A Radicool Tide pool Area...Salt Creek Recreation Area

Elwha Dam RV Park
Port Angeles, WA
July 13, 2018

Yesterday was a most exciting day for me.  The low tide was at the perfect time of day and the weather was amazingly gorgeous.  Our destination, Tongue Point Marine Life Sanctuary,  is about 15 miles from home located in the Salt Creek Recreation Area on Camp Hayden Rd. 

Camp Hayden is home to remnants of the WWll-era.  


Several bunkers and forts were built along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to protect the Puget Sound and the Naval Shipyard at Bremerton.

Tongue Point is so photogenic.  I've enjoyed pictures of this point for years so imagine how excited I was to be taking my own.  

From the parking lot...

it's a short hike to the concrete steps that drop to the ocean floor.

 Just look at all the exploring that waits ahead !

Tongue Point Marine Life Sanctuary is the eastern most open rock intertidal habitat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  In one article I read, these tide pools that jut out from Crescent Bay are deemed world famous by marine biologists and tourists.

Joe waited at the steps.  He kept my camera.  The seaweed makes exploring very slippery...I couldn't afford to slip and fall with camera in hand so all the photos were taken with my phone.

Crab in a mussel shell

A mama river otter swims toward her den. I was really disappointed I didn't have my camera for these photos.

Mama River Otter with two pups...so adorable and playful! 

Algea

Green Sea Anemone

Purple Starfish...Ochre Starfish

Blood Starfish

Red Sea Urchin

Purple Sea Urchin

 

Velvety Red Sponge

I ventured as far out onto the point as I could.

I carefully made my way over to the beach area.

Goose-neck Barnacles

I can't say enough about my adventure in the tide pools.  I loved every second I was there. 

So until next time, enjoy your adventure and...

 HAPPY TRAILS!

 I almost forgot...when we were back at the jeep having a snack and water, we had visitors.

Mountain Beaver...not really a beaver, but so named because they gnaw bark and cut off limbs in a manner to true beavers.  Also believed to be the world's most primitive living rodent species. Mountain Beavers live in moist forests and ferny slopes. 

Black-tailed mama deer and fawn

Olympic National Park - HOH Rain Forest

Elwha Dam RV Park
Port Angeles, WA
July 9, 2018

Finally, we are here !  



Elwha Dam RV Park in Port Angeles is our home base to explore as much of the Olympic Peninsula as possible during our month long stay here.



  
Olympic National Park (making up about 1,440 square miles of the Peninsula) provides lots of opportunities for adventures and a great place to get started.  This national park welcomes visitors to explore three distinct ecosystems: subalpine forest and wildflower meadow, temperate forest, and the rugged Pacific shore.  
  
Because of the park's relatively unspoiled condition and outstanding scenery, the United Nations has declared Olympic NP both an international biosphere reserve and a World Heritage site. 

Our first adventure took us to the temperate forest.  HOH Rain Forest is about a 2 hour drive from our campsite, but road construction on US 101 west added another half hour.  



We enjoyed the drive along Lake Crescent...

well except for the logging trucks that sped by us on the two-lane highway.  





Once through Forks, we made a left turn onto Upper HOH Road and everything changed.  Almost instantly, we felt we were entering an "enchanted land".  

The road curves it's way along the HOH River

 through a lush green forest.

Just after entering the pay station, we saw several cars parked along the side of the road.  Being a little nosy, we parked and I went to investigate.  It was a herd of female elk and calves.  Our lucky day !  

I made a quick stop at the Visitor Center for maps.  From earlier research, I knew there were a couple of short trails that fit our time frame (which we try to limit to 6-7 hours because of our pups) behind the VC.  Off we went. 

As we crossed a bridge, there was a lone elk grazing for lunch.  So cool to watch her munching away and enjoying her day...she sure made my day !

The rest of the hike was an explosion of green...

... powerful Sitka Spruce, western hemlock, and western red cedar trees measuring up to 25 feet in diameter and over 300 feet tall...

...and breathing in the scents of the forest !  Ahhhh...

Nurselogs are an important part of the regrowth in the forest.  Downed decayed trees provide warmth, moisture and minerals that seedlings need.  Seedlings don't always survive on the tangled forest floor.

It's a lot to take in...like the thick beards of moss that feed only on air and moisture.  The rain forest atmosphere provides all the moisture and wind-blown nutrients they need.

And the denser clusters of mosses on big leaf maples.

We certainly enjoyed our visit to the rain forest taking in as much as possible during our short visit.  It really is an enchanted land. 

We were gone right at 7 hours.  What a warm welcome we had when we got home...lots of love greeted us at he door !

Until next time, enjoy the adventure and...

This is where the forest gnomes go...that's some big tree!

Beautiful trails meander through the rain forest.  There were other folks there, but it never seemed to be over crowded. Sweet!

The pleasant drive on Hwy 101 west...after all the road construction!
HAPPY TRAILS !