Olympic National Park

Waterfall near Lake Quinault

After waking up early at the rest area, I found out my friends were visiting Olympic National Park. I high tailed it up there, stopping in Portland for a quick Voodoo Doughnuts run.

The Maple Bacon Doughnut, complete with thick cut bacon. Tasty!

I made my way to Lake Quinault, where Max, Cait, and Max's parents were staying for the weekend. It was a really cozy place, and it reminded me a lot of the lodge on Crater Lake. We even got to "crash" a wedding that was moved inside because of the weather.

Getting some ideas for New Years from the minister.

There was a pool inside and Cait was acting as our drill sergeant: do laps, use the ladder for pull ups, do inverted sit ups! We were all pretty exhausted, but we still had time to play some Settlers of Catan and Wild Rummy.

I was able to hang out with them for two days before they had to take off back to Seattle. It was nice sleeping inside, out of the rain, and out of my car for a change.

When they left, I went on to explore the rest of the park, starting with the Quinault area. I saw waterfalls, some tall trees, and backtracked a little to see the Fish Hatchery.

Same waterfall as the first picture, but you can see additional falls on the left, due to the amount of rain.

Worlds Largest Spruce

Another tall tree. I forget what kind though...

Taken from inside the tree.

The fish hatchery, responsible for many different species of Salmon.

Olympic is a BIG park. There are also no real roads that run all the way through the park. This means that you need to drive around it to see the different sights.

All the rain had another effect: some of the roads were washed out. I wanted to go visit the Hoh Rain Forest, but there were sections of road covered with a foot of rainwater. Until they could remove the water, they couldn't tell if there was any damage to the road.

I stopped at the ranger station to find good places to see. They had mentioned the beaches, but warned against the tides. I checked out what I could while trying to stay dry.

Debris carried from the river at Ruby Beach.

Ruby Beach. I was told it looks much better in the sun.

Either First Beach or Rialto Beach near La Push.

I continued on the road until I reached Sol Duc. They have some hot springs there, and for $15, I figured it was worth a soak. The water reminded me a little of the soft water you find in rural parts of the country; kind of soap-like. It was also a little strange being outside and being rained on while sitting in the spring.

I talked with a couple of the other visitors staying the night. There was someone else who was making a National Parks trip like me. Looking back, it is likely that most of her plans were ruined by the government shutdown, which really sucks since she had been planning this for a few years.

I left the pools and decided with the last few hours of "daylight", I would try and see some more falls. The paths were soaked and flooded, so I wasn't able to go as far as I wanted. Google did make a cool gif of my pictures of a stream though.

Cool feature!

Wet and a little cold, I decided I was going to head back and make some dinner. I looked around for a pavilion or something that I could cook under, but I didn't see anything. I had two options, either I cook my food in the bathroom, or cook it under a map for the trail. I picked the latter. A park ranger stopped by almost as soon as I started cooking and I freaked out a little. Technically I don't think I should have been cooking under the sign, but he let it slide. He was kind enough to just wave and let me continue to make dinner.

Making some dinner underneath a map. It was either here or the bathrooms...

I found out that the Rangers were kind as far as cooking food, but didn't like it when you "camped" outside of campsites. Not really wanting to set up camp in the rain, I spent another night in my car.

From Sol Duc, I went towards the visitors center to try and catch Hurricane Ridge. On a nice day, you can see Seattle from the top. Along the way, I stopped to see Madison Falls. Like the other falls, it was very active from all the rain.

The sun was trying it's best to shine!

Again, the weather had conspired against me and the road up to Hurricane Ridge was closed because of snow. They had webcams in the visitor center, and you wouldn't have been able to see 3 feet in front of you, let alone Seattle.

The visitor center suggested I either go into town for a drink (it was only 10am) or I could check out the Dungeness Spit. Not feeling much like drinking, I opted for the second choice.

Marker for the National Park.

There is a lighthouse pretty far down. The weather was getting worse, so I decided to head back.

At this point, there really wasn't anything else to see in the park. I decided I would head back south to Portland. I ended up getting a little lost on a back road to a state park and saw the sign for a boy scout camp.

Haven't heard of this High Adventure camp before, but I am jealous of the scouts who can explore the park!

As I was leaving the park, the clouds parted and gave me a beautiful picture.

Too bad it didn't stay this clear.

