Olympic National Park {USA}

On the coast of Washington state is the Olympic National Park. The park contains an actual rainforest, miles of unspoiled coastline, magical forests, hot springs, waterfalls, and excellent camping. Camping with E’s parents is essentially glamping (or glamorous camping if you aren’t in the know). They have all the gear you would ever need and had meals planned (and sometimes already cooked!) for the entire four days.

I definitely have never enjoyed camping more. The beautiful scenery and the opportunity to visit my favorite place always, the beach, certainly helped this become my favorite camping experience in my life, by far!

We spent the first two nights at Sol Duc, a standard camping site in the forest, drove to the Hoh rainforest, possibly the most famous hikes of the park, and spent our last night on the coast at Kalaloch. Near this campground is a charming inn, the Kalaloch Lodge, with a great restaurant and perfect little cliff side cabins. Staying in one of those cabins is now on my list!

The park was fairly busy in the summer, but it was easy to get away from the crowds with a few extra minutes on a hiking trail. The summer we visited was unfortunately a drought summer, so the rainforest was really dry–the moss wasn’t dripping as I expected. It did make it sunnier for our hikes, though, which is always a plus.

Although it is well off the beaten path, the Olympic National Park is worth the trip! It’s often rainy, the beaches are definitely not sunbathing or swimming types (except without a wetsuit–even in August!) but I could live on the quiet coastline and watch the seals play in the waves every night at sunset. We were blessed with three beautiful days, but just so you know, the three weeks after we left were rainy and stormy! However, I think the rain and the storm would make this area even more exotic and mysterious, although slightly more difficult to explore. But hey, just utilize your inner Scout and come prepared!

{Hiking near Hoh rainforest / a tree-lined trail / a mossy phone booth / the river by the trail / a boy and his dad, navigating the logs / squeezing through the logs to find the trail / we passed through Forks so I had to commemorate that, even though I’m no lover of Twilight /  my man / hiking up to a waterfall near Sol Duc / the creek among the trees / I really need to get better at waterfall photos! / pretty, if still slightly blurry / onto the coast! / two minutes from our campsite / by the Kalaloch Lodge / E and his parents / a coffee on the beach, my new favorite thing / more snapshots of the Lodge / take two / a boy and his dad, this time on the beach / so happy for a sunny beach day! / our campsite in the magical beachside forest / always exploring the woods…so fast it’s blurry, ha / the sunset / I only packed sandals for the beach and regretted it! / my handsome sunset date / still gorgeous after the sun disappeared behind clouds}