Monday, August 26, 2013, Mineral Creek Waterfall in Hoh Rainforest at Olympic National Park, Forks, WA

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.  

Mineral Creek Falls

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!

Saturday, August 24, 2013, Hall of Mosses Trail at Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Forks, WA

The ranger-led hike at Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, WA, yesterday was one of two the park service offers. It was so great we went back today to go on the other hike. This one was on the Hall of Mosses trail. Even though we had already hiked this trail, we thought we would learn more with the ranger along. We were right! Ranger Laura repeated some of yesterday's information but had much more. We saw several people we recognized from the hike yesterday, so it wasn't such an odd thing after all.

 

The average annual rainfall at the Hoh was illustrated graphically with the sign over my head. I guess you would have to really like rain if you lived here!

In the visitor center, they had several displays that showed how much impact the environment has on how big the tree will grow. So if you are ever a tree and you want to be big you want to be close to sea level and not too far north. 

Ranger Laura is telling the tale of why the mice hide in the Douglas Fir cone.

Joani thought the color was not quite right on her camera. Checking the on-screen help guide, we found how to change the white balance in program mode. It made a huge difference, as you can see, in the two unretouched pictures below. She was a lot happier photographer today!

"We" didn't fix my problem, David did.  I so appreciate having a genius on board!

This little gnome was posing for her mommy. A very adorable and cooperative 2-year-old!

I want to come back someday to see these Bigleaf Maples in the fall.

Oops. I googled "Bigleaf maple fall color" and alas, they don't impress.

Well, they impress year round with their size and ability to support massive amounts of moss!

Joani found the extremes of bus travel parked next to each other. One a crowded, smelly, noisy bus you probably wouldn't hitch a ride in no matter how desperate you were and the other one a nice school bus conversion. 

Where did all the hippies go?  Out west!

We loved the Red Alders flanking the road into the park. At the place we stopped, we heard rushing water and thought it was the river behind us, but finally realized there was a small stream running nearby.

Red Alders look so much like Aspen or Birch, but the white on their bark is a lichen.

Red Alders take over when the big trees fall down and open the canopy.