It's a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Hood Canal. (Wikipedia)
It was fun to get back to this area and do some more exploring. We started off in Hoodsport for a few days where we stayed in a great RV Campground called Dow Creek Resort. It felt much more like a state park with large wooded sites that had electric/water hookups. We did some great hiking, biking and enjoyed views of the water and also beautiful Lake Cushman.
From there we headed to the Hoh Rain Forest area which is on the west side of Olympic National Park where we stayed at a small place called the Hard Rain Cafe. They had several spots where you could park your RV or set up a tent. Throughout the winter season, rain falls frequently in the Hoh Rain Forest, contributing to the yearly average of 140 inches (3.55 meters) of precipitation each year. The result is a lush, green canopy of both coniferous and deciduous species. Mosses and ferns that blanket the surfaces add another dimension to the enchantment of the rainforest. The Hoh Rain Forest is located in the stretch of the Pacific Northwest rainforest which once spanned the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to the central coast of California. The Hoh is one of the finest remaining examples of temperate rainforest in the United States.
What's cool is you can reach some gorgeous beaches, with amazing ocean life, as well as the rich green rainforest areas so there was a lot to do and see.
Our next area was Sequim (where we spent a month last May). We stayed at the John Wayne's Waterfront Resort in a full hookup site as well as in their primitive area for a few nights. Both worked really well. I had fun plopping down on the rocks and taking pictures in Sequim Bay which is right across the street as well as two other favorite spots: Dungeness Spit & Port Williams.
We did some spectacular hikes in Olympic National Park. One was Maiden Peak from the Deer Park Ranger area. It was about 8 miles roundtrip and we climbed about 1700 feet which gave us some epic views from both sides of the ridge.
Another one was from the Hurricane Ridge parking area as we hiked the Sunrise Ridge area together and then Jordan continued on for a stretch of the Klahhane Ridge while I took pictures of one of my favorite animals to see here - the Olympic Marmot. They are endemic to the Olympic Peninsula, meaning they are found no where else in the world. The Olympic marmot is a housecat-sized rodent with a long, bushy tail. Adults can weigh 15 pounds or more before they enter hibernation in September or early October. They are often brownish in color, but may be yellow or tan colored when they emerge from hibernation in the spring, and almost black in the fall.
