Ockey Family Adventures: Seattle Day 3

We started early this morning. It was really early when the alarm went off at 5 o’clock. We wanted to get to the tide pools at low tide, which happened to be just after 5:30. We arrived at Beach 4 just in time to see hundreds of starfish and thousands of anemones. The boys were excited for every single one of them. We took dozens of pictures and videos as the waves crashed at our feet. Only Dad took a minor tumble, and no one really got wet.

This beach was more rocky than sandy.

It was bright and early!

This was our favorite starfish because it was bright purple!

We found a lot of other starfish, too!

The boys enjoyed exploring the tidepools so much.

Dax was excited to show Mom all the purple starfish.

Mark loved finding new creatures.

Dad found this cool rock.

Seth made sure Mom didn't trip.

Seth found a fun shell on our way back to the car.

We had a great morning!

After we checked out of the hotel, we made the drive to Hoh. This is the main rainforest area of the park, and it is always busy. In fact, they monitor traffic, only letting cars in when there are parking places. We drove right in and got parked, which was lucky, because the wait was over two hours by the time we left.

The sunrise was beautiful as we checked out of our room.

There were two short hikes that we wanted to do in the area. The first was called the Hall of Mosses, and it was beautiful. The trees were thick with matted moss, and the air was rich and earthy. In the morning, the sun slanted through the trees beautifully. It was a really special spot. Dax even saw a vole crawling through the ferns.

We take staying on the trail very seriously.

Mom loves taking pictures of her boys.

Seth wanted a photo by all the tree roots.

Hall of Mosses was one of our favorite spots in Olympic.

The moss all over the trees was so cool!

There were a few spots where you could walk right underneath the tree. Can you see Mark?

Look how green everyting is.

The trees were huge!

Mark loves being in nature.

Seth loves exploring.

The second trail was Spruce Nature Trail. This walk was a little longer, and not quite as stunning, but we saw a small black-tailed doe and two sweet little fawns right off the trail. We watched them for quite a while before continuing around the loop.

After Hoh, we stopped in Forks and had a picnic. The boys found a short trail that we explored after eating our sandwiches. We were grateful to Mom for making lunch for us (again).

This trail had lots of ferns.

That is a huge tree. Look at those roots.

We spotted a deer and it's two fawns.

The whole rainforest is amazing.

We saw lots of mushrooms.

The boys are such good hikers.

Mom's hair was wavy/curly the entire trip.

Always having fun together.

It was an hour drive up to Sol Duc, and we magically found a parking spot, even though other cars had to park far down the road. There is only one hike at the end of the road, and it leads to a nice waterfall. The hike was mostly flat and easy. At the end there was a bridge that crossed the river right over the falls. It was a unique cascade, falling sideways into a slot and then rushing under the bridge. It was a gorgeous spot.

We stopped at a second hike called Ancient Grove Trail, too. It was a half-mile loop through the trees, and though it was nice, we had walked through so many trees at that point that we hardly noticed how beautiful they were.

We are always grateful for benches to rest.

Sol Duc Falls was the best waterfall.

It was cool that it has 3 different falls.

Dax let Mom take a selfie with him.

We were impressed with the spider's web.

Always hiking!

Finally, we pulled into the lodge at Crescent Lake. The back of our room looked out over the lake and it was just a stone’s throw from the water’s edge. The boys splashed and played and mostly threw rocks until Seth was soaked! It was such a beautiful spot, reminiscent of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.

Lake Crescent was so awesome.

The water was cool, but not freezing.

Seth didn't stay dry for long.

The color of the water was so beautiful.

Family pic on the boardwalk.

For dinner, we drove out to restaurant called Granny’s. We ate outside at a picnic table, and because the restaurant is on a small farm, we had chickens clucking around expectantly. We even saw goats, donkeys, cats, and a few emus. It was an eccentric place for dinner, but the food was good, and the ice cream was amazing.

We always enjoy petting the animals.

The chickens were hilarious.

Who will win the staring contest?

We wanted to do one more hike before bed. This one was too a waterfall, too. Marymere Falls was only two and a half miles, but there was a massive climb right at the end that really wore us out. We’d been doing so much hiking that we really had to drag back. Amazingly, though, this waterfall was even better than the previous one. Marymere falls 90 feet, and the first third is a free fall. Then it cascades gently down the last sixty feet in a widening arc. It was one of the prettiest waterfalls that we’ve ever seen. We sure fell gratefully into bed that night, even though it was before nine o’clock when we turned in!