We recently visited the Olympics. No, we were not in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, but discovered another “Olympics” in northwestern Washington State. Our travels brought us to Olympic National Park-a vast wilderness of almost a million acres. It hosts so much natural beauty and diverse ecosystems it was named both a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations.

 Olympic National Park is a special place. It’s a place where snow covered mountains with glaciers reach to the sky. A place where lush, temperate rainforests receive more than 150 inches of rain each year, and colossal trees are covered with other plants to form a “jungle-like” setting. Around every corner, wild rivers and cold, clear streams hold salmon, steelhead and trout, and cascading waterfalls waiting to be explored. The park also hosts 70 miles of unspoiled, rugged Pacific coastline with big sea stacks, tide pools and windswept beaches. Looking for critters? Olympic NP has a bunch of them from mountains to ocean, including Roosevelt Elk, Olympic Marmots, Black Bear, Mountain Lions, Black-tailed Deer, River Otters, Seals, Sea Lions, Whales and nearly 300 species of birds.

Perhaps the most unique ecosystems are the temperate rain forests. These forests, made up of large Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Bigleaf maple and other species, are covered with mosses, lichens, ferns and spike mosses. Storms coming off the Pacific dump huge amounts of rain on these western slope, low-level valleys. Temperatures rarely drop below freezing in the winter, or higher than the 80’s in the summer. Nowhere else in the lower 48 states can you experience forests like these found in Olympic NP, and it’s called a rain forest for good reason!

                                                          Rambling through the Hoh Rain Forest

During our 1.7-mile hike, it rained five different times-not continuously, but it would start to rain, then the sun came out, then rain again……As we trekked along the trail, stepping in puddle after puddle, the warm rain rolled down our cheeks as if we just stepped into a shower. Did you ever notice that when you put your hood up on your rain jacket to keep water off your face, it actually works the opposite way. The rain hood acts like a downspout that channels more rain on to your face! After the third rain shower, I had so much water running down my nose and over my chin, I felt like a chunky, walking waterfall! As we strolled along the wet route, it almost felt like I was 9 years old again, romping outside during a summer storm-except the trees were much bigger, and we certainly didn’t have humongous rotten logs laying around with slugs crawling everywhere! These rainforests have been described many times as the “jungles of America.” I get it. As we walked through this abundant, green vegetation, with large moss-covered trees standing above you and vines hanging down near your head, you would almost think that monkeys should be swinging from limb to limb, howling their calls through the canopy! The coolest part of this diverse park is being able to stroll through a rainforest like this in the morning, then by afternoon, be hiking up a trail that takes you 6,000’ up to a snow-covered mountain ridge!

I confess. I had no idea the Olympic Mountain Range of the Cascades were so big! We’ve had the opportunity to hike in the majestic Rockies, visited the massive Sierra Nevadas in California and wandered many times along the ridges of the Appalachians, but the Olympic Mountains are unique in that several 7,000’+ peaks receive over 30’ of snow annually, with the Pacific Ocean only 33 miles away! We were so eager to get out and hike one of these mountain trails, we made a small, but tiring, mistake.

After parking the car in the first parking lot we came to, then walking 2 miles on a supposedly “closed road,” we discovered a parking area right at the trailhead where we wanted to begin our hike. Since it was getting late in the day, Tyler volunteered to walk back to the rental car and drive it up to the trailhead so it would be closer when we were finished. After waiting for almost an hour for Ty to return with the car, we began to get a little worried, and we hadn’t even started our hike yet. For some reason, I reached in my day pack and to my surprise, found the keys to the rental van. Tyler had walked almost 4 miles round trip and I had given him the wrong keys. I had mistakenly given him my personal truck keys, not the rental vehicle keys! He was a real good sport about it and never complained once about my dumb error. Sorry Ty!

 After finally hitting the trail, we reached the peak of a 2-mile hike to a place called Hurricane Hill. It was one of the most awesome, 360 degree views I’ve ever seen. We gazed out to the east and saw mountains in the distance as far as we could see. When we turned to look over our back shoulder, there was the Strait of Juan De Fuca and the Pacific Ocean stretching to the north and west-eyeing up Canada. It was like looking at a dazzling series of post cards. All four of us simply described what we were looking at, as “Wow!” The bonus at the top was seeing a big, beautiful Black-tailed buck in velvet grazing on the alpine meadow grasses, along with several Olympic Marmots (kinda like our Groundhogs here in PA), which communicate back and forth to each other by chirping out loud whistles.

