u/hgraces802

I feel really compelled to share our trip report because I can't stop reminiscing about how Olympic made me feel in my short time there.

My husband and I are big baseball fans and in 2024 we went to Denver to watch the Baltimore Orioles play the Rockies and snuck in a day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park...enter 2026 and I thought "Where can we travel to watch Orioles baseball and also check off some national parks?" and our original plan was to fly into Seattle to watch the Orioles play mid June and then we would trek off to Olympic and Mount Rainier. After doing more research, I realized that mid June isn't really peak Mount Rainier season and I really procrastinated with booking our plane tickets to a point where we had no time to even think of changing which parks we could go to & I almost felt like we were "settling" for Olympic (man, was I wrong.) It was never really a park that was on my radar as a must visit and there were more parks I'd rather see first but time was not on our side with planning so in desperation for a vacation and change of scenery, I booked the tickets anyway. This is bound to be a very long post but bear with me.

Day 1 (June 23rd, Hurricane Ridge) - Flew into Seattle and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island which I was hesitant to do because it was such a unique experience that it almost intimidated me to try it? SO glad that I did because the weather was crystal clear & seeing the Olympic Mountains set the backdrop for our ferry ride got me so excited for our itinerary ahead. We wandered around Bainbridge Island, did some shopping, and trekked out to our Airbnb to check in before heading right back out to Hurricane Ridge. We unfortunately did not get to do the Hurricane Hill hike which was one that I was most looking forward to but Cirque Rim to Sunrise Trail did NOT disappoint. I also loved the marmots and deer that we saw.

Day 2 (June 24th, Lake Crescent, Mount Storm King and Cape Flattery. ) - This hike really is NO joke. I'm an avid lifter and runner and this effort alone had me doing the same output as my first half marathon did in only 4 miles. I decided to not do the rope section because I am not very sure footed, I get anxious very easily and did not want to take one wrong step but my husband did it & the views looked incredible. Our original plan was to go to Devil's Punchbowl and Sol Duc Falls afterwards but our Airbnb host had a permit for Cape Flattery so we headed straight there. Yes, it was a lot of driving especially after Mount Storm King but it was so worth it to see the most NW point of the contigous US. Tired is an understatement after this day but it was a great add-on and I'm so glad we did it.

Day 3 (June 25th, Sol Duc Falls) - Leaving Port Angeles for Forks. This day, we did plan to get up early to do the Hoh but we decided to save it for June 26th as we really wanted the extra sleep after the day prior. We scrapped Devil's Punchbowl so we could see Sol Duc falls on the way to Forks and it was the perfect out and back trek to see a 3 pronged waterfall! (I still can't get over how many people climb on the rocks near the edge though??? Made me nervous the entire time) We checked into Forks that night & did some souvenir shopping and HAD to watch at least the first Twilight movie lol

Day 4 (June 26th, Hoh and beaches) - Knowing that we did not do Hoh as we originally planned the day before, we knew this day would be jam packed so we got up early and I am SO GLAD that we did. We were out of the Airbnb before 6am for the ~45 minute drive to the rainforest. There were maybe less than 10 cars in the parking lot and we went right in. Right as we started the Hall of Mosses trail, a doe and her 2 babies crossed the trail head right in front of us which was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. We started our trek through Hall of Mosses & Spruce Nature trail at 7:01am and didn't end until a little after 9am. It was the slowest and most peaceful & serene walk I think I've ever been on. It was raining, quiet, the air smelled so fresh and you really just can't help but stop and soak in the fact that you are in a literal rain forest. I've never seen anything like it or felt anything like it. I can see why people would think this is "overrated" and it seems like much of the internet is divided on whether it's worth it or not. In my opinion, I think it's worth it if you go early enough and can have the trail almost to yourself. How often do you get to say that you visited a temperate rainforest in the US? As we were leaving at 9am, crowds were coming in though and not that I mind if people talk on a trail, I can see how extra noise and chatter would ruin the mood of the rainforest. On our way out, we saw a traffic jam of elk and my husband & I just watched for over a minute in awe. I actually cried driving out at just how peaceful and serene nature can make you feel.

We went straight to the Tree of Life after this. It was a stop that I originally was like "do we really HAVE to see this?" but then I remembered that nature is resilient but also ever changing & that it won't always be there so we went. Amazing to see and I'm glad we stopped. Then we headed over to the Kalaloch Ranger Station so I could stamp my national park passport. After this, we did go back to our Airbnb just to freshen up and sit for a bit before we headed out to get some food. We stopped at La Push and saw people watching 2 killer whales (!!!) out in the water.

Last sight this day was trekking to Rialto to Hole in the Wall for tide pooling. We did arrive 2 hours before low tide but by the time we made it to Hole in the Wall, we did still have to wait some so I would say if you are a fast walker, 2 hours may be too much time. An hour to an hour and a half would have been better. We saw so many anemones, a few sea stars, mussels and so much more. Our day ended around 6-6:30pm and we headed back to Forks for dinner since we drove out to Mount Rainier the next day.

TLDR: After our 4 days in Olympic, I can't believe I ever thought that I was "settling" to see such a beautiful, unique and diverse park. It really feels like multiple parks in one between the alpine mountains, glacier carved lakes and glacier fed rivers, temperate rainforests and rugged coastline full of sea stacks. The more I got to planning, the more I really stressed that even 4 days wasn't enough time after how much the internet stresses how much driving it is. YES, it's a lot of driving and I definitely recommend splitting your time between Port Angeles and Forks. I can honestly say that there is so much beauty and wonder to be seen that you won't even notice how much driving you are doing because you are so excited to get to the next stop to take in more of the sights. Just put on a good playlist and go. I can't thank this subreddit enough for the recommendations, advice, and help planning. Olympic definitely has a special place in my heart for so many reasons and I will forever recommend it as a park that people need to see at least once. For all of the locals reading this, you have an absolutely beautiful state and I would absolutely return again. Until next time Washington ♡

It's been 2 days and I still keep thinking to myself "man I cant believe I did that"

Had a really rocky road in the last month leading up to the race and went into the race with so much anxiety that my training wasn't going to work but I finished my race in the mid range of what my Runna plan expected me to! My #1 goal going into it was just to have fun & finish since this was my first and any time I set was going to be a PR! I was so ready for it to be over by the week of the race and now that it's done, I'm left asking myself "well damn, now what?"