Less than an hours drive inland, and to the north, we found ourselves in the middle of a rain forest environment. At the southwest corner of Olympic National Park, Lake Quinault is located in a valley that averages 12 feet of rainfall every year. The lush vegetation is evidence enough, that a whole bunch of water comes out of the sky in this region. Mostly in the winter, the Pacific storms slam into the Olympic Peninsula, and up against the Olympic Mountains. On the west side of the mountains, where we were, these storms dump huge amounts of rain. On the Seattle side of the mountains, rainfall is significantly less. We drove around Lake Quinault, stopping at several spots to admire the lush vegetation, and numerous waterfalls. Again, we had a beautiful, cloudless day, with inland temps approaching 80 degrees.
One of the stops was at this gigantic tree, billed as the worlds largest Sitka Spruce. I've admired many of the giant redwoods in CA, and this Spruce was right up there with those huge trees. Several other world's biggest trees exist in this valley, which is more evidence of the environment being classified as rain forest. When we returned to the coast, the fog had burned off, and temps were in the comfortable mid 60's. Before BBQ'ing some chicken for dinner, I sat outside the motor home, and watched all of the motorcycles passing by on the highway. Today is the end of the annual Ocean Shores Sun & Surf Run, and I suspect that by tonight, the roar of Harley's will be but a recent memory.
Less than an hours drive inland, and to the north, we found ourselves in the middle of a rain forest environment. At the southwest corner of Olympic National Park, Lake Quinault is located in a valley that averages 12 feet of rainfall every year. The lush vegetation is evidence enough, that a whole bunch of water comes out of the sky in this region. Mostly in the winter, the Pacific storms slam into the Olympic Peninsula, and up against the Olympic Mountains. On the west side of the mountains, where we were, these storms dump huge amounts of rain. On the Seattle side of the mountains, rainfall is significantly less. We drove around Lake Quinault, stopping at several spots to admire the lush vegetation, and numerous waterfalls. Again, we had a beautiful, cloudless day, with inland temps approaching 80 degrees.
One of the stops was at this gigantic tree, billed as the worlds largest Sitka Spruce. I've admired many of the giant redwoods in CA, and this Spruce was right up there with those huge trees. Several other world's biggest trees exist in this valley, which is more evidence of the environment being classified as rain forest. When we returned to the coast, the fog had burned off, and temps were in the comfortable mid 60's. Before BBQ'ing some chicken for dinner, I sat outside the motor home, and watched all of the motorcycles passing by on the highway. Today is the end of the annual Ocean Shores Sun & Surf Run, and I suspect that by tonight, the roar of Harley's will be but a recent memory.
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