 The hike was great. The views were fantastic, and discovering Olympic Gold together as a family was a memory we’ll always have! Oh, and Tyler only mentioned his 10-mile hike, (compared to our 5-mile hike) once, after I bought him a cold beer! Cheers!

Drive north on Highway 101 through Oregon and Washington, and you’ll discover an unspoiled coastline that is rugged, beautiful and rich in history. This region includes miles of high, drifting sand dunes in southern Oregon, and wild rivers that flow through towering coniferous forests to the rocky shorelines of the Pacific Ocean, as you continue north. It’s a land of untamed beaches where seals and sea lions bask, whales migrate just offshore and large rock formations called sea stacks provide habitat for large colonies of sea birds, while standing guard in the crashing surf.

As we entered Oregon from California, we were very surprised to see sand dunes, and big sand dunes they were! Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is home to the largest coastal sand dunes in North America, at over 40 miles long. Some of the dunes reach 500 feet above sea level. These wind-swept piles of sand are constantly being re-shaped by nature year after year. Since the dunes offer many OHV riding opportunities, we had to give it a go! We rented two, 2-seat dune buggies (side-by-sides), watched the safety video, grabbed our helmets and hit the dunes. Theresa rode shotgun with me and Tyler took the wheel of the other one with Darby. The senior drivers’ pace was a bit slower than the younger ones. After we all rode out to the beach, I dropped Theresa off back at the office and took our buggy out by myself for the last 30 minutes. I was doing fairly well keeping up with my offspring until I got a bit over confident coming down the back side of one of the large dunes. During our orientation, we learned that you can’t always see the sudden drop-offs, called Witch’s Eyes, so you shouldn’t go “screaming down” the back side of a dune until you’ve checked it out first. Oops! Before I could hit the brakes, I found myself flying off a steep sand drift at a rate of speed that was also covered in the video. My landing was not so graceful and I hit with a hard thump and bounced for another 6 feet. I didn’t roll the vehicle, but I came pretty close. My biggest concern was that Tyler and Darby, who were riding close behind me, would do the same-especially with me still sitting there, with my head rattling. They watched the video more closely than their father did, and crested the dune with a little more caution. They drove up to me, asked me if I was ok, and after a brief moment of determining I was still fit to drive, they zoomed off, spinning sand into my buggy! We all agreed-we had a great time running the dunes!

After leaving the sand dunes, we started our trek north. The most noticeable feature along the Oregon and Washington coastlines are the sea stacks. These large rock formations were once part of the coastline, but constant wave action eroded them to the point where they became separated from the mainland. As you round each curve on the highway, these craggy, mini-islands of stone appear in the ocean mist like large sailing ships cruising the coast. Some sit offshore a half-mile or more, but most are within a few hundred yards of the beaches, and if you can find your way down to them, you can usually walk out to many in low tide. Many of these sea stacks were covered with nesting colonies of Tufted Puffins, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Double-crested, Brandt’s and Pelagic Cormorants and Western Gulls. At one large stack, called the Haystacks, Tyler called us over to show us a Bald Eagle that was aggressively hunting some of the nesting sea birds-alternating between landing near their nests and chasing them through the air. We watched these ‘cat and mouse” games for 15 minutes until finally, we witnessed the eagle successfully grabbing a Common Murre-it was like watching a National Geographic special, live!

                              A Bald Eagle hunts down a Common Murre on Haystack Rock, in Oregon

Two signs you don’t see on the East Coast-it took me a few minutes to figure out what sneaker waves were. Once I understood, I put my sneakers back on my feet!

