Olympic National Park move to Fairholme Campground

We woke up to drizzly cloud-covered skies. That's the kind of weather that we expected in the Pacific Northwest, but we had been lucky to escape thus far. Our lithium battery was at 65% this morning, which was the lowest reading so far on this trip. In our shaded camp site at Mora Campground, we had been generating 5-6 amps per day. Since our refrigerator uses around 10 amps per day, plus more needed for lights and water pump, we used more electricity than we generated for these last three days. We couldn't use our electric induction plate to cook under those circumstances. Mark cooked our breakfast using our gas grill, and it was as good as it looked.

We hooked up the trailer, and left by 9:30--a little early since we only had a 45-minute drive to get to our next stop at another campground in Olympic National Park. We wanted to charge our battery during our short drive to Fairholme Campground. We got some charge for our battery from being hooked to our pickup, plus more from the solar panels when we were driving in sunny areas. We drove through the town of Forks, Washington, made famous from the Twilight series. Its other claim to fame is that it is the rainiest town in the lower 48 states. After Forks, we drove into the sunshine. It was fun to watch the solar app as it showed the solar panels surge up to 11 amps in sunny areas, and then plummeted to three amps when we drove under a cloud. By the time we pulled into Fairholme Campground, our battery was charged to 76%. That should give us plenty of battery for the two-day stay here in this partially shaded spot.

We were greeted by the nicest stack of firewood that we have ever experienced. But it would do us no good, since the "campfire ban" sign was very prominently displayed in our fire ring.

Before we go on, we have to talk about something we have named "hemlock snow." We had been parked under some giant hemlocks in the national park campgrounds. While the trees were lovely, they shed these inch-long yellow bristles over everything. They coat the picnic table, solar panels, and shoes, so that we tracked them inside the trailer. They were wet and hard to sweep away, and we were very tired of this hemlock snow that drifts down from the trees continually. Okay, rant over.

After we got the trailer set up, we headed out for our first outing in this new section of Olympic National Park. The forecast showed rain for the next few days, and so we were taking advantage of these blue skies to drive to the Spruce Railroad Trailhead that was 4.8 miles from our site.

We unloaded the bikes and headed down this flat rail-to-trail path through the forest.

The tracks were laid for the Spruce railroad to transport the cut spruce trees that were used for lightweight airplane frames for World War I. But the tracks weren't finished until after the war was over. So the railroad saw limited use in transporting trees out of the forest. More recently, the tracks were removed and it made for a great bike route through the woods.

It was a downhill ride through the forest to get to the shores of Olympic National Park's most famous lake.

It was a beautiful bike ride along the shores of Crescent Lake.

We planned to kayak on Crescent Lake before we left our spot at Fairholme Campground. Our camp site was on the Western edge of the lake, and we could say that this lake was bigger than we pictured it.

They ran out of real estate on the shore, so the railroad had to blast a tunnel through the rocks in several places.

Short in length, it was easy to ride to the light at the end of the tunnel.

The east end of Crescent Lake was easier for tourists to access. The more miles we pedaled towards the east, the more people we met on the trail.

We parked our bikes when we got to the most popular destination on the trail. This was a little cove protected from the wind called Devil's Punchbowl. This was a popular place for people to jump from the bridge and the surrounding cliffs to swim in the cove. Most pictures of the punchbowl include the picturesque bridge and the cliffs. But both were covered with the people that had walked there from the east end of the trail. 

To get to Devil's Punchbowl from the bike trail, we had to hike around this tunnel on a narrow trail. This was the second tunnel on the trail. Because it was long and curved there was no light at the end of this tunnel.

So bikers were required to dismount and walk their bikes through the tunnel.

It was a short ride to the eastern trail head where most of the crowd had started their walk. Then we turned around to ride the six miles back to the pickup.

Mark tried a couple selfies on the return trip. One was while he was riding his bike . . .

the other was a less daring shot while taking a bike break.

He was quite good at taking action shots while riding his bike.

You won't see any pictures that Denisa took while riding her bike. She had to focus on pedaling and not riding off the trail into the lake. Besides, on the return trip we were pedaling uphill to make up the 600 feet of elevation that we got to coast down earlier.

On our return bike ride, we started noticing some white caps on the lake as the wind came up. It must have been that wind that blew over a tree onto the road. That tree wasn't in the road a couple hours before when we drove the same road. Mark picked the trunk off the road so we could pass.

We got back to our camp site to see that the solar was working great. We were up to 85% of battery capacity with the bright sunshine. We fixed a meal, then headed out again to take advantage of the nice weather. With no ranger station to ask for advice, we were glad that we had made a list of places we wanted to visit in Olympic National Park. 

We found the trail head to Marymere Falls, and started up the 2.1 mile trail through the giant trees. If you look closely, you can see Denisa inside the burned out tree. These big old trees can survive fires that would kill most trees. Because the trunk and the outside layers were still intact, the water and nutrients can still flow upwards to the high branches that were alive and well.

