge which offered an incredible view of the lake. Close by was an old tunnel made for the trains that used to transit area. The old train line and associated tunnel are now a walking / bike path across a portion of the northern shoreline of Lake Crescent. The eastern trailhead had parking with amenities.

The Sol Duc Hot Springs offer a great area to relax. It is a 12-mile (19 Km) drive from highway 101 into the Olympic National Park. Because we entered the National Park, we had to get a pass. Military and veterans can get a free pass. One of the Park Rangers told me that we will be able to get a “lifetime” pass starting in 2023. That will be great. The hot springs are naturally occurring volcanic hot springs. The Sulphur odor was very prominent, but it was relaxing. I had forgotten that we had visited this very site once before when our kids were in elementary school, which was 25 years ago. It was great to share the experience with our son. Close by was an easy hike to the Sol Duc Falls. It is a popular destination, so parking was difficult and there were people of all ages and experience levels on the trails. Well worth the trip. I would like to give a shout out to a great website that we used on a very regular basis to plan our hiking trips in and around the Pacific Northwest. The Washington Trails Association has valuable information for hundreds of hikes in Washington State alone.

To be continued!