Pacific Northwest 2021: Quinault Rainforest, Cape Disappointment, Astoria

 We enjoyed breakfast at our hotel in Forks and then packed up the car to head south.

Banana slug on the wall outside our lodging.

We saw a rainbow over the river. The hotel was really in a beautiful setting!

Megan and Matthew enjoyed swinging a bit.

We headed to the Quinault Rainforest area of Olympic National Park.

We first west to the Maple Glade Trail. The Quinault Rainforest was really green with lots of moss and plants growing everywhere. However, it has more cedar trees (versus spruce trees in the Hoh Rainforest) and overall the trees seemed to be spaced farther apart. Here are some pictures from the Maple Glade Trail which was stunning.

U under a large cedar tree.

Deer fern with both sterile and fertile fronds.

Megan and Me

We found it interesting how the branches on trees would start way up high on the tree.

We then went to the other side of Lake Quinault to hike the Nature Trail.

Willaby Falls

Look at all the growth on the top of the tree stump!

Hello Matthew!

So much fungus!

U with one tree using another tree as a nursery tree.

Matthew and U inside an old cedar tree.

Sarah

We hiked to the world's largest spruce tree.

Me, Matthew, Sarah and Megan at the base of the tree.

A panoramic up the tree.

Matthew tried to climb around the tree.

Next, we headed to Cape Disappointment.

U and Matthew at Fort Canby.

U at a less overgrown part of the fort.

The Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

We kept seeing this animal pop its head above water. We think it was either a seal or a sea otter.

Astoria in the distance

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

View from the North Jetty.

Sarah, the ladybug whisperer

The ladybugs liked Megan too

U was interested to see Suomi Hall in Astoria and learn about the connection between Astoria and Finland.

We ate dinner by the river with nice views of the bridge.

Megan played on the small beach.

We walked along the river and found some interesting structures.

Another view of the bridge.

Pacific Northwest 2021: Hoh Rainforest, Ruby Beach, Rialto Beach

 We headed out early to the Hoh Rainforest and were able to get into the park right away. We met someone who arrived not long after us who ended up waiting 3 hours to get into the park as it gets quite backed up once it reaches capacity.

Megan and Matthew receiving their Junior Ranger badges. They had received the booklets the day before and finished them on our drive to the Hoh Rainforest.

Some information about the Hoh Rainforest. And banana slugs. I can't believe how many teeth they have!

We first went on the Hall of Mosses Trail. It was amazing! Here are some pictures of the beauty we saw (although they don't do it justice).

The maple grove was amazing!  There was such a feeling of peace in the grove that everyone was whispering.

Matthew and U on the trail.

There is so much growth everywhere in the rainforest, including on top of a tree stump.

Me and Matthew

Matthew and Me with the girls in the background.

Matthew walking under a tree arch.

A nursery log.

Matthew found the remains of this stump and thought it made a perfect frame.

Megan hugging a tree.

See where the nursery log used to be? It is amazing how many trees and plants start growing on a nursery log. The trees are particularly interesting as the roots start above ground.

U posing partway under a tree.

Sarah, Megan and Matthew walking along a log.

We then headed down the Hoh River Trail (although we did not go all the way to Glacier Meadows).

Lots of mushrooms.

Another example of a nursery tree.

Lots of moss!

Chair Megan

Sarah and Megan crossing some of the Hoh River.

Matthew crossing.

Matthew and Megan spent a lot of time adding rocks and making sure they were secure so that it would be easy to cross to the island without getting your feet wet. (Matthew got one foot quite wet when he crossed the river.) Of course, this also created a sort of dam with higher water behind the crossing. I think Megan and Matthew would have liked to stay here all day working on their project.

A few pictures of the lovely Hoh River from the island.

Project complete! Matthew testing out the stability of the crossing.

We headed to Ruby Beach, which everyone really enjoyed.

Matthew found a sea stack to climb.

Hello Sarah and Megan.

Matthew and Me look in the tidepool on the sea stack.

Me and Sarah climb up the sea stack.

The beach was mostly sandy and people enjoyed writing in the sand.

The top of the beach was rocky. And what pretty rocks they were.

Matthew and Megan getting their Ocean Stewards patches. It is like Junior Rangers for the ocean part of the park.

We headed to Rialto Beach. It was not nearly as windy this time.

Matthew and Megan enjoyed playing on this log. Notice the sea stack in the back? That was quite close to U in the pictures from the previous day but it was so foggy it wasn't visible.

Happy kiddos.

Sarah enjoying the view.

There was a really pretty log on the beach.

Megan and Mom

Lots of pelicans riding the waves.

Sarah cleaning her shoe. She almost lost it in the ocean.

Matthew showing Me the kelp that washed onto the shore.

Matthew showing the kelp to the camera.

Sarah found a shelter for us.