2003/03 Olympic Mountains trip - Quinault and Kalaloch |
|||
The weather was great during the meetings with clear skies and views to the east of the Cascades, with the Olympics on the western horizon, but it was typical Seattle drizzle as soon as we had some time off. I took off immediately after the last meeting session, heading west around the southern end of the Olympics, as there’s no road through the mountains. The seaside towns there aren’t very special, but the scenery improved as I headed north towards the park. It was mainly forest, with a hint of hills in the background through the fog and rain. The view was spoiled in a few places by extensive logging clearcuts.
The park has a number of separate sections. The first piece I came to was Quinault Lake. I tried to drive the loop road around the lake but gave up when it degenerated into mud with holes. It was too early in the trip to break the rental car! I did find a really pretty waterfall, though, and stopped there for a while.
Soon after the road swung back to the coast and in the next section of park I found my destination for the weekend, Kalaloch Beach campsite. I was on top of the cliffs looking out across the Pacific Ocean. I chose the beach as it gave me more light than a site under the rain forest, important when your only light is a hiking headlight. The road was close by but the noise of the waves overwhelmed what little traffic noise there was.
There was no wind but the breakers were enormous, with the whole ocean a mass of white waves, and it stayed that way the whole time I was there. I set the tent up in record time, trying to minimize how much rainwater I got in the tent. A cooking shelter would have been useful, but the campground didn’t have one. Luckily my little stove works quite well in the pouring rain.