Sheldon and Geni's 2014 Camping Trip
Today is: September 9
We woke up in: Olympic NP We're going to sleep in: Olympic NP

Shel: For the first 5 miles today I got 28.5 MPG! (it was all downhill) Rode around the park today, it is pretty big!

Interesting: The log trucks on their return trip load the trailer onto the back of the tractor with the hitch hanging over the cab roof. I suppose they do this to save wear and tear on the trailers. Also I notice big dump truck haul trailers with really long tonges - maybe to distribute weight?

Geni: Park is really big with no roads running through it, so it took us 2 1/2 hours to get to the pacific side of the park to the beaches and then the 2 1/2 hours to get back to our campsite. It was high tide, so we didn't get to see any tidepools or marine life, but both beaches offered different scenes. As we were going and coming back, there were so many log trucks driving by and also we kept running into the trucks that were painting the lines on the road, which slowed us down at times. We also went to the Hoh Rain Forest which was in that area, however, it took 30 minutes to actually get to that site and then 30 minutes back. So lots of driving today.

I found a local fish market and bought some fresh salmon for me and we had dinner at the campsite and finally got to have a campfire.

Kalaloch Beach at Pacific Ocean
Wanted to touch water but wave got the best of me

Shel looks happy on beach and actually walked the beach with me


Sea Gull busy searching for food


Nice sand, but dirty due to all the clam and crab shells that either wash ashore or are brought by the seagulls

We weren't happy about the slow driving, but it was interesting when we got to see the trucks painting the lines
Ruby Beach - rocks instead of sand

Formations in water called seastacks where birds nest

Larger seastacks

So many trees and driftwood wash ashore

Hoh Rain Forest - looking up at trees that reach the sky. Some of the trees grow to over 300' tall
Walking through Hall of Mosses or Moses as I keep calling it


Close up of the moss on the trees

Just a pretty picture of the trees

The roots of the trees are not deep, and the uprooting is almost artwork itself

We noticed the way one tree's roots are wrapped around another tree -- all on top of a fallen tree

More trees from Hall of Mosses Trail

Since we don't hike into the woods to see the wildlife, we were excited to see and hear this bird

This is only half of a sitka spruce that fell down. The other half is not in view and continues down the path. This log was 190 feet long.

A picture of plants growing in the water that looks like a pretty abstract painting