All of this trail's 350 feet of elevation gain was on the steps at the end. This was a popular trail,  so it was no small task to get a picture of Marymere Falls by ourselves.

We climbed even more steps to get a top view of the waterfall.

We have learned that it was impossible to get a picture that really shows how tall these trees were. But that didn't keep us from continually trying.

Our next stop was the Crescent Lake Lodge on the eastern edge of the lake. We checked out the menu for the lodge restaurant. Based on the prices, we determined that we would be cooking at the trailer while we were here. But we enjoyed using the lodge wifi for a few minutes. We found that we have absolutely no phone signal at our campground (again).

It was also hard to take a picture of the wind, but we confirmed that it was blustery. A sign at the lodge apologized that no boats could be rented this afternoon because of the wind.

So we wouldn't be kayaking after all on this popular blue alpine lake. We had to settle for a lake picture off the boat dock . . .

and from the shore.

We were using all our daylight hours this day before the predicted rain.

We started our third trail of the day--the "Moments in Time Trail". The line of big trees where Denisa was sitting were up off the ground. That's because they started as saplings on top of a fallen tree. Called a "nurse log" the dead tree underneath provides extra nutrients and protection to the new trees, that form a straight line along the log.

We enjoyed the unique trees and the signboards that described the lives of these giants. This was a stump left when it was cut down by hand in the early 1900s. The fallen tree was pulled out of this forest by teams of oxen. Because it was so labor-intensive to remove these trees, that actually allowed some of these big boys to survive the deforestation of the early 1900s.

While the Hoh Rainforest on the coast was famous for its moss-covered trees, we found some inland on the Moments in Time Trail. It was 1.4 miles long, and the sun was going down by the time we finished.

We drove back to the trailer, glad to see that the battery finished the day at 79% capacity. The solar panels produced 27 amp hours today, even with the morning clouds and our site shaded by tall trees. We really enjoyed the freedom of camping in beautiful places that don't have electrical hookups!

Which La Push Beach will be First, Second, and Third?

We liked Mora Campground in Olympic National Park. But it was a thirty minute drive to get back to Hiway 101, and then another thirty minutes to drive to any other attractions in the park. So on our last day at Mora, we decided to take advantage of our remote location to visit some remote beaches. Our battery was at a solid 76% capacity this morning, even with being in our shaded camp site for three days. With plenty of battery power to run our refrigerator, we were ready to go explore the three La Push beaches. There wasn't much creativity used in naming these beaches, as they are officially named First, Second, and Third Beaches. But which one will be our number one favorite beach of the day?

We started with the La Push Second Beach, and it was easy to find a parking spot since we arrived early. Like most beaches in Washington, it took a walk through the woods to get to the ocean.

It was a cool and pleasant 0.7-mile walk among the trees. We were entertained by the personalities of the trees around us. As old trees die and fall to the forest floor, they provide nutritious and protected places for new baby trees to sprout. As that baby grows to maturity, the old fallen tree eventually disintegrates, leaving a blank space under the base of the new tree.

Other trees grew branches that look like a candelabra reaching for the sky.

We finally got down to the Second Beach around 9:00, which was perfect timing since low tide was at 8:58. 

We walked out on the sand to the sea stacks. We found orange and purple sea stars hanging on, waiting for the tide to return.

Mark liked to walk around on the wet rocks, balancing on the jagged edges and slippery surfaces. That was not Denisa's idea of fun.

So Mark took pictures of a nice up-close collection of sea stars . . .

and green anemones among a herd of multi-colored sea stars.

Normally we see only the green tops of the anemone, but today Mark found a sideways view that included the anemone tubes.

While Mark was taking pictures of the treasures found in tide pools, Denisa was taking pictures of Mark.

Denisa would rather walk on the smooth sand, enjoying the sea stacks and the blue skies on the Second La Push beach.

While the distant views of the sea stacks were hazy . . .

the sun directly overhead was bright on this stretch of Second beach.

Normally, this knob of rock would have been cut off from the beach by sea water. But at low tide, a rock scrambler like Mark can get to the top. It might be hard to see him, since his blue shirt blends into the blue sky and the blue water.

We have wandered into another of God's wonders at La Push Second Beach.

We had spent all of our time on the west side of the beach. But we realized that we could also walk to some neat sea stacks on the east side of the beach during this low tide.

We had to do some puddle-jumping, but we walked over this wide expanse of sand that is usually covered with water.

If you look carefully, you can see Denisa's pink blouse in front of the massive tree-covered sea stack. She looks very tiny because these were huge rock formations.

They were home to some huge sea stars. While most are about hand-sized, this must be a grandfather sea star to have grown so big.