The crashing surf along the Pacific Coastline creates some very cool, natural phenomena in the rocky shorelines, along with many tide pools waiting to explore. We made a point of stopping at a few of these sites for some short hikes out to these rocky beaches. You have to be careful while stepping along on the wet, slippery rock outcroppings that have been carved out by the pounding surf. One slip, and you can go down pretty quick on the jagged rock. But, these were truly full “sensory walks” as we slowly made our way out in the light drizzle and cool mist to gaze at the Pacific Ocean. The combination of seeing these wild, rocky shorelines, smelling the salt air, hearing the sounds of the crashing waves and feeling the moist spray of the ocean on our faces, is something we will not soon forget. These turned out to be some of our most enjoyable walks. In one location, nicknamed Thor’s Well, a large hole has formed in the rocks at the edge of the water. As the waves come crashing in, the sea water disappears into this large, natural well. It’s really fascinating to see, but can be very dangerous if you get too close, since it can literally pull you into the watery crevice, where you can easily drown. Of course we had to venture out to the edge to take a closer look, along with several other people!

                                                                 A Black Oystercatcher sits on a rock along the Oregon Coast 

     Click here to see Thor’s Well in action:        20160623_214730000_iOS

Living on the east coast, we don’t see these types of wild, rocky shores, unless you travel north to the coast of Maine. But even that area doesn’t match the Pacific Coastline, with its lofty sea stacks, coastal wildlife, drifting sand dunes and beautiful forests of tall pines, firs and cedars. It was one of our favorite areas during our vacation, and a region we would like to return to, to explore further!

At the end of 2015, we made a decision to visit Tyler in Northern California in 2016, and began planning a trip that would take us through the Pacific Northwest…..and beyond. We were excited to visit an area we’ve never been to before, and follow in some of the footsteps of the original Lewis & Clark expedition of 1804-1806. So, after traveling 2 weeks and 4,313 miles (RT from San Francisco),through 5 states, and stops in 15 National Parks, Forests, Recreation Areas, Wildlife Refuges and 8 State Parks, this is the first blog in a summary of our long, but awesome, journey!

The Big Ones

If you visit Northern California, there’s one natural feature that literally stands out-the big trees! Specifically, the tall Coastal Redwoods, the world’s tallest living thing. As we drove north from San Francisco we took a short detour from California’s Scenic Highway 101, to enter the Avenue of the Giants, a 30-mile corridor of huge redwood trees, and our first introduction to these towering giants. Along this drive, and many more to come, you drive right past trees that are wider than your vehicle, and very close to the road! These redwoods are enormous! The trees can exceed heights of 370 feet tall-that’s 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty! The State of California, along with the National Park Service, has preserved many of these groves of redwoods in several state parks and Redwoods National Park.

When you walk among these giants you can’t help but to stop and gaze up, tilting your head back to the point where your neck cramps up, trying to see the very top. I was so mesmerized at my first look at these tall trees that when I bent back to try and photograph the top, I stumbled backwards, fell on my butt and disappeared into a stand of ferns! I jumped up quickly to make sure Theresa (wife) and Darby (daughter) didn’t see me! But at the same time, the cool, shadows the canopy creates, along with ferns that grow 4 feet tall on the forest floor, keeps your eyes looking down as much as up. The landscape is almost fantasy-like. As a matter of fact, these redwood forests are so unique that scenes from many familiar movies have been filmed in them. Movies such as The Last of the Mohicans, Star Wars-Return of the Jedi (Ewok forest), The Lost World-Jurassic Park, and ET.

Looking for birds among the 4′ ferns

While we walked through these giant redwood forests, we were constantly amazed how lush these forests were. Tall trees with huge canopies that let in very little light, standing guard over dense beds of huge ferns, some growing almost as tall as us. We also took notice to how quiet these redwood forests were. We heard very few birds while hiking in the redwoods. Maybe we simply visited at the wrong time of the day, or maybe the birds were so high up in the canopy that we just couldn’t hear them singing! OK, maybe my hearing isn’t as acute as it once was, but it was still pretty quiet!

Our wildlife sightings in the dense redwood forests were limited to a few squirrels, a few Oregon Juncos that were down low, an occasional mouse/vole, and my favorite critter, the Banana Slug, which I told Tyler to find one for me. His comeback to my request was classic. “OK, I’ll keep my eyes peeled!”

Overall, we visited three CA State Parks with outstanding Coastal Redwood groves, and Redwoods National Park, in a day and a half. We all agreed, we were only on day two of our adventure and we were already captivated by what we experienced. I highly recommend that if you have a chance to visit this area, or even San Francisco (4 ½ hrs south), get there! Go walk among the giants! You can’t see these trees anywhere else on Planet Earth.