Visit to the Mount Olympic National Park!

December 6, 2017 by nikirath 18 Comments

Out of all the National Parks that I have visited, my favorite so far has been Mount Olympic National Park in the Pacific North West. Crystal clear lake water surrounded by tall evergreen trees all year round, Olympic peninsula is one of a kind. City of Port Angeles borders the Mount Olympic National Park and is right about 3 hours from Seattle which includes both drive and ferry. There are so many scenic spots in this huge park but we were very limited because our visit was just about two days. Nevertheless we still tried to make the most out of our short trip.

Rain forests have never failed to fascinate me and therefore I was inclined towards visiting the Hoh Rain forest by Forks. As we made our way to the rain forest, we drove past Lake Crescent and enjoyed magnificent views of the rainbow while it rained and shined. We did stop by for a couple of beautiful pictures with the backdrop of mountains, rainbow and lake.  As we got closer to the rain forest, our roads were covered with huge trees and we wondered if the trees talked and shared with each other just like us. It was such a memorable drive which finally led us to the rain forest area. It started raining heavily as we got ready to hike with our rain jackets and hiking boots.

I did read that rain forests are the most beautiful and green while it’s actually raining and I was lucky to experience it as well. The heavy rain did not stop us from exploring the trails of Hoh. The Hall of Mosses was the first loop we hiked and it appeared to be a rain forest right out of a fairy-tale jungle. The giant trees covered with Mosses reminded me of the jungles in the story of Rapunzel when she first stepped out of her castle. I also for a moment felt like stepping into the upside down world of stranger things. It really looked animated and lush. As we made our way through the trails we appreciated the fall colors of the forest. It was a perfectly rainy fall afternoon. As we made our way back getting lost through the trails looking for Salmon fishes in the river, we were ready to go spend a night at out farm house at the Acardia Inn.

We stayed at the Llama room at the Acardia Inn and I was beyond excited to wake up early in the morning to explore the farm house Airbnb. Early in the morning, we enjoyed the fresh organic eggs from the farm for breakfast. Our Airbnb owner Gail had about 70 pets in total in her farmhouse including 2 Llamas, 3 horses, 5 dogs, 10 sheep, 20 goats and 30 hens.  The sheep shelter was right next to our room and we really enjoyed feeding them the pallet food provided to us by Gail. I also did a farm house tour with her in the morning where she showed around the barn where she fed horses, goats and chickens. It was such a lovely sight and it was great to learn so much from Gail about the WOOF program where visitors from all over the world come to help her with her farm and barn work. I wish I could experience that someday too. Gail was so generous that she also gave away 2 dozen of eggs from her farm for us to take home.

As we checked out of our extraordinary Airbnb, we made our way to the lake trail of the Olympic Peninsula. As the roads were closed due to floods from heavy rainfall, we just hiked a short trail with gorgeous water views alongside the lust green forests. Running out of time we returned back from half way along the trail towards the lake, nevertheless I really enjoyed the precarious trails while it started to drizzle. It felt great to be so close to Mother Nature and I really cherished my short visit to the Olympic National Park. It was much more beautiful that what I had imagined and it caught me by surprise. I will definitely return back to enjoy the parts of the park that I missed this time.

Which is your favorite National Park? Please share, I would love to read!