Olympic Trip : Day One - Lake Quinault

Last Thursday, we set out (on time, for once!) for a trip around the Olympic peninsula, the northwest corner of Washington state. We drove Highway 101 around the peninsula clockwise, starting at the bottom...we'd heard it was the "boring" part of the route, but it was still full of northwest beauty! The forests seemed taller than ours, somehow. Our first stop was Lake Quinault, one of the biggest lakes on the peninsula, with a lodge built in the 1920s.

The lodge was perfectly lodge-y, with the wood paneling, leather armchairs, stone fireplace, and amazing lake view. Even though summer is definitely the high season in the rainforest, since it's driest then, I thought the foggy mountains and chilly air and roaring fireplace were just as nice. After we walked around the lodge, we got our first real taste of rainforest by hiking a short nature trail just down the road.

I thought, coming from another Pacific northwest state, that maybe the rainforest wouldn't really be any different than the forests near us. Wrong! It was like our forests, with the green turned way, way up. Everything was covered in moss, tiny plants, green stuff. It was really pretty - and it was raining! The signs at the national park said it receives 140"+ of rain per year ("rainy" Portland gets 38"!). After our short hike, we continued west...but I'll leave that for another post!