7.03.2026 Port Angeles: Olympic National Park, Hoh Rainforest, Al hikes Hurricane Hill & Snoqualmie Falls

 Salish Trails, Port Angeles, WA

7.03.26

Travel Day…on to Port Angeles, Washington! We got set up and went to find the Olympic National Park Visitor Center. Very busy place!

Our campsite was really nice and private. There were rose bushes and tall Pampas Grass between sites.

The other language under the Welcome is native Sklallam.

We were told that there are black bears and mountain lions to watch for when hiking. 

7.04.26 Happy Independence Day!!!

We drove down to the Wharf and checked out the visitor center and walked a little along the wharf but it was so cold!!! Came back to Mona for hot chocolate.

Funky tree on the wharf. It had faces embedded in it. Not sure what its supposed to mean but it looked kind of cool.

It was windy on the wharf!

There is whale watching out this way but we had Marley with us and it was cold!

Even though fireworks were not allowed in the campground, they were going on all around outside the park. Marley had his ear muffs on and it worked perfectly! Its just really soft stretchy fabric tube that holds his ears folded forward. He slept with it on all night and never fretted! 

E.T. Phone home!

7.05.26

Fireworks went on until 12:30 AM!  Al went hiking up Hurricane Hill in Olympic National Park. I didn’t.  

Driving through the clouds...

Al is above the clouds!

All the white is clouds!

Hey bear! Hey bear!!!

Deer

Olympic marmots live in the Olympic Mountains and nowhere else on Earth. Some of these marmot colonies have disappeared due to non-native coyote predators. Hurricane Hill is one of the best places to see these marmots.

Little River Trail...where does this path lead? Al will find out for you. 

7.06.26 Gone wandering to Olympic National Park & Hoh Rainforest. Neighbors were so loud! Quiet time is 11:00 then they packed up to leave early in to morning. All kinds of banging around. Very little sleep.

We found this beach along the way...

The road to the Hoh Rainforest was beautiful itself. We rolled along very slowly for an hour to get to the entrance gate. It was really pretty painless as we had snacks along, it was shaded and beautiful.

We were both surprised by what the rainforest looked like! The term rainforest refers to the amount of rain an area gets per year. Of course when you hear the word rainforest, you automatically think tropical. 

Mini Lesson:

Rainforests are primarily classified into two main types—tropical and temperate—based on their global latitude and climate.

Tropical Rainforests are found in the tropics near the equator, primarily in Central and South America, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia where it is warm and humid year-round with temperatures averaging 70°F to 90°F. They receive tremendous rainfall (often 80 to 400+ inches annually).

Temperate Rainforests are found in mid-latitudes further north or south of the equator, with regions in the Pacific Northwest of North America, New Zealand, and Chile. Temperate rainforests are cooler, coastal mountainous regions that experience distinct seasons. They are still very wet, but have more moderate temperatures compared to tropical rainforests. They have massive evergreen trees like redwoods, giant sequoias, and spruce. While less diverse than tropical regions, they support many types of mosses and ferns.

There are also a few sub-types that include monsoon areas and mangroves.

Marley couldn't be on the trails so I stayed back with him while Al walked down a couple of the trails.

Al says, "Please watch my video. Click the link below!"

"Lady of the Lake"

Lady of the Lake Murder

The "Lady of the Lake" is a famous true-crime and ghost legend from Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park.

In 1940, fishermen in the crystal-clear, deep waters of the lake discovered the remarkably preserved body of Hallie Illingworth, a woman who had gone missing in December 1937. The icy, near-freezing temperatures and mineral composition of the water caused her body fat to undergo saponification, turning her remains into a waxy, soap-like substance. This preservation allowed authorities to identify her and convict her husband of her murder. Today, the lake has a reputation for "never giving up its dead", and local lore includes stories of the Lady's ghost haunting the shores and the historic Lake Crescent Lodge. If you are exploring the area, the 624-foot deep lake is located about 17 miles west of Port Angeles. 

We drove by Lake Crescent on our way to the Hoh Rainforest. It is between Port Angeles and Forks.

Click the link below for a little more about the romance and murder.

The romance, the marriage and the murder

A Town Called Forks

On the way to and from the Hoh Rainforest we went through a town called Forks. We didn't realize at the time what all the hullabaloo was about. There were "Twilight" signs and references everywhere! Come to find out, this town was where a series of movies took place. No actual filming took place here, only the name was used. 

According to AI: Twilight was not filmed in Forks, Washington. Although the story is set on the Olympic Peninsula, production for the first film largely took place in Oregon (including Portland, St. Helens, and Vernonia), while the sequels were mostly shot in the Vancouver, Canada area.

This is for you, Vicki!

We had absolutely no idea what Twilight was when we drove through. We stopped at the visitor center because Al needed the restroom. There was an orange truck sitting right next to us and I watched while people kept stopping and posing next to that truck. When Al came out I even said to him" Look at all the people posing by that truck! Why are they doing that?" Girls where laying across it and posing like crazy. Well now I know because I looked it up as I was writing this blog post. Too bad I didn't take any pictures myself! I was too busy watching others! HA!

Online research about the truck...

The orange truck (a 1963 Chevy C10) is Bella Swan's iconic daily driver in the film. It is her main mode of transportation in rainy Forks, gifted to her by her father. While Stephenie Meyer's original book describes it as a faded red 1953 model, the filmmakers used the slightly newer, more orange-hued truck. The filmmakers also enlarged the windshield, which made it much easier to shoot actors sitting inside it. Beyond just being a reliable clunker, the orange-red color stands out against the muted blues, slates, and greens of the gloomy Washington forest. In cinema color theory, the bright pop of orange serves as a subtle foreshadowing of the werewolves—who have a higher body temperature and are often represented by warm, earthy tones—making their way into Bella's life.

We were parked right there to the right of the orange truck.

That's all I know about Forks and Twilight. Someday maybe I'll watch the movies and then I'll wish I paid closer attention! LOL

 

7.07.26 Travel Day! Moving to Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothel, WA. We had to drive through Tacoma and Seattle. ICK!!! In Tacoma we took a wrong turn and had to be creative in getting Big Mona back on the freeway instead of in a shopping mall! We stopped at a rest area right past Tacoma and it was a nice rest stop BUT s bunch of homeless decided it was a nice place to stay too!

We went over a bridge and the creek was called "Johnny Comelately Creek." Struck a funny bone!

Nice campground except the entrance was really tight! The pond has duck and geese but management uses a machine to rake the pond and they keep everything cleaned up.

7.08.26 Catch up day! Al had some maintenance to do on Mona, Did laundry and Marley got a bath! Al went on a walk on the campground trail.

7.09.26 Took Max to a dealer for an oil change, tire sensors and fuel filter. Went to Snoqualmie Falls and had a picnic lunch, stopped at Costco on the way back.

Picnic lunch at the park. There were nice little private areas with clean picnic tables.

Cookies from the little Snoqualmie Bakery inside the gift shop. Chocolate Chip sprinkled with flake salt. Surprisingly very good!

Marley and Al say Hello!

Next...we travel to Concrete, Washington to stay in a KOA and explore North Cascades National Park.