I drove over to Sequim to stay with my Mom the night before a camping trip to the ocean on August 14th-16th. My Aunt Jeanne and cousing Felicia picked me up there on our way to Kalaloch Beach. We stopped at Lake Crescent, shown here, for a snack. Arriving at Kalaloch about noon on Wednesday, we found all the 177 camp sites already taken! Further, they apparently were rather small and very close together. The recommendation from the park ranger was to go up to the Hoh Campground, adjacent to the Hoh Rainforest visitor center. We made the nice 40 mile drive and found plenty of space left at the beautiful campground, finding a huge spot just a short walk from the Hoh River. The spot was big enough to accomodate all four of our tents with ease. There was also an amphitheater nearby, which put on a show that very evening, a sort of documentary about the Hoh River presented by one of the park rangers. Our group consisted of myself, my aunts Linda and Jeanne, cousins Serene and Felicia, and Anita and Nathan, both friends of Linda.





A whole herd of elk decided to stroll through the campground the next morning, to the delight of most campers. We also discovered that the local mice had crawled into some tubs left outside by the picnic table. These particular tubs didn't have any food in them, but there was some food left out, and they found that too! Now we understand why the campground requests that you leave all your food in your vehicle at night! Just past the visitor center, we began our hike up the Hoh River towards Mt. Olympus.





The rain forest is pretty dry this time of year, but still evident are the giant trees with curtains of moss covering every branch. We stopped for lunch at a great little rock bar along the river a bit less than three miles from the campground. Perched on the edge of the river were some large and very smooth animal-like rock formations which were great for climbing or just sitting.





A short distance from our lunch spot, the trail passed a pretty little bridge and waterfall. We continued quite a ways past the waterfall, and were rewarded with the presence of some truly enormous cedar trees!





Here are more fine examples of mossed-over trees, and Tom Creek Meadows, across a short bridge off the main trail. Mount Olympus makes itself visible a bit farther down the trail, opposite an unusual cluster of bright orange fungi. I spied a woodpecker on a tree just before getting back to camp, who didn't seem to mind my standing just a few feet away on the trail. The final picture is a gigantic tree stump lying directly behind the amphitheater.





Being deprived of actually camping at the ocean, we thought it'd be fun to stop there on the way back home. We chose to head to Rialto Beach, a few miles north of La Push. There were some great sea stacks far off shore, and we spent some time walking amonst the waves as the cold water rolled in. The beach here was made of relatively coarse sand, about halfway between regular sand and pea gravel, which could have been a bit easier on the feet! We saw some type of bird floating out in the water just inland of where the waves crest. It would dive underwater just as the wave began to curl up, then reappear in the same spot once the peak of the wave had passed!





Before finally heading home, my Mom took us on a brief tour of a lavender farm just down the street from where she is staying, in Sequim. They're a true delight to the senses, if you like smell of lavender, that is! This one has a great view of Mount Baker, and a little shop that has just about anything you can imagine made out of lavender.