Now Mark has a new set of rocks to climb . . .

and more tide pools to photograph.

Again, Denisa would rather walk on the sand instead of the slippery rocks. She loved the sea caves and arches with sandy bottoms.

While Mark was taking pictures of sea stars low on the rocks, Denisa was taking pictures of the birds flying in and out of their nests high on the rocks. It's hard to see, but these black sea birds have bright red feet and legs. Google told us these were Pigeon Guillemots, and they are more comfortable under the water than in the air. They use their wings as flippers to swim up to 150 feet deep into the ocean to spear their favorite sea food.

Denisa got a little uneasy when the tide started creeping up on us. But Mark was making a new friend. He was talking to Tom from New Jersey. Mark offered to take a picture of Tom with the sea stacks since he was traveling alone. But Denisa was getting a little antsy, as she was ready to head back to higher ground before we got trapped by the rising tide. You can see the water line on those rocks, and we were soon going to be under water.

We had to take off our tennis shoes for the walk back because the puddles were now too big to hop over as the tide continued to roll in. Tom did the same, and he left about the same time we did.

But when we stopped to take a picture of an eagle, Mark heard Tom groan and then we saw him turn back and started looking for something. Mark walked back to see if he could help. Tom had just realized that he had dropped his phone as he crossed this now flooded beach area. 

Mark and Tom dropped everything they were carrying with Denisa, with instructions to not let these things get lost in the rising tide water. Then they both started back-tracking to look for that cell phone. Mark even  recruited two other beach-combers in the search.

In the meantime, Denisa moved everything to higher ground and took the picture of the eagle that caused us to pause. It's not a good picture, but any beach eagle must be documented! Tom finally gave up, and came to lament the loss to Denisa. He had just lost all his pictures on that phone, and his boarding pass for his flight back to New Jersey. He even dropped one of his socks in the search.

Just then, the phone was found! Mark walked quickly back to give it back to a very thankful guy from New Jersey. Mark even found his sock! Hopefully the phone will dry out and Tom will have a happy ending.

We dried off our feet and got our tennis shoes back on for the 0.7 mile hike back to the pickup. We had been at the La Push Second Beach for 2.5 hours and logged in 4.5 miles. How will La Push Second Beach stack up to the other two?

We drove just a few miles to the end of the highway, and the town of La Push, Washington. This tiny Indian reservation town is in a very remote area, and it was the home of the La Push First Beach. It was unusual to see a parking area right beside the water, as we were on the very western edge of Washington. First beach had a man-made jetty, and a short sandy beach that was guarded by a long row of driftwood. We climbed down over the dead trees to stand by the water, but it would take a boat ride to get to the closest sea stacks from this beach. From here we could also see Rialto Beach, where we walked last night. It's just a one-mile boat ride from here to Rialto, but a ten mile car drive.

We saw more people actually swimming in the cold Atlantic water at La Push First Beach. But one of our favorite parts of this beach were the flowering blackberry bushes on the beach. But they were several weeks away from eating berries on the beach.

We didn't stay long at La Push First Beach, before we jumped in the car for the ride to the third La Push beach of the day. We were lucky to find a parking space, and then we started the 1.4-mile hike through a delightful forest to get to the Third Beach. We walked up the hill, and then back down through the tall hemlocks and ferns.

Then we had to climb over a maze of fallen trees to actually stand on the beach.

Wow! Between the long walk and scrambling over the driftwood, we had to work to get to this beautiful beach!

We headed east to a series of sea stacks. But we soon found that we couldn't get there. Third beach was hemmed in by two tall headland rocks that go all the way into ocean.

We've walked under some huge trees since we arrived to the Pacific Northwest. Some of them have fallen onto the beach, where standing beside their bark-less trunks made one feel small.

We were here two hours before high tide, and we could tell the water was coming higher quickly. While we could walk around some of the huge logs and rock columns now, it wouldn't be long before this dry walkway would be under water.

We didn't want to get trapped on the other side of the rock wall, so we headed back down to the entrance area of the beach. We did less time and less miles on the La Push Third Beach than we would have done if it was low tide. Even with the 2.8 miles we walked through the forest, we only added four miles to our day's walking total at La Push Third Beach.

So which La Push beach did we like the most? This is a confusing summary, but here is the answer:

We went to Second Beach first, and we would rate it as our first choice. 

We went to First Beach second, and we would rate it as our third choice.

We went to Third Beach third, and we would rate is as our second choice.

But any day at the La Push Beaches would be a first-rate beach day! This finished up a flurry of Washington beach days. In the last five days, we had visited ten different Pacific Coast beaches. This was our last evening at Mora Campground in Olympic National Park, and we were glad to say that our trailer battery was at 73%. We only produced five amp hours at our shady site this day, and our refrigerator used more than that. But we'll recharge on the drive to our next campground tomorrow as we bid farewell to the ocean.