Photos of Olympic National Park

Natural Bridges, Smith Rock, and McKenzie Pass Lava Beds

Rogue River rapids, upstream from the bridges

I went north to see the "natural bridges" in Rogue River National Park. It was much warmer down at the base of Crater Lake, than at the top. However, there was still frost on the bridges and railings.

"Natural Bridges" are formed when a river uses old lava tubes to flow underground. Some of the bridges may be short, hiding the river for only a few feet, or much longer. There are occasionally holes in the top of the lava tubes, allowing you to look inside. Conversely, the river can also "drill" holes as particles get caught in small holes and pushed in whirlpools by the river.

A partially collapsed lava tube

An example of a natural bridge. This one flows over the top during the spring melt.

The camp was closed, so there wasn't much else to see at the park. Onward north to my next stop!

Heading north, I was greeted by this amazing sight.

Mt. Thielsen

Mt. Thielsen is a pretty cool mountain. It is the remnant of a old volcano, taller than it's current peak. Erosion exposed the hardened core of the volcano (the black spot on top). It has become a sort of lightning rod, and there is evidence of melted rock at the peak.

Smith Rock State Park

I continued to north to Smith Rock State Park. This park is really popular with rock climbers, and they were out in force this day. This is because of the type of rock found here. Everything is sedimentary rock, formed by compressed ash from a nearby eruption. The peaks and valleys are formed by the river that runs through the park.

The hikes up the mountain were really fun as well, as you could see a full 360° view of the surrounding area.

Aptly named trail. This was a pretty steep hike.

The river that helped form the park.

A view of the parking lot area. I am not sure what mountain is in the distance.

After hitting the peak, the trail was much easier. It took you downhill, past Monkey Face rock, probably one of the pinnacle climbs of the park.

Can you spot the people climbing the pinnacle?

How about now? Not for me, but awesome to watch. They were heading to the tiny crevice near the top.

The trail took you along the river path. There were a lot of really nice homes right next to the park. There were a couple of cool sights that were less dangerous than climbing up a rock face.

Rock stacking seems more my skill level.

A friendly guy. This is as close as I felt like getting to him; didn't want to piss him off.

The Rattle Snake was pointed out to me by a father and son walking the lake trail. We continued walking back together and talking. The son lived nearby in Redmond, OR and the father was out visiting. The son liked to try and hike at least one a month out here, and I can see why. This is a really beautiful park.

As I was leaving, rain clouds were starting to close in. I felt pretty bad for all the climbers, but they might be used to the weather. I went west to my last stop for the day: the McKenzie Pass Lava Beds.

Those clouds that I mentioned? They were hanging over the lava beds. This was unfortunate, because you couldn't really see anything. Everything was covered in a thick mist, and the rain was blowing sideways in some areas. However, I spotted something on the road that I HAD to check out.

If you see a structure built out of lava rock, you have to go check out inside!

There were 4 main openings and many differently portholes that framed all of the nearby mountains. Unfortunately, I couldn't see more than a mile in any direction.

Compass at the top of the structure.

My attempt at the full 360° shot. Too bad there was the rain...

With it starting to get dark, I decided I would call it a night. The campsites at McKenzie pass looked a little sketchy. There were bullet holes in the signs out there, and it looked more like a two-track kind of place. I decided I would try and get closer to Portland.

I tried looking for a campsite nearby highway 5, but struck out two times: one was closed for the year, the other was booked. I finally gave up, pulled into a rest stop, and slept in my car. After sleeping in my car in Crater Lake, I found improvements to my methods and was able to sleep pretty soundly until 6am the next morning.

Photos of Natural Bridges, Smith Rock, and McKenzie Pass Lava Beds

Crater Lake

Beautiful view! At the summit of Garfield Peak

From Lava Beds, I backtracked to Crater Lake. I stopped on my way there at a sign explaining a little about the mountain. It used to be a composite volcano and much, much taller than it is currently. It grew by having regular lava flows. Then, a super explosion blasted off the top of the volcano, covering a good chunk of Oregon in pumice (which makes up a large piece of the soil to this day). Pyro-clastic flows on the inside of the volcano filled in the remaining space and formed the bottom of the lake. The sign, and the surrounding plains, were at roughly the same elevation as the bottom of the lake.

This field is at roughly the same elevation of the bottom of Crater Lake.

On my way up, I stopped for lunch at one of the scenic lookouts. There was a river at the bottom of the chasm, but it is pretty hard to see. It was pretty peaceful and still decently warm at this elevation. That would change pretty quickly as I went further up the mountain.

