6-29-17

We were in our sleeping bags before 10 and quickly asleep. The morning temperature was about 49 degrees. Lorelei sleeps in a tank top and sweatpants, wrapped in her fleece blanket inside her sleeping bag. I in the other hand have on a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie - with the hood up, my winter cap, pajama pants, thick socks, my fleece blanket in my sleeping bag and our towels as blankets on top. Maybe it's the blood thinners that keep me colder but I was cozy warm last night and slept really great, even if I do miss sleeping on my stomach. 

The alarm once again this morning was cawing and chirping birds. I woke at 5:15 but we didn't get out of bed until after 6:30. Since we are staying the night again here, our tent gets to stay put and we were able to shower and grab breakfast for the two hour ride to the other side of the peninsula. We drive through town and out past Lake Crescent. We marveled at the thick woods beside the road and how dark they were. The two hour drive passed quickly and we were pulling into the parking lot of the Hoh Visitor Center. We decided to take the Hall of Mosses Trail which was about a mile in length. It leads to a 200 ft trail which has a grove of maples covered in moss. The spruce trees here were magnificent. No picture does any of them justice and no words can describe my joy at being among them. After our hike we made lunch and headed back towards Forks. 

We looked at the town but I didn't recognize anything from the Twilight movies other than the sign. I mailed a few post cards at the post office and then we headed west towards La Push. Rialto Beach is the best beach in the park (or so in told) but it was closed due to road construction. We found the Second Beach trail head and hiked about a mile to the beach. If you're from the south, you think of the beach as something like Carolina or Myrtle Beach where you see the ocean and the sand long before you actually get to them. Here, the beach isn't visible until you come out of the trees in the hillside. The first thing you see are the sea stacks - what used to be Islands and now are rock towers out in the water. Then you see all of the driftwood that you have to climb over to get out to the sand. This beach had tidal pools with barnacles, sea urchins, mussels, star fish, crabs and other nameless creatures in the water waiting for the ocean to come again at high tide. We inspected, played and took in the beauty of this beach. We both loved it. After at least an hour, we noticed the tide beginning to come in and we had other spots to visit so we reluctantly left for the hike back to the car. 

Our next goal was Sol Duc but we were running out of time to get back to the visitor center to complete Lorelei's Ocean Stewardship junior ranger badge so we decided to skip it and we get there right at 4:30 with enough time to get sworn in. We stopped in town at Walmart to grab a few provisions ad then headed back to our tent to make dinner - quesadillas and veggies and dessert -smores.  We watched a movie in the tent and get ready for bed. 

I am filled with a thankfulness beyond measure at all that we have experienced and the things that are still to come. I love finding new places that are filled with magic, wonderment and beauty. I only wish that the boys had gotten to share this park. We will definitely cone back here as there is so much more to explore. Tomorrow, Seattle.