I thought we had a plan to be on the trail in the Hoh Rainforest at Olympic National Park by 6:00, but Joani told me that was just my plan when I got her up at 4:30. We did get to the Upper Hoh Road by 6:00 and we were able to capture some fantastic early morning light.
If you want to see some Roosevelt Elk, an early start is a must!
It was early for us but with the time difference, I thought why not call Katie at this convenient cell phone booth?
At the trailhead, there were quite a few options for hiking destinations - we thought if we made it to Tom Creek we would be doing good. By the way, if we had gotten here at 6:00 we would have been in the dark!
We spotted a bull elk and several cows on the trail. They were very cautious but finally decided to leave before we got too close. They jumped over a fallen tree that had to be at least five feet in diameter! A few of them left behind hoof prints in the moss on the tree.
David is pointing to where the first hoof landed in their jump!
One ranger told us there was a point along the trail where we could see Mt. Olympus. I think this was the point he was talking about, but the cloud cover kept us from seeing the peak.
I went off trail a bit to catch a glimpse of Mount Olympus.
There were no signs, so we thought this must be Tom Creek, but now we know that Tom Creek was still 1/10 of a mile ahead (and not very impressive). Instead, this is Mineral Creek. We were treated to a very nice waterfall view. We took a few minutes to soak it all in while we had some trail snacks and water.
Glacial flour catches the sun and gives the water an amazing hue.
This is called guttation - the process of plants
excreting excess water.
We watched this little guy eat the cone like an ear of corn.
All that was left was a cob and a pile of scales. His mouth was full of seeds.
I had finished the blackberries Debbie and Craig had given us back at Elma, so we took this opportunity to pick some more. The bushes were absolutely full of ripe berries.
We always keep baggies in the car for times like these!
We said goodbye to the Hoh, but we'll be back someday!
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