Rain Forests

October 11 - Moving on again today, to Kalaloch on the Washington Coast, yet still in the Olympic National Park.  We drove first from Lake Crescent Lodge westward then south, passing the town of Forks.  After a few more miles south we turned 'left' (or east) up the Hoh River Road to the Visitor Center of the same name.  This visitor center is the start of the approach hike for mountaineers wishing to climb Mt.Olympus.  It is 17 miles to the base of the Blue Glacier, on the north side of the mountain.  

We parked  and walked two short nature trails - the Spruce Trail and Hall of Mosses Trail.  We were in rain forests but only got a smattering of rain.  The Spruce Trail wound through a lowland forest of giant Hemlock, Firs, and most notably Stika Spruce.  There were lots of ferns, Club Moss, young trees growing on nurse logs, and majestic Spruce towering more than 200 feet above us.  The trail went by the Hoh River, another wide river rock expanse with a small meandering water channel.  Fall Coho salmon use the river, though we saw no evidence of them.

The Hall of Mosses Trail was a bit higher in elevation than the Spruce Trail and thus passed through a more stable "old growth" forest.  The trail was named for the variety of mosses that covered the ground and hung down from tree branches along with other epiphytes (air plants).  Interestingly, the Big Leaf Maple trees had the most hanging moss.  There were also an interesting array of fungi as mushrooms, "shelf fungi," and ground cover mosses.  There were lots of mature coniferous trees in straight lines and often with visible roots, which were the survivors that sprouted from nursery logs that rotted out long ago.

On the drive out, we came upon a group of stopped cars - an obvious sign of some interesting sighting.  Sure enough, we saw 5 to 6 female Roosevelt Elk and one male with an impressive rack by the road side.  We lingered, dodging other cars, to take photos and just plain watch.  The elk, all very healthy looking, were eating their way through the forest undergrowth.

We drove out to Route 101 and went south-west to the coastline, stopping at Ruby Beach.  The guides say this is the best beach for sightseeing but not the reason why.  We scrambled down to find a log-filled beach adjacent to a stream also filled with drift logs, like giant pick-up sticks, The beach was sandy up to the high tide line and was covered with round, polished basalt stones above the tide line.  There were a number of rugged sea stacks just off shore, the source of the round rocks.  We strolled the length of the beach looking at interesting rocks, seaweed, and other surf detritus.  The sun was shining, the sky very blue, and the air calm, which we thought remarkable and fortuitous.  We later learned that Ruby Beach was named after tiny garnets that can be found in the sand, and it was a gem of a beach. 

We drove a few  miles past Beaches 4 and 3 (apparently only significant beaches get a name - the rest here just get numbers) and into to Kalaloch Lodge.  The lodge is built on a bluff overlooking the beach and Kalaloch Creek, with a distant lighthouse (on Destruction Island). There are 44 individual cabins,10 rooms in the lodge, and a 10-unit motel section (in which we are staying. -  in a nicely fitted and spacious room).  We had a nice dinner in the lodge restaurant.  The menu showed imagination.  Phil had "Chicken and Egg" - half a roasted chicken with a spicy cream sauce accompanied by creamy polenta topped with a poached egg.  Paul had a vegan lasagna - layers of fresh vegetables with tofu; and I had Manila clams in a spicy curry sauce.  Elaine and Barbara both had Elk burgers which came with onion jam and jalapeño aoili sauce.

There are no phones, cell coverage, WiFi nor TVs here, so it will be a couple of days before you see this.