10/1/21
We ended up taking some advice from our AirBnB hosts to stay at a spot off of a Forest Road. The campsite was awesome! We were right next to a creek bed and had an open rocky shore outside of the rings of trees that covered a grove area. The trees were huge and provided a canopy of cover from rain, if rain were to hit. When we arrived there was a guy already there and when he came around the back of his truck I saw that he had a pistol at his hip and a belt of ammo. He seemed a little sketch, especially when Molly said she saw him looking at our cars when the rest of us were down by the campsite. So, I decided to go talk to him to get a feel for who he was. His name was Matt and he came to this area as a kid with his dad to hunt and fish. His dad's ashes were actually scattered in the area and he had been up hunting black bear. He apparently had killed one about 5 miles further east. He turned out to be really nice and even gave us his extra firewood. Guess random guys in the woods carrying lots of ammo and a loaded gun aren't too dangerous, although you can never be too careful. We eventually set up camp then proceeded to try and find a hidden log cabin that the AirBnB hosts had mentioned was across the creek. The creek was too cold and deep to wade across so we had to use Alex's kayak. We tied together a rope and two straps from a slackline set to be able to pull the kayak back across the creek once someone paddled across. It was a funny learning process with the first person, Nick, forgetting to leave the paddle in the kayak so Molly had to use her hands to get across. After many attempts we all finally made it across and eventually found the log cabin. It was a huge building with two stories and it looked as though the owners had been in the process of building it. The exterior was fully finished but there were no windows or anything on the inside except the fireplace. The spot across the creek used to be a campground but went out of service when a huge flood ripped out the concrete bridge across the creek. Apparently it had happened 25 years ago and when we got across we found an old asphalt road that had moss growing all over it. The trees were also moss covered and it felt like a completely different world.
10/2/21
Today we all decided that we would just chill at the camp and enjoy a slow morning and afternoon then we would hike up to Mt. Rainier for the sunset. While we were enjoying the atmosphere we started to hear distant gunshots go off. Ryan surmised that there was a shooting range further west and that there were some people enjoying the range. They went on shooting for 3 hours! They definitely had automatic weapons too with the rate of fire being exceptionally fast. It eventually became a part of the background so it didn't bother us too much. Later in the afternoon all of a sudden we started hearing chanting. We all started looking around and were confused as to what was going on. Then drumming joined the chanting so Molly and I decided to discover what was happening. We found a small group of people gathered by the creek shore and one man was beating a drum while singing/chanting and the other people were placing little boats with fruit on them in the creek. The ceremony went on for an hour or so and then they eventually left. We guessed it was some from of Native ceremony but we didn't want to interrupt it to find out. We then went to Mt. Rainier to watch the sunset. The path from the base of the parking lot was paved which surprised us and the trail was heavily traveled. We eventually found a spot to it and enjoy the views right around Golden Hour. I can't describe enough how amazing the views were so I will let the pictures give the details.
10/3/21
Today was another relaxed day at camp with nothing too exciting happening in the morning. I took some time to myself sitting by the river where we were camping. It was nice listening to the water and hearing the bubbling and gurgling over the rocks. I soaked in the sounds, smells, and feeling of the sun while sitting there for a while. Once I got back to camp we decided to make our way to the grove of the patriarchs. A spot in the park where huge trees were growing and have been growing for hundreds of years.
10/4/21
Today we traveled to our AirBnB in Olympic national park. We were staying 20 minutes outside of Port Angeles and it took about 3 hours of driving to get there from Mt. Rainier. With a lot of driving we decided to just unload and relax for the evening. We played some video games and made dinner while listening to oldies music, 50s and 60s. We made it a late night with a late dinner and Amos finally met up with us at 3am after driving from the Seattle airport.
10/5/21
Today we slept in until around noon and then played frisbee for a while. We were soaking in the sunshine and laughing and goofing off. We were all talking in British accents and laughing it up. We then made plans for the evening after we had all gotten pretty tired from frisbee. We decided to explore Forks and La Push, both are towns in the Twilight saga, and tried out a burger place in Forks. We then made our way to Second Beach, outside of La Push, to explore and watch the sunset. I came really unprepared for the beach outing so I had to borrow Molly's rain jacket and blanket to stay warm on our walk.
10/6/21
Today we wanted to have another beach excursion so we went to the Pacific Crest Trail where we could find the famous Hole in the Wall spot. The day was gorgeous and warm! Molly and I took our shoes off and walked along the beach with everyone. I absolutely loved walking towards the ocean and then running from the waves. They were so big in comparison to the Florida Gulf Coast, where I have spent most of my time on the beach. We all were laughing and just loving the day. We finally made it to the Hole in the Wall so molly and I had to put our shoes back on to walk over the jagged rocks to stand in it. We then enjoyed the beautiful sunset, probably the best I have ever seen on the beach, before heading back to the AirBnB for the evening.
10/7/21
Today was our last full day in Olympic so we had made plans to actually drive into the mountainous part of the park and explore what it had to offer. We were able to drive all the way up to 6,000 ft on Hurricane Ridge and see almost a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. We then hiked on the very short trails at the top of the ridge and stopped at an old ski lift pole that had fallen over. It made a great bench to watch people and relax after going up the steeper part of the trail. The deer on the ridge were so used to humans that they were walking within 5 feet of people.
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