Olympic National Park: Part III - Crescent Lake, Sol Duc, Ruby Beach, & Hoh Rain Forest

Lake Crescent was created about 7000 years ago from a glacier. It's waters have very little phytoplankton  because of a limited supply of nitrogen in the water which means that instead of murky blue coloring the water is quite clear. In some places you can see down 60 feet. The lake is a deep topping out at a little over 600 feet deep in some areas.

Like every other place in Olympic National Park it is beautiful here. We stopped at a little pullover on our way home from a looonnnngggg day of sightseeing. The girls and I had had it by this point of being in the car. We were originally scheduled to hike a trail around the lake, but we vetoed Bob and found this quiet pullover to enjoy the views from which ended up being one of the girls favorite parts of the trip. It was just us for most of the time we were at the lake. The dogs and girls could just play at the waters edge and it was calming after a harried day of going here and there.  (It was way too cold to swim in although Elizabeth did try).  I would love to come back to this spot again and camp. There is plenty to do around the lake such as hiking, boating, etc...Plus, just staring down into the depths of the crystal clear water is quite mesmerizing as well and could take up quite a bit of time too.

After we were done at Crescent Lake we swung by a place called Sol Duc which houses some natural springs that range in temperature from 90-104 degrees. The girls were excited to stop here, but ended up being sorely disappointed as the real life spring (which looked more like hot tub water than a natural spring) was nothing like the pictures we all had seen prior to going there.  

The lodge where the springs were.

Now, come on? Does that look like a "natural spring" to you? I am thinking we may have been bamboozled. 

And just for your convenience after you dip into the "natural spring" there is a chlorinated pool right beside it. 

Our final stop on this day was Ruby Beach. This was one place that the girls and I had wanted to go to and we knew by this point that we were not going to be driving anywhere the next day because we were so tired of being in the car. (Bob would admit that he was a bit overzealous in his planning of this trip because he wanted to try and squeeze as much in as he could. This meant a lot of our first two days were spent in the car driving from one far away location to another. This won't be happening in our future trips as the girls and I revolted.) Ruby beach, although a bit difficult for Sarah to get to from the parking lot due to the abundance of drift wood blocking the path to the actual beach, was actually quite beautiful. We hit it up at sunset which made it even more spectacular.

A view from the path leading from the parking lot to the beach. 

As I mentioned above, the girls and I wanted a day just to do nothing, but sit on the beach and chill. So, while we were doing that Bob went to the Hoh Rain Forest. While it was about 70 degrees that day on the beach it was 85 up in the rain forest. And although the pictures will never do them justice he also said there were several trees in the rain forest that just towered over the others.

A deer.

Here are just a couple of random pictures

The pictures below capture the sunlight as it hit our campsite every morning. There was something so amazingly calming seeing this light filtered through the forest.  It was a gentle reminder that the world is so much bigger than I give it credit for and that I am just one small spec in this universe. I don't know why, but this truth soothes me. 

As almost all of you know, my grandfather is my most treasured relationship outside of my husband and children. He was born and raised in Washington. There is a picture of him and his family on a beach in Gray's Harbor. The picture is probably 75 years old (or more). It was so cool to drive through this small working class town and know that at one point in his life, before he was a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, but instead just a boy whose life had not yet really begun he was here. I felt such a connection to this place. It was a really cool gift to be in the same place all of these years later. 

 I felt so at home meandering through all of the small  towns that dotted the places we visited. All of these towns were made up of hardworking working class people. There were no huge houses and fancy cars and shopping plazas. Instead there were small houses, older cars, and mom and pops shops I felt so at home in these places where people were just trying to eek out an honest living not off of someone else's back, but on their own. I respected these towns and these people immensely.

I hope to go back to this part of the country once more before we move. It was definitely an experience to remember.