Hey guys! I’m writing about my second day at Olympic National Park. These hikes were a lot more relaxing than Mt. Storm King. We did one small easy hike, one longer easy hike, and one partial easy hike.
Hoh Rainforest is one of the few remaining temperate rainforests, and I got to see it! I, of course, loved it. When we arrived, we first went to the Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center. That’s where I got my Junior Ranger activity book. The first hike we did was to the Hall of Mosses Trail. We took forever on this short trail because I was completing the Junior Ranger activity book. Despite looking at an activity book during most of the hike, I saw six banana slugs and moss on what seemed to be ALL of the trees. During this hike, Mom came up with the idea of having a competition. The competition was who could find the first banana slug. Guess what? I found the first banana slug. I WON! The banana slug was long and skinny. I was super proud of myself. I tried to convince Mom to let me get a phone as my prize, but that didn’t work. So we settled on horchata instead.
After we finished the Hall of Mosses Trail, we did the Spruce Nature Trail. I paid more attention to this trail since I was done with the Junior Ranger activity book. We were faster, but still kinda slow because Mom and I were taking LOTS of pictures. At the beginning of the trail, Mom spotted a Roosevelt elk hiding in the forest! It looked like an everyday normal elk and it had big antlers. I think it was male, but I couldn’t get a good look at it. The elk was too close to the trail, so we went around very carefully. The trail branched off with a spur trail leading to a riverbank and a partially dry riverbed. The riverbed was covered with rocks worn smooth and round over time.
After we finished the Spruce Nature Trail, we started on the Hoh River Trail. We didn’t want to complete it since the trail is about 26.3 miles one-way. It wasn’t as exciting or beautiful as the other trails, but it was still nice. Our turnaround point was one of the many river access points. We spent a little while down by the river to take pictures and then turned back to leave. Sadly, we saw 2 dead banana slugs on the way back. Rest in peace banana slugs! It looked like someone stepped on them. Seeing them like that was quite saddening.
On the way back to our VRBO rental in Forks, we saw a whole herd of Roosevelt elk. It was awesome. After taking pictures, we sent them to my grandma. She somehow thought they were elephants. Huh?!?!? Maybe she thought their butts were ears? Overall, it was quite a relaxing day compared to the day before.
I hope y’all enjoyed reading about the Hoh Rainforest and I’ll try to get the next post out soon! The next post is Lunch Lake and the High Divide Loop. Onward!
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