Olympic

We LOVE this park!  I think this is the most beautiful place in the world.  We camped one night on the coastline.  We saw a bald eagle, sea anemonies, multicolored starfish, and all kinds of little creatures in the tide pools.  The sand was black and very soft with lots of pretty rocks.  We camped right on the sand- very cool- and watched the sunset over the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most amazing thing to me, though, was the rainforest.  The trees were HUGE, some of them over 500 years old.  They were covered in moss and ferns, making the whole thing look prehistoric, ancient, and magical.  There were elk everywhere and each night we went to sleep listening to them bugle.  On the hike in, there was a herd of elk on the trail, so we had to make our way around them.  We actually saw two big bulls duking it out and charging each other.  That was crazy and a little scary.  There are mushrooms everywhere in all shapes and sizes growing out of every available surface.  Mike was so distracted by them at one point that he almost ran right into a bull elk in the trail.  We rounded a corner, he kept walking, Oh my God - look out, what? where?, right in front of you!, Oh yeah.  He nearly impaled himself on the elk's horns.  How would that have been for a newspaper headline?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting side note for dorky Twilight fans like me- We went through Forks, La Push, and Port Angeles.  Forks has completely sold it's soul, Twilight cafe, Twilight motel, Twilight gas station, Dazzled by Twilight souvenirs, Twilight outfitters, Twilight firewood?, just crazy.  I wanted to take a picture of the sign on the way into town, and I had to wait in line.  Alas, I didn't see Edward Cullen, but the search continues. 

 

 

Olympic is amazing.  We could have stayed here for months and we must go back again someday.  Truly wonderful and unforgettable.