I was a little disappointed when I got into the actual park and discovered that the Rim Trail, the road surrounding the rim of the crater, was closed for the season. There was snow and ice already up there, and they don't regularly plow it. I was still able to get a lot of really cool pictures and the hike to Garfield Peak was still open.

Wizard Island

Sledding hill! I will let you go first...

I decided that I would make the trip up Garfield Peak. The sign said it was only 1.7 miles. I had hiked up the fire observation point (in Lava Beds) already that day, so I thought it was no biggie. Well, I forgot to account for the elevation change (about 2000m over the hike) and the snow (knee deep in some areas). I went up with my sweatshirt, jeans, and hiking boots. I wasn't really cold at 45 degrees. It was fun, and I met a mountain climbing group (they payed for a trip to climb mountains). We talked for a bit on the climb and I stuck with them on the way down. Very cool group of people.

Made it to the top! Longest 1.7 mile hike of my life.

After the climb, my boots were a little wet. This was a problem, as everything was a little bit wet from the warm temperatures and the snow. I went to eat inside at the lodge and waited for my stuff to dry off. I got dry, but my campsite for the night didn't. Instead of setting up my tent in the slush puddle, I slept in my car. Slept isn't really the correct word, more like went unconscious periodically, but I made it through the night.

I woke up early, or at least didn't fall back asleep, and tried to take a shower. They were operational, but I question if the water heater was. The rooms themselves were not heated either, which made it feel like you were trying to warm up an ice cube in the refrigerator. Not entirely effective, but still technically warmer. After being "revitalized" in the shower, I hit the road again, headed north.

I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but you can see full size versions of these if you click on them.

Crater Lake Pictures

Lava Beds National Monument

A cool fort someone built at the campsite using lavarock.

From Redwoods, I hopped in my car and made my way into Oregon. I had to go into Oregon to get to the Lava Beds National Monument, which is in California, because there are no roads between the Redwoods and the Lava Beds.

I stopped for gas and made the mistake that nearly everyone not from Oregon makes: I tried to pump my own gas. This was a pretty big deal for some places and they asked me to get back in my car. Oops.

I drove past the route to Crater Lake, with plans to hit it later. I had to go up a mountain, however, and got snowed on!

Snow in September. I thought this was just a UP thing...

On my way, I stopped to take a picture of a lake. It was absolutely breathtaking.

I arrived in the park around 2 pm and got to spelunking! There were loads of caves, all lava tubes. They were pitch black, so no pictures of inside, unfortunately.

I only visited the caves marked as "beginner" because the difficulty escalates pretty quickly. In beginner caves, you can generally stand up the whole time, but the caves are pitch black. They recommend at least 2 flashlights. For intermediate, there are sections where you might have to crawl through. Generally, hardhats and shin pads are recommended for this level. At the top there was advanced, where you could easily get lost in the caves. There are also sections where you may or may not be able to squeeze yourself through.

I would have gone and done some intermediate caves, but I didn't think going by myself was a good call. I also didn't have any of the gear. That just means I know how to be prepared for next time!

Even in the beginner caves, there was something about completely cut off from the surface. There was a section in one of the beginner caves that I am not sure if you were supposed to go down and see. There weren't really ropes, so I decided to see what was down there. The diameter of the hole was probably about a foot larger than me, so it was kind of a tight squeeze. I get down there, and there is ice in the cave. Super cool. At the same time, part of my primitive monkey brain was screaming "IT IS DARK AND COLD AND YOU ARE GOING TO GET STUCK, RUN!". Even with that, it was a rush.

I also some pictographs in one of the caves. These were pretty cool, but hard to see.

I made my way back to the campsite and tried to dry out my gear. It wasn't warm in this dessert, just dry and cold. As I was airing everything out, I decided to go talk with my "neighbors" at the camp next to mine. They were a very nice couple from Seattle on vacation. We talked for a bit and were going to have a fire, but the weather had different plans. It started storming and we retreated to our tents.

I woke up early the next morning to go climb one of the cinder cones that had the fire lookout on top. I was a little chilly and decided to run up the mountain. Yea, bad plan. It is really easy to underestimate just how much climbing takes out of you, and how out of shape you really are. I eventually made my way up, and it was worth it. Full 360° view.

I made my way out of the park to head to Crater lake, but I got one last goodbye from some friends.

Lava Beds Pictures